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Foreign Office launches investigation into ambassador’s letter

The recently made public letter from the German ambassador to the USA, Andreas Michaelis, about the policies of US President Donald Trump was a “wire report”, diplomatic correspondence, and was intended “as classified information for official use only”, explained a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin. “Passing on such classified information is not permitted and can have disciplinary and, if necessary, criminal consequences for the people concerned,” said the spokesman. The Foreign Office now wants to examine possible consequences. The way the document was punctured showed that “there was a professional handwriting,” it said. “I don’t think this just happened.” Against this background, the Foreign Office “has started an internal investigation.”
This investigation also includes that all “colleagues” who received the wire report internally would make an “official statement” in which they assured that they had not passed the letter on to the outside world. Some employees to whom the letter was sent had already done so. The spokesman emphasized that anyone who lies or provides incorrect information in this official declaration must expect “dramatic” legal consequences. The Foreign Office is also in contact with the Federal Chancellery and the other ministries, the spokesman explained.
The background is a letter from Ambassador Michaelis that became public at the weekend, in which he warned clearly about the policies of the new US President shortly before Trump’s inauguration. The letter, which is also available to the dpa, states, among other things, that Trump’s agenda of “maximum disruption, the breaking up of established political orders and bureaucratic structures, as well as his plans for revenge ultimately mean a redefinition of the constitutional order.”