Shortly before his appearance before the committee of inquiry into the Cum-Ex affair, diary entries by Warburg banker Christian Olearius again put Chancellor Olaf Scholz under pressure.
In the diary, Olearius describes, among other things, several meetings with Scholz. This was already known beforehand, but the “Bild” newspaper is now quoting from it – and these quotations could put Scholz in need of explanation on Friday when he appears before the investigative committee from 2 p.m.
On October 26, 2016, according to “Bild”, Olearius describes a meeting with the then mayor of Hamburg: “He asks, listens, does not express an opinion, does not reveal anything about what he thinks and whether and how he intends to act. I understand that, and I don’t want to push and compromise him in any way.” The meeting was about an additional payment of 47 million euros that the Warburg Bank of Olearius is threatened with because of the Cum-Ex affair.
According to his diary, Olearius received a message from Scholz on November 9th. “Waiting and staring at the phone again. Then finally, but not an expected message. H. Scholz is piqued whether Trump’s victory and then: Send the letter to the Senator for Finance without further comment. I don’t ask anything, thank you and let H. Tschentscher deliver the letter,” quoted the “Bild”.
A short time later, on November 17, Olearius is happy about the good news. The “initially recalcitrant tax officer” waived the additional payment of 47 million euros for the Warburg Bank.
Almost a year later, the money will be reclaimed – under pressure from the Ministry of Finance in Berlin. But according to “Bild”, the Cum-Ex investigators take these diary entries as an opportunity to take a closer look at the influence of Scholz or even the influence of today’s chancellor.
France has withdrawn soldiers from an anti-terrorist operation in Mali. Russian soldiers are said to have suddenly appeared in Mali. German soldiers saw that. The Bundeswehr has suspicions as to why the Kremlin men are there.
RBB Abendschau presenter Eva-Maria Lemke now reports a “very unreal situation” about a spontaneous meeting with the ousted director Patricia Schlesinger. She met immediately after Schlesinger’s statement in front of the broadcasting council.
The exemption from VAT for the planned gas levy that the federal government wanted is finally off the table.
