AfD leak: emails raise new questions over what Weidel knew of Swiss donations
Internal emails suggest AfD co-leader Alice Weidel knew of campaign donations in 2017 earlier than she has said. Her spokesman says she stands by her previous statements.
Archive image · Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Leaked internal emails have put Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel under pressure over illegal donations from Switzerland. According to an analysis by ZDF frontal, Der Spiegel and Der Standard with the OCCRP reporting network, Weidel wrote in July 2017 that donations had been announced to her to fund her social media campaign, and asked for a separate sub-account at the party's Lake Constance district branch.
Shortly afterwards, about 132,000 euros arrived in installments via two Zurich pharmaceutical firms, referenced as a campaign donation for Weidel's social media. Real estate billionaire Henning Conle is believed to be the actual donor. The donation was later ruled impermissible and the AfD paid a penalty of almost 400,000 euros. Weidel has said she learned of it only in September 2017.
Her spokesman said Weidel was not revising any of her statements on the case. Prosecutors in Konstanz dropped the case in September 2021 for lack of sufficient evidence. Whether the emails have legal consequences is unclear; the AfD has confirmed a hacking attack and filed a criminal complaint.