Kickl sees no fault at the Ministry of the Interior – Politics –

Kickl waived an introductory statement, which was calm and objective during the examination of Judge Wolfgang Pöschl. The controversial collection of allegations against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the fight against terrorism that he had received in the summer of 2017. He did not know how he got there, said Kickl. But it was clear to him that it was probably in connection with his former function as campaign manager that the convolutions had found him. He had seen an attempt to "give impetus to Dirty Campaigning".

Later, as Minister of the Interior, his Secretary General, Peter Goldgruber, again presented him with the Convolute. It was different, whether as a minister or as a "private person," explained Kickl, why he had become active at the time. He insisted on a legally correct approach, he said. Kickl denied having instructed his general secretary to "clean" the BAT. This had already been corrected several times, "it was not said that way".

In general, Kickl sees no problem with the raid itself: it took a while to open up the first reports to the search – this shows that the search itself "is actually very unobtrusive" and n? did no harm – the question was: the minister finds that what happened because of media reports

In the interrogation of the MEP, Kickl also rejected any responsibility. He had neither sent Goldgruber to the prosecution nor knew in advance the details of the raid on the BVT. In any case, Kickl considers that the "excessive reporting" of the media is in any case a problem.

Kai Jan Krainer and Stephanie Krisper of NEOS have both tried to prove that Kickl misinformed Parliament and the public about the case. If criticized Krisper Kickl had concealed his meeting with a testimony of stress in the first question of the answers to the cause. And Krainer pointed out that even on the evening of June 26, Kickl had denied trust issues with the services of international partners – although he was previously informed of the possible suspension of the "Berne Club" information.

"For me, the crucial point has always been whether we have been cut off from international news," said the minister. And this was not the case, according to his international interlocutors. And besides, Kickl was responsible for the problems of trust, the "excessive reporting" on the BAT case – as well as investigations of a data leak relating to the protection of the constitution, as well as the said his party colleague Hans-Jörg Jenewein.

The fact that the General Secretary of the Prosecutor in charge of the fight against corruption has seized the prosecutor of an anonymous author accused of maladministration within the BAT, Kickl does not want to have caused: "I did not not sent Peter Goldgruber to the WKStA ". To put it bluntly, "To be honest, I think it's a bit odd, if you think that's the main goal of the job." And he does not know the "investigative pressure" allegedly exercised by Udo Lett, a Goldgruber employee.

In the run-up to the raid, according to his presentation, Kickl was only selectively and generally retrospectively informed about the Goldgrubers share. He therefore learned that the Secretary General, the "convolute", had received the allegations from the SPÖ's close lawyer, Gabriel Lansky, and handed him over to the prosecutor. He was informed of the house search, which was subsequently declared illegal the day before. But he did not find it necessary to warn not to confiscate sensitive documents with a manager as experienced as Goldgruber.

The badumption that he would review all the activities of his employees would be "totally disconnected from reality," Kickl said, "I can badume that I will be informed of all the essential steps." But I can also badume that all subordinate officials do what is required by law. "

During the interrogation, Kickl then became emotional. Representative Peter Pilz accused him of having abused power and endangering the lives of secret investigators – something that Kickl angrily dismissed as "last clbad".

The mandate focused on whether Goldgruber wanted information from BVT Director Peter Gridling, where discreet investigators are used in the far right and who they are. The Ministry of the Environment has wished to see such requests until now that in the course of a meeting of the National Security Council to which he had asked his name, denied Goldgruber .

Kickl could not name the details of this National Security Council meeting, and if there were secret investigators, he could not remember it. For Kickl, it is not automatically about fraternity when it comes to the right-wing extremist region – it could also be "football hooligans" or "identities", he said.

Pilz asked whether the Home Secretary himself or his Secretary General had abused his power by "the planned betrayal" of undercover investigators who would have put their lives in danger. This is a "real insinuation" to accuse him of "abusive use of his duties and endangering the lives of investigators to protect right-wing extremists", Kundl rebuked. "Regarding extremist activities endangering democracy," no difference is made, whether it comes from the law, the left or the field of Islamism, they are all "enemies ", did he declare. Minister.

He had not participated in the conversation between Goldgruber and Gridling, there were perhaps "different perceptions" of it. "Is it true that it is virtually forbidden for a minister or general secretary to receive such information or not?" Asked Kickl Pilz. The customer accused Kickl of having erred on this subject. "I do not speak," Kickl replied.

In the end, the exchanges between Pilz and Kickl even resulted in a break in the session: the MP "Now" accused the Minister of the Interior of misinforming the National Security Council on existing problems with the services of international partners. "We were systematically lied to," said Pilz furiously – after which Kickl dismissed the prosecution and the chair of the committee, Doris Bures (SPÖ), interrupted the session. Kickl had already intended to know that the BVT had been removed from some working groups of the "Berne Club" even in November.

For the ÖVP, the first to be questioned, as announced, is not unusual the group leader Werner Amon, but Gaby Schwarz, the Minister of the Interior. She asked if the Minister had been informed in detail of an issue as delicate as the house search at BAT. "I do not know what you think, so you're subject to a deployment plan," Kickl replied. Of course, Amon was not quite solid: in the end, he wanted to know from Kickl if he had always felt sufficiently informed by his employees – what he said in the affirmative.

Another problem is the case of a neo-Nazi security officer sitting on the committee and recently spotted. Bures said at the beginning of the session that since today only a parliamentary staff certified for security has been set up to ensure order. Bures also apologized to the journalists present "specifically for the vulnerability and the resulting uncertainty" because of the cause. The results of subsequent tests would be communicated to the public, Bures badured.