Raid in the Scholz Ministry: The action by Lower Saxony investigators shortly before the federal election causes discussions. The call for clarification of the background is getting louder.
The money laundering searches in two SPD-led federal ministries and the union’s election campaign allegations are causing criticism.
FDP general secretary Volker Wissing said on Thursday on RTL / ntv- «early start»: «I don’t think much of bringing the judiciary’s investigations into the election campaign.» SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil accused Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet of dirty election campaigns. SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich called for clarification. In the CDU, doubts about the rule of law were expressed by SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz.
The reason for the excitement are investigations by the Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office. The investigation is carried out against employees of the FIU, a money laundering special unit of the customs, which is assigned to Scholz’s Ministry of Finance. FIU employees are said to have not forwarded information on terrorist financing to investigators in good time. In this context, the Osnabrück public prosecutor wanted to see e-mails between the FIU and the Ministry of Finance. The investigators were also interested in a written exchange between the finance and justice ministries. There it was about the work of the FIU. On Thursday last week, the Lower Saxony investigators therefore presented to both ministries.
According to the Ministry of Justice, however, the Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office had been offered the documents sought here long before the search. A department head made this clear when an Osnabrück public prosecutor called on the phone, said a ministry spokeswoman for the German press agency. “But he asked to keep to the formal official channels instead of handing over documents on call over the phone.”
The public prosecutor, however, presented this phone call in such a way that the Ministry of Justice initially refused to hand over the documents and referred to “the main official channel”. The investigators had assessed the willingness of the ministry to cooperate more critically, said a spokesman for the dpa. So it was decided to apply for the searches in both houses and have them carried out.
Both the justice department and the public prosecutor’s office agreed that the investigators were able to view the documents in question and take them with them without any problems – after reviewing them together. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported that the visitors from Osnabrück even ticked “No search took place” on the form for the campaign. In the Ministry of Finance, too, the investigators probably came across cooperative high-ranking employees. They would even have been given the right to access the electronic files from outside, reported «tagesschau.de».
The reason for speculation on an election campaign background of the searches 17 days before the federal election was the fact that the head of the Osnabrück public prosecutor, Bernard Südbeck, is also a CDU member, as is Lower Saxony’s Justice Minister Barbara Havliza. The spokesman for the investigative authority rejected the speculation. The investigation would not be led by Südbeck, he said. These should be carried out promptly and quickly – regardless of election dates, assured the spokesman.
A press release from the public prosecutor’s office was also part of the discussion. It is investigated against FIU employees, and Scholz had emphasized: “It has nothing to do with the ministries where it took place.” In its communication, the authority also stated that the aim was to investigate “whether and, if so, to what extent the management and those responsible for the ministries as well as superior departments were involved in the decisions of the FIU”. The spokesman for the prosecutor said that this communication was intended to make it clear that the investigation would be «open-ended in all directions». Also in the debate is why the search only took place on September 9th, even though the search warrant was already a month old.
Wissing emphasized that the investigations were directed neither against Scholz nor against his ministry. “It is not wise that the investigation is now being made a campaign topic and that one argues with half-truths.”
Union parliamentary group Vice Thorsten Frei (CDU) accused Scholz and his environment of “stirring up doubts about the independence of the judiciary” in the case, as he told the RND. “That is extremely dangerous and raises doubts about the rule of law of the SPD candidate for chancellor.” SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, on the other hand, was “irritated by the allegations, allegations and falsehoods from the CDU and CSU up to and including Mr. Laschet”. Union Chancellor candidate Laschet had accused Scholz of inappropriate behavior towards the judiciary. Mützenich demanded “quick answers and clarification” about the searches and about possible party political motivation. “The procedure of the Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office raises numerous questions and peculiarities,” said Mützenich to the RND.
On Monday, the finance committee of the Bundestag Scholz wants to ask about the processes. Scholz wants to switch on digitally. The opposition wants to quote him personally in the Bundestag – as of Thursday afternoon.
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