Lawyer Leticia de la Hoz has withdrawn from representing former ministerial adviser Koldo García Izaguirre in the so-called caso Koldo case. In a letter received by the investigating judge on 10 November 2026 Ismael Moreno at the Audiencia Nacional she cites professional reasons and invokes professional confidentiality. She says she informed García of her decision sufficiently in advance to allow him to choose new legal counsel or be assigned a court-appointed lawyer.
To avoid prejudicing the accused, De la Hoz says she will handle only urgent procedural matters until a new defence lawyer is appointed. She gives no further reasons or details in the filing. Her withdrawal relates to the investigation in the caso Koldo being conducted at the Audiencia Nacional.
De la Hoz had previously represented García in connection with the mask procurement case before the Tribunal Supremo Independently, she herself is listed as a suspect by the courts in a separate case, the caso Leire Díez, Spanish media have consistently reported, citing the letter to the court, on her withdrawal from representing García and the procedural situation.
The pace of the investigation will depend on how quickly García appoints a new defence lawyer or a court-appointed lawyer is assigned. After receiving notice of a lawyer’s withdrawal, the court may formally ask the accused to choose legal counsel and, until then, allow only non-deferrable hearings to go ahead. In practice, this means that only deadlines and procedural steps that cannot be postponed are observed, while measures requiring the active participation of the defence are deferred to avoid “indefensión”. Once a new lawyer is appointed, they gain access to the case file; short extensions are usually then granted to allow submissions to be made on time.
The Koldo case concerns alleged irregularities relating to state contracts during the pandemic and has been the subject of intensive investigations and political debate in Spain for months. De la Hoz’s newly reported withdrawal from the case does not initially change the substance of the investigation, but it does require those involved in the proceedings to reorganise the defence promptly so that deadlines and planned measures are not affected. No specific next steps in the proceedings were announced on 10 November 2026.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).