The former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is no longer wanted in the CDU. Now it turns out that Maassen has set up a foundation that is committed to “the idea of freedom”. But what does he want to achieve with it?
By Sebastian Pittelkow, Katja Riedel and
Jorg Schmitt, Berlin
Someone who has been at the head of the German domestic secret service for seven years should be familiar with secret letterbox companies and secretive trust structures. Such tools are not always used to do good, but often help to disguise possessions and cash flows. A former secret service chief should therefore also know that it raises questions when it comes out that he himself is at the head of a discreet foundation in the tax haven of Switzerland.