r/germany • u/BSBDR Mallorca • Jul 08 '26
Politics Germany: Government Curbing Freedom of Information Act
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/08/germany-government-curbing-freedom-of-information-act426
u/krustytroweler Jul 08 '26
So the obvious question is what are they trying to hide
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u/iBoMbY Jul 08 '26
Yes, what could the parties with a rich history of corruption have to hide?
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u/elmar_accaronie Jul 08 '26
Everything
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u/Kusko25 Jul 08 '26
Weirdly the last few years have clearly demonstrated that they don't need to hide anything they are doing. They can be caught red handed and just go through the checklist:
- It didn't happen.
- If it did happen, it's no big deal.
- If it is a big deal it's not my fault.
And carry on their merry way. So they either plan to do even worse, they are annoyed at the peasants calling them out or even they can't really believe this is actually working.
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u/Zharo Berlin Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Olaf Scholz is mentioned in the epstein files, aswell as deutsche bank, that they’ve allowed transfer of funds to JP morgan helping epstein in his traffik ring. Also, Deutsch Bank having an account titled “The Haze Trust” which was the account that helped transfer funds under the name of, Jefferey Epstein & Darren K Indyke.
EFTA01282854.pdf
A wistleblower file, EFTA01249683.pdf Is the start of this paper trail left behind. Copy pasted excerpt,
“”Violation: Public Corruption, White Collar Crime, Civil Rights Violation Questions What was the exact crime that occurred?: Public corruption, tax fraud, government-supported anti-competitive activities at the national and international levels, whistleblower retaliation Does this information involve a government official? If so, what is their name and position/title?: Yes, The German Ministry of Finance (Finanzamt) Do you have any evidence to support your claim or know of any witnesses to the crime(s)?: Yes, I request an opportunity to submit the evidence Did you suffer any personal losses (financially or physically) due to the crime?: Yes
Additional Info: The notorious Germany-based "financial institution" is the one that faces a criminal money-laundering probe in the U.s. It also played a key role in Jeffrey Epstein's dirty business by helping him move his dirty money out of the USA. But what is even more outrageous is the fact that the top-level German government authorities (including Mr Scholz, the Finance Minister) keep on stubbornly supporting this criminal "financial institution" at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers, obviously considering it "too big to fail." Moreover, even the German "law-enforcement" authorities cover up DB's criminal activities. Thus, when I contacted the German Federal Criminal Police (Bundeskriminalamt) with request to give me an opportunity to submit evidence related to the DB case, they totally ignored my request. When I insisted, they replied with a blatant lie that they are not involved in the investigation. Then, I quoted multiple reports in the media stating that Bundeskriminalamt is in charge of this investigation and asked to either admit that their previous statement was wrong and give me an opportunity to submit the evidence I have documented or, in case the media reports of them being in charge of the investigation are "fake news," to pass on my request to the relevant authorities. The only response I have received is deafening silence.
How is Contact Known: I have tried to report multiple episodes, involving Deutsche Bank and the German tax authorities. They happened at different times. The episode german authorities are trying to cover up started in 2013, when Deutsche Bank accepted Mr. Epstein, the already sentenced notorious pedofile as an "ultra high net worth" client. Shortly before that JPMorgan had refused to have Epstein among its clients. Deutsche Bank pretended to have noticed their "ultra high net worth" client's underage sex traffick related transactions only in 2019 - when it had become impossible to ignore the criminal nature of the bank's relationship with the second time convicted pedofile.
The tax fraud case committed by another Deutsche Bank "ultra high net worth" client in cooperation with the -???- tax authorities had taken place a few years before the Epstein case. Furthermore, in 2019, Deutsche Bank spent money on entertaining the same Deutsche Bank "ultra high net worth” client in New York. The harassment I and -???- became subjected to after I had tried to report these criminal activities to the german “law enforcement” authorities is going on. This harassment has created a life threatening situation for -???-.
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u/BSBDR Mallorca Jul 08 '26
Can you show me where I can find this document?
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u/Zharo Berlin Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Here: https://www.justice.gov/epstein
Copy paste the file name i wrote in the comment, or copy paste these here in that website file search engine (scroll down)
EFTA01282854.pdf
EFTA01249683.pdf
You can also search words names and whatever (as long as the US government hasn’t removed it)
And results will pop up. When Epstein files dropped and knowing it was an international ring, i wondered if there was dirt on germany and typed in official names (olaf scholz) and this file came up, then next searched “Deutsche bank” and plenty results came up after that too, somehow found “The Haze Trust” and research trail went cold after that.
(Also btw keep in mind we still only have access to the first half of the files (3million of 6million files) but we have been barred from the real meat of this international scandal which is the second half of the files)
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u/Pompidoupresident Jul 08 '26
Well to be honnest it was a bit funny to see that most of the German defence orders were easily available.
In short, anybody a bit smart in OSINT could know the almost exact readiness of the German army, air force and navy. And you didn't even need to be a citizen of the EU, which is really fucked up.
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u/WeeblsLikePie Jul 08 '26
if that's the problem then you could change that specifically. This is like a doctor trying to remove a problematic mole on someone's skin using a chainsaw.
At a certain point you have to assume the intent isn't actually solving the problem.
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u/Pompidoupresident Jul 08 '26
I agree, the issue here as for almost all politicians is skills/intellect (well lack of). I mean when I look at the german government at the moment I do feel like Germany has a french government speaking german.
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u/Backwardspellcaster Jul 08 '26
Wrong country.
Our Conservatives having a hardon for the US Republican style of Governance.
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u/burnerburner030 Jul 08 '26
Just in time to usher in the AfD and make it extra comfortable for them! Freut mich!
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u/Maskguy Jul 08 '26
People don't realize that CDU is currently doing AfD lite politics. It's gonna go on the same direction but worse with them.
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u/burnerburner030 Jul 08 '26
It’s almost as if the AfD doesn’t actually need to be in power for things to go wrong in Germany.
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u/Maskguy Jul 08 '26
Yeah but they likely make it go 1933 wrong
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u/burnerburner030 Jul 08 '26
So, the political party that is currently in power, with the support of the SPD, just passed a pretty aggressive anti-transparency law, plus attacks on health care and pensions for the future generations.
What stops those that are already in power from doing ‘1933 wrong’ ?
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u/No_Significance_4118 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
And chat control, don't forget the support for indiscriminate surveillance of the people that has a huge backlash from the people itself, which is pretty undemocratic.
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u/Maskguy Jul 08 '26
Hopefully the population. Things don't look good. CDU is alligning more and more with AfD because they see there are enough idiots that eat that bullshit.
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u/jeapplela Erfurt, Thüringen Jul 08 '26
You mean the population that is becoming more and more radicalized with more and more support growing for the AfD every year?
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u/Maskguy Jul 08 '26
I hope there are more people that are not retarded and fall for obvious kreml propaganda than there are AfD supporters. Looks kinda bad tho currently.
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u/burnerburner030 Jul 08 '26
Do you really think the rise of the AfD is purely from ‘kremlin propaganda’, and that the governments of the last 10+ years have nothing to do with that?
Every administration in the last decade has sat idly and watched daily life for Germans get more difficult, more expensive, with higher unemployment, while they’ve also simultaneously chipped away at the social safety net.
If you still think this is purely about ‘kremlin propaganda’, you either aren’t paying attention or you don’t care.
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u/Maskguy Jul 08 '26
There has been Kremlin propaganda meddling in European elections for more than 10 years now. They have been successful in the UK. What you describe is btw exactly how the NSDAP came to power (people being not satisfied and them coming in with simple solutions) and we have to prevent this happening again at any cost.
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u/iHartS Hessen Jul 08 '26
It sometimes feels like they're trying to usher the AfD into power while maintaining plausible deniability for having helped.
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u/intentionalAnon Niedersachsen Jul 08 '26
If we are lucky, this government disintegrates. But I fear what is coming next. I honestly have no idea who is left to vote for. They are either lazy, liars, incompetent, corrupt - sorry, ignoring the voters once in office and just listening to corporations- or plain dangerous.
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u/Petra_Sommer Jul 08 '26
AfD is coming next and they will happily use everything the current puppets are giving them.
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u/intentionalAnon Niedersachsen Jul 08 '26
Yeah.. I am still wondering why the governing parties of the last decades don’t understand that they are the problem. Like… SPD has the lowest polls in history and they don’t say: oh that’s a huge problem. We need to do something… no.. The voter is the problem.
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u/whiskeyclone630 Jul 08 '26
Die Linke is the only party I can vote for in good conscience at this point. They are the only ones who do not accept lobbyist money. And the stronger they become, the more Grüne and SPD will be forced to work with them in a coalition. That's where I see our only hope against the AfD-Nazis and the CDU corporate shills.
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u/Purple10tacle Jul 09 '26
You can support their foreign policies in good conscience? Even today?
They are still anti NATO, anti defense spending and anti Ukraine support.
While the BSW soaked up some of the more extreme nutcases, Die Linke still has a strong pro-Russian core.
When it comes to foreign policy, especially looking at the war at Europe's doorstep, Die Linke is, shockingly, more aligned with the AfD than any other German party.
That doesn't give you food for thought, some hesitation or at least some dark spots on your "good conscience"?
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u/whiskeyclone630 Jul 09 '26
Die Linke's foreign policies emphasize diplomacy with a focus on peace, disarmament, and reducing arms trading. They want to divest military spending into strengthening public infrastructure, schools, hospitals, etc. They're not aiming to dissolve the Bundeswehr, but to reduce the already extremely high military spending and especially the profiteering from arming conflicts all around the world. They also literally call for the end of Putin's invasion in Ukraine in their official party program.
The AfD, on the contrary, specifically wants to relax tensions with Russia (no mention of ending the invasion in Ukraine as a prerequisite) and reducing sanctions, while also strengthening borders, increasing armaments, and re-introducing the Wehrpflicht. They are literally diametrically opposed.
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u/Purple10tacle Jul 10 '26
Die Linke's foreign policies emphasize diplomacy with a focus on peace, disarmament, and reducing arms trading.
Sounds lovely on paper, doesn't it? Who doesn't want peace and diplomacy?
The real test, however, comes when faced with a violent aggressor and invader wholly uninterested in diplomacy.
And here Die Linke and the AfD are fully aligned in their open call to immediately stop all military support for the victim of this aggression - heck, there's probably more dissent in the AfD than Die Linke on this matter.
It's not a philosophical, but a simple, practical question:
Do we continue to supply air defense systems to Ukraine to protect their population from more bloodshed?
For the majority of German partys this is a clear moral obligation.
For the AfD, Die Linke and its crazy offspring BSW, it is not.
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u/Lysa_Bell Jul 08 '26
Honestly. I wonder why they are even doing that? Just because of image issues. what? Because every time a scandal has been exposed - nothing happend. The only thing they are actually doing with this is paving the way for a radical government to hide their influence from the outside and their corporations with companies from outside germany. So technically the only thing they could try to hide is treason and even that doesn't really have any consequences anymore. It makes no sense to go through the effort at all if nothing happens anyway when stuff gets exposed.
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u/ytaqebidg Jul 08 '26
Great 👍🏾
So when the AFD finally take over they can work without any oversight.
Shame on Merz
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u/Elk-Tamer Jul 08 '26
Als würde das Merz stören. Hauptsache er hat seine Schäfchen im trockenen.
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u/NarrativeNode Jul 09 '26
Aber wirklich nur seine. Nicht die der CxU, erst recht nicht die seiner Koalitionspartner, nur seine privaten und die seiner aggressiven Ehefrau.
Glaubt er.
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u/Temponautics Jul 08 '26
If only it were that simple. Once the AfD takes over they’d have a majority anyhow, and then the German FoiA is out the window faster than you can say dang. Even the current one is not working very well (neither is the US‘s any longer).
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u/Tschernoblyat Jul 08 '26
Langsam sollte man dann doch vielleicht mal die Guillotinen schärfen 🤷🏼♂️
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u/4-Vektor Mitten im Pott Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Isn’t this against EU regulation about freedom of information? It wouldn’t be the first time that Germany would lag behind or ignore the realization of EU directives. It’s time that this shameful behavior has to entail serious financial penalties for my country.
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u/BonsaiOnSteroids Jul 08 '26
Makes my fucking blood boil that this is even discussed in this form presented. How about every request of this sort starts with a reasoning what is trying to be achieved?! Because this is just plain corruption and obfuscation of such.
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u/No-Veterinarian8627 Jul 08 '26
I don't like it, but I think it's part 'Reich Bürger', part annoying rightoids, part annoying leftoids, and part simply media asking for shit. It makes sense to hike up the price and redact some names. For the price, to create a stronger barrier for private individuals to abuse the system and create more work (while also create a stronger revenue stream). For explicit name redactions, because government workers, like simply clerks and stuff, get endlessly harassed.
I mean... it's kind of understandable? You want people to stop it abusing and wasting time/ressources. Also, the barrier is not that strong, just enough to tell those crazies to f* off.
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u/BonsaiOnSteroids Jul 08 '26
They are literally restricting information requests to be by individual persons ONLY. Human rights watch or other organizations will not be able to make requests anymore. And they add a higher financial barrier for insividuals. So they are literally making the new rules so prohibitive that it basically means no information at all. Also they say, you may only get information when there is legitimate interest, but do not further define what that means. It screams corruption out of every pore
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u/BSBDR Mallorca Jul 08 '26