The reason could be a “courier” note from mid-September, in which, with reference to “Vienna’s top lawyers”, speculation was made about imminent raids or telephone surveillance in the casino.
Schwaz did not want to confirm all of this, but was outraged by calls from media representatives who wanted to check whether their cell phone had already been confiscated. In any case, she did not ask for clarification from the lawyers concerned in the case – such as those of ex-finance minister Hartwig Lger or the former party leader Josef Prll – but from those authorities who could initiate house searches. Even the Public Prosecutor for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA), from which the VP has been under pressure for a long time, did not mention: “We do not know the positions.”
You won’t find anything
In any case, you won’t find anything if the house is searched, because the VP had long gone on to regularly delete all that data that you are not legally obliged to keep: “There is nothing left,” she emphasized . And “There is nothing to be found either, because there is definitely nothing.” It is empressive that the young VP employees are repeatedly confronted with such inquiries. She wanted to know which body was spreading this.
For the journalists present, the purpose of the press conference remained unclear, as the spotlight was put on a previously almost overlooked, almost two-week-old short message. When asked, Schwarz vehemently denied that she might want to warn people in the VP environment of an imminent official inspection. When asked whether she might see dark forces acting against the TP, she spoke of “things that are not right for me”: “That is, if you will, a long chain of events that of course oppose the new one VP directs. “
“Quirky Press Conference”
The SP reacted immediately. SP Federal Managing Director Christian Deutsch spoke in a broadcast of a “completely bizarre press conference” and a “grotesque appearance” in which house searches were announced and at the same time it was announced that all data would be deleted. “Fear is written on the TP’s face”, he said and asked: “What is the TP afraid of? Why should a house search take place in the VP headquarters? What else can Chancellor Kurz expect?”
FP mandate Christian Hafenecker also found the performance bizarre. He suspected “pierced” information from the “deep black state” behind it, but perhaps also a diversion from another cause. The Green Nina Tomaselli was also amazed under the hashtag “unbelievable” on Twitter. NEOS Secretary General Douglas Hoyos locates an attempt to obstruct justice and saw a fire on the roof under the rule of law.
