EX-VP: Apparently emails from Scholz’s office manager were searched

According to a media report, emails of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s office manager, Janet Schwamberger, were searched in connection with the Cum-Ex scandal.

Investigators confiscated the mailbox in April, NDR, “Stern” and “Manager Magazin” reported today, citing documents they had. The corresponding search warrant came from the Cologne District Court. The prosecutor classifies one of the letters as “potentially relevant evidence” because it “suggests considerations about data deletion.”

Data deletion considerations

According to the report, the search warrant indicates that it was roughly the time when Schulz was finance minister. Schwamberger was already his office manager at the time. According to the media report, the court argued that the mailbox could contain emails related to the preparation of Schultz’s testimony at the Hamburg Investigative Committee on the Cum-Ex case in April 2021.

According to the NDR, “Stern” and “Manager Magazin”, investigators came across an email in the mailbox written by Schwamberger in April 2021. This was classified as suspicious by the Cologne Public Prosecutor’s Office. The letter relates to an inquiry from the Hamburg Investigative Committee about Schulz’s appointments to Cum-Ex, the Bank of Warburg and with bank directors and politicians.

According to the media report, the prosecutor’s assessment of Schwamberger’s email and other messages: “The following calendar entries and emails are likely relevant as evidence, as they indicate data deletion considerations.”

Schulz: He didn’t participate

At the request of the NDR, Schulze reported that he “was not involved in the calendar query nor in sending extracts from the calendar,” the radio reported. Those close to him took care of Wolfgang Schmidt, now Minister of the Chancellery, and Schwamberger. “There was no ‘choice’ of calendar dates,” a government spokeswoman told the NDR newspaper.