It’s still a bit sketchy at the moment. According to Die Welt, Maaßen has confirmed meetings with Petry, but denies having advised on anything. Petry denies that there were meetings.
Meetings as such wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary; the management of the BfV routinely talks with MPs, MEPs, party leaders etc. The interesting thing would be who said what to whom.
Meanwhile, the FDP has picked up on this being potential leverage against Seehofer (as the Federal Minister of the Interior, Seehofer is Maaßen’s boss) and are sharpening their knives.
But this won’t really go anywhere until the end of the month; right now everybody is on holiday. Enough time to get the popcorn ready.
The BfV has been an unholy mess since day one, but on the whole its own incompetence prevents it from being truly dangerous. More of an embarrassment, which, on the other hand, makes it a convenient scapegoat/lightning rod when the Bundesregierung flamingoes up.
Not that this is the way things should be.
Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on this. If there are any interesting developments I’ll post about it.
