SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
New Reporting: US Spied on German Media
New revelations indicate NSA spying in Germany went beyond German officials
Jul 03, 2015
While previous revelations showed that German officials have been the target of U.S. government spying, new reporting indicates that German press was targeted as well.
Both CNN and The Intercept reported Friday on incidents that took place in the summer of 2011 involving the CIA station chief in Berlin, who also represented the NSA at the U.S. Embassy; a top German government intelligence official, Gunter Heiss; another senior intelligence official, Hans Josef Vorbeck; and the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
The publications' new stories detail an incident Heiss confirmed in testimony to the German parliament on Thursday.
CNN's Jake Tapper reports that that CIA official met at the time with Heiss and his assistant to urge action against Vorbeck for leaking classified information to reporters.
The Intercept also reported Friday that the CIA official told Heiss that Vorbeck was leaking information to the press--a disclosure that the Obama administration told the German publication was because of national security concerns. Further, the revelation appears to have prompted Vorbeck's demotion later that summer. Tapper adds that Vorbeck's reassignment was "a move widely seen as a punishment for his cooperating with reporters."
Tapper writes:
That the U.S. government thought it appropriate to spy on journalists doing their jobs is controversial enough. But why would it be appropriate for U.S. officials to use these tools -- given to save lives and protect U.S. national security -- to notify the German government about officials talking to reporters in the normal exercise of a free press?
The Intercept reports the German magazine as suspecting that the U.S. knew of the leak because of electronic surveillance, though the specific target of the surveillance remains unknown.
The Intercept's Ryan Devereaux writes:
The revelations, the latest in a series of disclosures detailing the fraught and intertwined intelligence relationship between German and American entities, offer an example of how the Obama administration, known for its aggressive approach to national security leaks at home, similarly asserts itself in leak cases abroad.
Spiegel reported Friday that it had filed a legal complaint with its federal prosecutor's office over the suspected surveillance.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
While previous revelations showed that German officials have been the target of U.S. government spying, new reporting indicates that German press was targeted as well.
Both CNN and The Intercept reported Friday on incidents that took place in the summer of 2011 involving the CIA station chief in Berlin, who also represented the NSA at the U.S. Embassy; a top German government intelligence official, Gunter Heiss; another senior intelligence official, Hans Josef Vorbeck; and the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
The publications' new stories detail an incident Heiss confirmed in testimony to the German parliament on Thursday.
CNN's Jake Tapper reports that that CIA official met at the time with Heiss and his assistant to urge action against Vorbeck for leaking classified information to reporters.
The Intercept also reported Friday that the CIA official told Heiss that Vorbeck was leaking information to the press--a disclosure that the Obama administration told the German publication was because of national security concerns. Further, the revelation appears to have prompted Vorbeck's demotion later that summer. Tapper adds that Vorbeck's reassignment was "a move widely seen as a punishment for his cooperating with reporters."
Tapper writes:
That the U.S. government thought it appropriate to spy on journalists doing their jobs is controversial enough. But why would it be appropriate for U.S. officials to use these tools -- given to save lives and protect U.S. national security -- to notify the German government about officials talking to reporters in the normal exercise of a free press?
The Intercept reports the German magazine as suspecting that the U.S. knew of the leak because of electronic surveillance, though the specific target of the surveillance remains unknown.
The Intercept's Ryan Devereaux writes:
The revelations, the latest in a series of disclosures detailing the fraught and intertwined intelligence relationship between German and American entities, offer an example of how the Obama administration, known for its aggressive approach to national security leaks at home, similarly asserts itself in leak cases abroad.
Spiegel reported Friday that it had filed a legal complaint with its federal prosecutor's office over the suspected surveillance.
While previous revelations showed that German officials have been the target of U.S. government spying, new reporting indicates that German press was targeted as well.
Both CNN and The Intercept reported Friday on incidents that took place in the summer of 2011 involving the CIA station chief in Berlin, who also represented the NSA at the U.S. Embassy; a top German government intelligence official, Gunter Heiss; another senior intelligence official, Hans Josef Vorbeck; and the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
The publications' new stories detail an incident Heiss confirmed in testimony to the German parliament on Thursday.
CNN's Jake Tapper reports that that CIA official met at the time with Heiss and his assistant to urge action against Vorbeck for leaking classified information to reporters.
The Intercept also reported Friday that the CIA official told Heiss that Vorbeck was leaking information to the press--a disclosure that the Obama administration told the German publication was because of national security concerns. Further, the revelation appears to have prompted Vorbeck's demotion later that summer. Tapper adds that Vorbeck's reassignment was "a move widely seen as a punishment for his cooperating with reporters."
Tapper writes:
That the U.S. government thought it appropriate to spy on journalists doing their jobs is controversial enough. But why would it be appropriate for U.S. officials to use these tools -- given to save lives and protect U.S. national security -- to notify the German government about officials talking to reporters in the normal exercise of a free press?
The Intercept reports the German magazine as suspecting that the U.S. knew of the leak because of electronic surveillance, though the specific target of the surveillance remains unknown.
The Intercept's Ryan Devereaux writes:
The revelations, the latest in a series of disclosures detailing the fraught and intertwined intelligence relationship between German and American entities, offer an example of how the Obama administration, known for its aggressive approach to national security leaks at home, similarly asserts itself in leak cases abroad.
Spiegel reported Friday that it had filed a legal complaint with its federal prosecutor's office over the suspected surveillance.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.