According to information from news agency dpa, Maaßen’s speech was uploaded at October 24 into the file “The Leadership Informs” of the protected area of the Verfassungsschutz’ intranet where it can be read by all employees. From the intelligence service, so it is heard, the controversial contents of the Maaßen speech have been whispered to the outside. The employees of Verfassungsschutz are not allowed to take any (photo) mobile phones into the office, but that is often not really controllable. And it is not possible to prevent someone from copying and passing on the text anyway, according to circles who are familiar with such things.
After an internal speech from Hans-George Maaßen, pro forma still the head of intelligence agency Verfassungsschutz, was leaked to all major news outlets with the exception of the “Research Cooperation NDR WDR Sueddeutsche” that is usually the recepient of leaks from the security apparatus WELT offers the explanation above.
The claim is that the speech is sooooo scandalous that multiple people acted in shock and took photos or started scribbling bits of the content to hand it to the journalists. Meanwhile the entire speech has gone up everywhere, making a joke of the whispering bits theory from “circles who are familiar with such things,” a phrase equally odd in the original (German: “in Kreisen, die sich da auskennen”). So you can judge for yourself if you would have raised an eyebrow and leaked it.
I think that the photo or scribble myth is spread because the speech was probably downloaded and the system takes track records of all (potential) moles. But nobody wants an investigation and the AfD is toothless.
The speech is so scandalized now that Maaßen also loses his new job over it, the newly created position to which he was supposed to be moved. I wonder if you can tell what is wrong with it. I can’t.
P.S. All details about his dismissal in his upcoming book. I hope he knows already that he will write it.
Dear Colleagues,
Today I would like to say goodbye after more than six years. Many goodbyes are planned, for example, if the employment contract is limited or if the pension age is reached, as with our friend Rob, other farewells are not planned and somewhat surprising, as with me.
The leaders of the three parties forming the Federal Government in Germany, Mrs. Merkel, CDU, Mr. Seehofer, CSU, and Mrs. Nahles, SPD, decided on September 23, that I should be replaced as President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. This has ended a government crisis in Germany. The SPD had threatened to break the coalition if I continued in office.
Background of the government crisis was the fact that on 7th September I had questioned the correctness of the reports spread by the media and politicians about right-wing extremist “manhunts” or pogroms in Chemnitz in [an interview with] the largest German newspaper “Bild”. On August 26, 2018, a German had been killed by asylum seekers in Chemnitz. On the same day there were demonstrations in Chemnitz against the refugee policy of the federal government formed by ordinary citizens, but also included right-wing extremists. There were also occasional crimes. On the following day, the following days, it was not the killing crime that was in the attention of the political and media interest, but right-wing extremist manhunts against foreigners. According to the local police, the prosecution, the local press, the prime minister of the state [Saxony] and my staff, these “manhunts” did not take place. They were a fiction.
I have already seen a lot of German media manipulation and Russian disinformation. But the fact that politicians and the media invent freely or at least spread unchecked this “manhunt” misinformation was a new quality of false reporting in Germany. In the following week, I commented to the [tabloid] “Bild”, in just four sentences, that, according to the findings of all relevant security agencies, there were no such far-right “manhunts”.
In the following week, I made clear to the relevant parliamentary committees that a fight against right-wing extremism does not justify inventing right-wing extremist crimes. The media and green [party] and left-wing politicians, who felt found out by me for their false reporting, demanded my dismissal. In my view, this was for radical left-wing forces in the SPD, who from the onset were against forming a coalition with the CDU/CSU, the welcome occasion to provoke a break with this governing coalition. Since I am known in Germany as a critic of an idealistic, naive and left-wing immigration and security policy, this was also an occasion for my political opponents and for some media to push me out of my office.
Due to the decision of the three party leaders, I will give up my office as soon as a successor is appointed. This is expected to be the case in the next few weeks. Federal Interior Minister Seehofer, who was very supportive of me and my position in this political debate and himself received much criticism from the media, would like to keep me as his adviser. Whether and under what conditions this should take place will have to be clarified in detail in the next few weeks. In any case, I can imagine a life outside the civil service, for example in politics or business. I never imagined that the fear of me and of the truth put parts of politics and media in such panic and hysteria that four sentences of mine are sufficient to trigger a government crisis in Germany.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is difficult for me to say goodbye to you after six years. I was very fond of listening to this circle and found a high level of collegiality and solidarity in all meetings and in all discussions. I have found that we have the same goals, share the same values and fight against the same opponents of freedom and democracy. I believe that we have achieved a lot in the last six years. Much for the safety of my country. I have received a lot of support from them in solving our national security problems in recent years, and I have always tried to assist you in your work to make your countries and Europe safer.
I want to thank you for all this. I would also like to thank you for the many personal and friendly moments that I was able to experience. I would be very happy to be able to keep in touch with many of you personally and privately after this time too. Lastly, I would like to express my hope that you and my successor continue the cooperation in an equally intensive partnership.
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Goldstein 