An Attack on Press Freedom: SPIEGEL Targeted by US Intelligence

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-nsa-and-american-spies-targeted-spiegel-a-1042023.html



Revelations from WikiLeaks published this week show how boundlessly and comprehensively American intelligence services spied on the German government. It has now emerged that the US also conducted surveillance against SPIEGEL.

An Attack on Press Freedom: SPIEGEL Targeted by US Intelligence
By SPIEGEL Staff
July 03, 2015 – 06:05 PM

Walks during working hours aren't the kind of pastime one would normally expect from a leading official in the German Chancellery. Especially not from the head of Department Six, the official inside Angela Merkel's office responsible for coordinating Germany's intelligence services.

But in the summer of 2011, Günter Heiss found himself stretching his legs for professional reasons. The CIA's station chief in Berlin had requested a private conversation with Heiss. And he didn't want to meet in an office or follow standard protocol. Instead, he opted for the kind of clandestine meeting you might see in a spy film.

Officially, the CIA man was accredited as a counsellor with the US Embassy, located next to Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate. Married to a European, he had already been stationed in Germany once before and knew how to communicate with German officials. At times he could be demanding and overbearing, but he could also be polite and courteous. During this summer walk he also had something tangible to offer Heiss.

The CIA staffer revealed that a high-ranking Chancellery official allegedly maintained close contacts with the media and was sharing official information with reporters with SPIEGEL.

[think]

1. People really need to read this article and the editor's note. /nt