Exclusive
Status: 08/19/2021 6:30 a.m.
Vacation at the golf resort, rental car and other favors: Alice Weidel has, according to research by NDR, WDR and “Zeit” has apparently benefited from contributions from a political advisor for years.
By Sebastian Pittelkow and Katja Riedel, NDR / WDR
The top candidate of the AfD for the federal election, Alice Weidel, has apparently benefited for several years from donations, advice and favors from the Berlin entrepreneur and controversial political networker Friedel Opitz. Opitz affirmed this on oath and numerous documents prove that NDR, WDR and the “time” are available. As their advisor, he had “financially and strategically supported Weidel,” said Opitz.
Accordingly, he wants to have paid in kind of around 10,000 euros for Weidel, only part of it should have repaid. It is about rental cars, tablets and smartphones that Opitz Weidel had made available. Weidel could also have used some of these alleged donations in her political work – others, however, were private.
Contradictory statements about birthday party
In spring 2018, Opitz booked a hotel room for Weidel, her wife and children in a posh golf resort on Mallorca and covered the costs of more than 3500 euros. Apparently they spent happy days together on the Mediterranean island. Opitz also celebrated his birthday there. Numerous photos show a relaxed atmosphere. He later billed Weidel for this stay privately. “The payment of the invoiced amounts for the Mallorca trip in 2018 has not yet been made,” Opitz affirmed.
Upon request, Weidel initially announced that she “owed him nothing”. A spokesman later specified that she and her partner Opitz had advanced cash on site because his bank card had not worked. She did not want to give an affidavit on her part. Opitz vehemently denies this.
Job offer before Mallorca trip
The matter is also spicy because Alice Weidel had offered political advisor Opitz shortly before the trip to Mallorca to officially work for her as a strategic advisor in the Bundestag, i.e. pays from public funds. In an email from Weidels’ then office manager, four days before departure, it was stated that an employee contract was “still being drawn up”. In this context, the Weidel employee has already sent Opitz a draft for his future Bundestag business cards. A set of cards in which Opitz is referred to as “Alice Weidel’s strategic advisor” was then also printed.
Opitz announced on request that he had ultimately decided against a contract because he should be employed subject to social security contributions. For him as an entrepreneur this was unattractive. Upon request, several political and administrative scientists rate the entire process as sensitive, because the consultancy contract financed from taxpayers’ money could be seen as a counter-offer for the trip and could therefore have legal consequences.
Who paid for the car and technology?
Businessman Opitz, who currently transports expensive luxury vehicles and runs a strategic consulting agency, also names other donations that he wants to have taken over for Weidel. Before and during the 2017 federal election campaign, Weidel drove a Volvo for several months, which Opitz’s company wants her to have given to her at her request. Opitz’s company Weidel is also said to have made a smartphone and several tablets available – in 2018, when she was already the parliamentary group leader of her party in the German Bundestag.
Opitz’s company PWM later invoiced Weidel for these services, sometimes personally, sometimes as a member of parliament and sometimes as the national board of the AfD. “Alice Weidel has told the AfD Federal Association that she has not accepted any donations from Mr. Opitz – neither in cash nor in kind. All bills have been settled,” said the AfD when asked. Alice Weidel herself said on request that she had “obtained no advantages from Mr. Opitz – on the contrary”.
Opitz denies this: He claims that some of the invoices sent to Weidel are unpaid and have been booked as open items by his company. Opitz did not write any reminders. He wanted to support Weidel’s career as a politician with advice and benefits in kind.
Refund from notorious account
Only one refund from Weidel is on record: She transferred 1892.10 euros from her special election campaign account of the AfD district association Bodenseekreis to Opitz’s company. The “Spiegel”, the research agency Correctiv and the ARD magazine contrasts reported. It is the account on which Weidel received an illegal party donation of 132,000 euros for her personal election campaign in 2017, according to the Bundestag administration.
These bank statements and the AfD donation affair had a year later NDR, WDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” revealed. Since then, the Konstanz public prosecutor’s office has been conducting an ongoing investigation in this context. The transfer to Opitz’s company involved a rental car that she drove in the summer of the last federal election campaign. A partial invoice for the same vehicle, which comes from the previous months, remained open, according to Opitz, which Weidel denies. When asked about the bills, Weidel said that she had paid some privately, but could not understand all of the bills.
Confidential messages in chat
Up until a falling out about a year ago, Opitz and Weidel were on friendly terms, and chats show a familiar relationship. In addition to private matters, there were also political and business issues. Weidel apparently also listened to very specific advice: On a Sunday in July 2018, Opitz emailed her a photo of a hiking excursion. “For Facebook” it said in the subject, and Opitz texted: “If the road is so rocky, we will master it together. We will get our country back.”
The next day, Weidel posted the picture and text on Facebook. The post got her headlines because the picture was taken at St. Gotthard and thus in Switzerland, not Germany. When Weidel was looking for a small apartment for the parliamentary weeks in Berlin, Opitz also helped one of her Bundestag employees to find a suitable place to stay.
Alice Weidel recently had to explain herself because of other stays in expensive hotels. She had been invited to these by the dubious advisor Tom Rohrböck, with whom Weidel had been in contact for more than two years, as she admitted. Research by NDR, WDR and “Zeit” revealed a few weeks ago that Rohrböck had tried to exert massive influence on officials and the party’s personnel orientation since the party was founded. Several times he is said to have offered functionaries help with their party careers.
The AfD has set up an internal party investigative commission in the Rohrböck case. Rohrböck did not want to comment on repeated request.