Die Zeit: German foreign intelligence eavesdropped Obama’s calls for years without Merkel’s knowledge!
The German newspaper Die Zeit reported that for several years, Germany’s foreign intelligence service (BND) eavesdropped phone calls made by former US President Barack Obama from an Air Force One plane, without the knowledge of then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
According to the German newspaper, the revelation was based on an extensive journalistic investigation published in a new book titled “Germany Without America – A Historic Opportunity,” recently published by Propyläen Verlag, which examines the nature of the intelligence relationship between Berlin and Washington.
The investigation revealed that German intelligence exploited the weak encryption of the US presidential plane’s telephone communications, in addition to having technical knowledge of the frequencies and communication devices used, which allowed it to carry out eavesdropping operations within the framework of narrow internal powers, which were later destroyed, while only sending a general summary to the German Chancellery’s office.
The report noted that these practices were stopped in 2014 by a decision of the head of the Chancellery’s Office, following media reports that the communications of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had been eavesdropped.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was reportedly not directly aware of the wiretapping, given the growing political sensitivity of the dossier, especially after her public criticism of the US National Security Agency’s spying operations on her personal phone in 2013.
