The scope of the e-mail account search at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs appears to have been larger than initially announced. According to the Federal Government’s response to a parliamentary inquiry from the Green Party-as reported by “Der Spiegel”-the searches took place on January 28th and 29th, affecting a total of 36 accounts belonging to 27 employees. This represented a significant increase from previous reports, which had only mentioned a single isolated incident.
State Secretary Frank Wetzel clarified that the motive for the search was not the leaking of draft laws, contrary to initial appearances. Instead, the operation was conducted to obtain “personal data of third parties” and “trade secrets” related to a ministerial trip. This development follows the recent public emergence of confidential details regarding Minister Katherina Reiche’s trip to Saudi Arabia at the end of January.
Wetzel also stated that the actual content of the emails was not reviewed. Rather, the team analyzed metadata, such as the sender, recipient, subject, date, and time. The staff involved were officially notified of the measures on February 5th. According to Wetzel, Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) was personally involved in the action, which was carried out upon the instruction of state secretaries following internal consultation.
Contrasting this account, Green Party Member of Parliament Michael Kellner heavily criticized the situation, describing the situation as evidence of “toxic leadership”. Kellner stated that the Minister’s apparent methods of management include “spying, purges, and dismissals”.
