Germany expels CIA boss

Posted on by

This video from 9 July 2014 is called Germany arrests second CIA spy.

From Deutsche Welle in Germany:

NSA Scandal

Germany asks top US spy in Berlin to leave country amid undercover agent investigation

10.07.2014

The German government has advised that it will expel the top US spy in Germany. The move comes in response to the discovery that two US agents were working under cover in Germany’s secret intelligence agency.

The head of the German parliamentary board overseeing the secret services, Clemens Binninger, announced on Thursday that the head of the CIA‘s Germany station would be asked to leave the country.

The decision to expel the US Embassy’s CIA representative is designed to demonstrate Germany’s anger at the discovery of two US spies in Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND.

The first operative, who was working under cover in the German intelligence service, was arrested a week ago. He admitted to passing over 200 documents to the CIA – the United States’ foreign intelligence agency – for 25,000 euros ($34,000). The double agent worked for the BND for two years.

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that police raided properties in the Berlin area on “initial suspicion of activity for an intelligence agency.”

Raids revealed encryption programs and document hoard

According to Der Spiegel magazine, the suspect worked in the Areas of Operation and Foreign Relations division at the BND agency’s headquarters near Munich. He had security clearance and broad access to information.

Der Spiegel says when investigators raided his apartment they found a software configuration on his computer that automatically opened an encryption program in response to a user search for the weather in New York. The man was also found to be in possession of a USB stick containing 218 classified BND documents, three of which clearly related to the NSA investigative committee.

The spy was discovered when he recently sent emails in which he tried to sell secrets to Russia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday told the United States that trust was crucial between the two allies.

“More trust can mean more security,” Merkel said.

“From my point of view, spying on allies… is a waste of energy,” she said.

She said priorities should include dealing with challenges in Syria and fighting terrorists and that confidence between allies should be strengthened.

crh/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)

See also here.

GERMANY’S conservative government took the rare step yesterday of showing its open dissatisfaction with Washington by kicking out the top US intelligence official in Berlin: here.

A second person is suspected of spying on Germany for the US, according to German media reports. Authorities view the case, which involves the German Defense Ministry, as “more serious” than last week’s arrest: here.

Germany to spy on US for first time since 1945 after ‘double agent’ scandal: here.

The exposure of a second US spy in Germany within five days has unleashed a major scandal. For a while, the topic even succeeded in drawing media attention away from the World Cup. The reactions in Germany include threats of counterespionage against the United States to an official demand that the head of the US intelligence agencies in Berlin leave the country: here.

Obama and the CIA—who runs Washington? Here.

Related articles