She stayed away from the committee twice, now she came with the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Interior Minister Faeser has commented on the dismissal of the former BSI boss Schönbohm. She couldn’t convince everyone.
With a particularly friendly smile, Nancy Faeser arrives in time for the meeting of the Interior Committee in the morning. The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, also appeared just a few minutes earlier.
After Faeser stayed away from the committee twice, she is now coming with reinforcements. The door closes and what happens inside is initially not public. But the MPs have been making it clear for weeks what they are about: Did the minister instrumentalize the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in order to get rid of the then President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schönbohm? And what role did ZDF presenter Jan Böhmermann play?
“Cyberclown” with questionable contacts
What has happened so far: On October 10th, Schönbohm was banned from continuing to carry out his official duties at the BSI. Just two days earlier, ZDF “Magazin Royale” had not only described Schönbohm as a “cyber clown” but also suspected him of maintaining questionable contacts with Russia.
“There is apparently a previously unknown, huge, bubbling leak in the German competence pipeline when it comes to IT,” is how Böhmermann described the BSI President at the time. But the allegations were not substantiated enough to take disciplinary action against Schönbohm. The ministry had to publicly admit this months later. A result that might not have suited Faeser.
Suspicious conversation note
At least that’s what a note first reported by the “Bild” newspaper suggests. In a conversation, the minister appeared visibly “dissatisfied”, the note says – and further: “She found the things we gave her too ‘thin’ – we should query BfV again and collect all secret documents.”
Faeser dismissed the suspicion that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) was involved. After the meeting today, she called the allegations “outrageous” and “irresponsible.”
President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Haldenwang also denied that his office was supposed to gather information about Schönbohm again after this note: “Neither explicitly, nor in a tongue-in-cheek manner. There were no further inquiries.” That would have been illegal, said Haldenwang.
Faeser speaks of Loss of trust
What was striking today was that Faeser is now trying to justify her decision back then with a lack of trust and less with disciplinary violations. There had already been “serious technical differences” before the Böhmermann broadcast, said Faeser. She was also not satisfied with the way he carried out his duties. In times of war and the Russian threat, this should not be the case.
There are no further details. Faeser’s main goal was to prevent damage to the BSI. But the BSI had to go without a president for months and the authority felt let down by Faeser. Schönbohm’s remaining deputy, Gerhard Schabhüser, criticized at the beginning of the year that the BSI had suffered a massive loss of trust and reputation overall and that the Federal Ministry of the Interior had done little to counteract this.
Campaign support for the CDU
The parliamentarians are not satisfied with Faeser’s statement even after the meeting that lasted several hours. Even more questions arose. AfD politician Gottfried Curio also reports that a state secretary gave Schönbohm a choice: voluntary resignation or a long disciplinary procedure. Curio calls it an “intimidation call.” CDU politician Stefan Heck says that “Ms. Faeser forced a highly respected top official out of office with considerable personal persecution.”
For the CDU, the new excitement surrounding Schönbohm’s dismissal could not have come at a better time: Faeser is currently challenging the CDU Prime Minister in Hesse. The election will take place on October 8th.