It is not simply the reputation of Germany’s BND foreign intelligence service that finds itself under scrutiny following the dramatic arrest of August Hanning, the organisation’s former head, on suspicion of espionage and treason. The biggest spy scandal to hit German intelligence in decades also raises concerns about whether the 80-year-old former spy chief’s activities have compromised the security of the Western alliance.
Hanning was arrested following accusations that he had been illegally collecting classified documents for 16 years through a co-conspirator named Manfred D and selling secret material to an unnamed foreign power. Hanning’s co-conspirator has subsequently been identified by German media as 64-year-old Manfred Dankesreiter, his former chief of staff.
After setting up a private consultancy firm, Hanning is accused of receiving an estimated 2,000 documents from Dankesreiter over a period of 16 years in return for payment, including classified files such as briefing papers for the BND’s leadership before weekly intelligence briefings in the German Chancellery—a secret meeting during which important world issues such as the Ukraine war and Iran’s nuclear programme would be discussed.
German media has reported that some of the information included details of the Iranian nuclear programme, the Russian military and classified material from foreign partner agencies, such as America’s CIA and the UK’s MI6.
Commenting on the arrests, Martin Jäger, the current president of the BND, said the agency had “initiated comprehensive internal investigations at an early stage and without delay. These have confirmed the suspicion”. He added: “For the BND and for me, there can be no compromises when it comes to internal security. None of my goals or priorities is being called into question by this incident.”
A statement issued by federal prosecutors said many of the documents passed to Hanning “contained classified information to be used exclusively by the federal intelligence service for internal purposes, particularly for executive intelligence briefings”, it said. The information was then used by Hanning in his private consulting work, according to the prosecutor’s office.
“On one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence provided by Manfred D to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service,” the statement said. Prosecutors also allege that Hanning was in “close contact with a representative of another foreign intelligence service”.
