Ursula von der Leyen is facing fresh criticism over the wiping of a second mobile phone that could have been used as evidence in a parliamentary inquiry.
The inquiry is looking into the alleged improper awarding of government contracts when von der Leyen was German defense minister.
Lawmakers were informed Monday that all messages had been deleted on a phone that von der Leyen had used until recently. The news comes barely a month after the ministry admitted that another phone previously used by von der Leyen had also been wiped clean of all data. Green Party MP Tobias Lindner filed a criminal complaint over that first deletion of data.
Opposition lawmakers are outraged because they believe both phones could have been crucial evidence in a scandal over lucrative defense ministry contracts that were awarded to outside consultants without proper oversight. The parliamentary committee is investigating whether a network of informal personal connections facilitated those deals, and whether von der Leyen was involved.
“Clarification is urgently required,” said Michael Theurer of the liberal Free Democratic Party. He added that the latest revelations put von der Leyen “back in the center of the contracting scandal and massively under pressure.”
Green Party MP Lindner said that the events “required an explanation.” Von der Leyen is scheduled to be questioned by the investigating committee on February 13.
Questions are also being asked about the role of Björn Seibert, a close aide of von der Leyen in German politics and at the Commission.
Seibert agreed on January 3, after news about the wiping of von der Leyen’s phone first emerged, that her other phone could be examined, according to a defense ministry report from Monday, seen by POLITICO and first reported by German newspaper Welt.
However, because that second phone had also been used during the first months after von der Leyen’s election as Commission president, Seibert insisted that “data concerning the European Commission” should not be part of the investigation.
Therefore, “personal and partly confidential data” on the phone was deleted before it was returned to the defense ministry in early November, Seibert said, according to the report.
Examination of the phone showed that “neither the folder ‘business affairs’ nor the folder ‘text messages’ contained any messages or files,” the report said. It does not mention whether von der Leyen, Seibert or someone else deleted the messages.
“Von der Leyen has obviously tidied her phone up properly, or had it tidied up,” said FDP lawmaker Alexander Müller.
A spokesperson for von der Leyen said “there were and are no messages on the phone” that could be relevant to the parliamentary investigation, adding: “This has also been explained at the beginning of the investigation committee after a review and to the best of our knowledge.”