Prison is the closest thing we have to a truth serum. Most politicians, the moment they touch the floor of a cell, start to sing. A couple of days ago, the man who elevated Pedro Sánchez to the leadership of the Socialist Party (PSOE) — and later to the presidency of the Spanish government — was jailed. That man is José Luis Ábalos, former cabinet minister and former secretary of organization of the PSOE. Betrayed by Sánchez and by his own party, he recorded several interviews before entering prison in which he reveals a good portion of the government’s corruption schemes. The press is publishing them in installments, so every morning the Moncloa Palace wakes up to a fresh shock. Spaniards oscillate between hilarity and indignation. He is the second Secretary of Organization of the PSOE to end up behind bars: a few months ago, Santos Cerdán — the man Sánchez handpicked to replace Ábalos — was also imprisoned. And just days ago, together with Ábalos — the man widely known in Spain as Sánchez’s “inventor,” the one who built his rise inside the party — Sánchez’s adviser Koldo was also jailed. Koldo, who served as his bodyguard, driver, and all-purpose fixer, had one particular advantage: he recorded virtually every conversation. As a result, his audio archive has become the year’s greatest hit in Spanish courts. (RELATED: Spanish Socialist Is a Problem for NATO) The Ábalos-Koldo-Cerdán affair is only the latest in a long list of corruption cases under investigation involving Sánchez’s friends, his wife, and his wider family network. He won’t resign. He’s laughing in Spaniards’ faces. The man who has been president since 2018 was accused by his own party’s leadership in 2016 of ballot tampering and internal warfare. The greatest mistake of 21st-century Spanish socialism was not expelling him from the PSOE at that moment. (RELATED: Spain’s Far‑Left Dictatorship Has Become a Reality) Instead, he stayed on as a rank-and-file member and embarked on a grassroots road tour across Spain in a now-famous Peugeot 407, visiting dozens of local party branches and collecting support. Koldo (now in prison) was at the wheel. Sitting in the car with Sánchez were his two friends and allies, Ábalos (now in prison) and Santos Cerdán (also in prison). They spent months racking up thousands of miles until Sánchez ran again in the primaries — to the shock of the party establishment — and won amid renewed allegations of ballot fraud. Koldo has now claimed that Sánchez illegally financed his primary campaign with money from his father-in-law, who amassed his fortune through a nationwide network of brothels. (RELATED: Imagine if Biden Did What Spanish Prime Minister Has Done) From jail, Ábalos has also begun pulling the thread. He has accused Sánchez’s wife of participating in a major corruption and kickback scheme; he has accused Sánchez of secretly sending him to receive Delcy Rodríguez at Madrid airport, despite knowing she was banned from entering the EU; he has accused Sánchez of secretly meeting with the former leader of ETA to bargain with the terrorist group for their support in the 2018 no-confidence vote that allowed him to seize power without calling elections. And this is only the beginning. In any other country, this government would have fallen long ago due to incompetence, corruption, and the simple fact that neither Sánchez nor his ministers can walk down a street anywhere in Spain without being booed or insulted. In this climate, a journalist asked Sánchez today how he felt now that Ábalos — his friend, confidant, and senior trusted official — was sleeping in prison, charged with serious crimes. His answer: “From a personal standpoint, Ábalos was a complete stranger to me, a complete stranger.” And he didn’t immediately burst out laughing, which is remarkable. All of Spain has seen the leaked text messages where he sends Ábalos warm hugs, tells him he misses him (after firing him), and offers him his full support. And now he claims he barely knew the man. Through his son, Ábalos has now revealed that Sánchez offered him a blank check in exchange for keeping quiet. Too late. In any other country, this government would have fallen long ago due to incompetence, corruption, and the simple fact that neither Sánchez nor his ministers can walk down a street anywhere in Spain without being booed or insulted. Recall that when Sánchez visited New York in September for the U.N. General Assembly, Spanish activists parked an advertising truck outside the building with his face and the slogan “Sánchez, corrupt” — the same slogan that follows him around Spain. From Juan Magán to, more recently, the reggaeton star Anuel AA, there is not a single major concert in Spain that isn’t interrupted by the crowd chanting “Pedro Sánchez, son of a bitch,” to the bewilderment of the artists. It is time the world outside Spain learns what is happening in one of Europe’s major nations. And it is time to remember that Sánchez perfectly embodies postmodern socialism: fully capable of wrecking institutions, the opposition, and social harmony in order to cling to power. And in his case, the Moncloa Palace still shields him from the judicial investigations closing in. And when he is caught red-handed, the lie comes effortlessly: “From a personal standpoint, he was a complete stranger to me.” The joke in Spain now is that his wife  — charged with five crimes — may soon follow Ábalos’s path. Should that happen, no one doubts Sánchez would say: “From a personal standpoint, my wife was a complete stranger to me.” READ MORE from Itxu Díaz: Truly, Spectacularly Stupid Purchases This Black Friday Maduro Is a Mustachioed Turkey With Bird Flu (and Deserves No Pardon) The Incomprehensible Failure of My Attempts to Woo Sydney Sweeney