When he was first questioned about the Cum-Ex scandal before the Hamburg investigative committee, Chancellor Scholz could not remember some things. Now he has to face the questions of the committee members for the second time and vehemently rejects the allegations against him.
In his testimony before the Hamburg investigative committee on the Cum-Ex scandal, Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the accusation of personal misconduct. "I had no influence on the Warburg tax procedure," said the SPD politician at the beginning of the meeting. "There was no political influence on the tax process." He says this "again very clearly".
The allegations are "conjectures and insinuations," criticized Scholz. These assumptions are "wrong and are obviously not supported by anything or anyone". Scholz emphasized that he had no detailed knowledge of the tax procedure in question in the financial administration when he was mayor and finance minister.
The committee is investigating the question of whether political influence was involved when the Hamburg tax authorities waived a claim for reimbursement from the Warburg Bank, which was involved in the scandal. Scholz was the first mayor of the Hanseatic city at the time in question in 2016.
At the beginning of his testimony, the chancellor was instructed by the chairman of the committee about the obligation to tell the truth and criminal liability for false information. When asked about his profession, he replied: "Lawyer".
For the second time, Scholz has to answer the questions of the Hamburg committee members about the Cum-Ex scandal. They are investigating whether he or other leading SPD politicians influenced the tax treatment of the Warburg Bank. The bank did not have to pay back taxes in the millions because of cum-ex transactions.
The background to this are several meetings between Scholz and the shareholders of Warburg Bank when he was mayor of Hamburg. Scholz admitted to the meetings during his first interrogation, but stated that he could no longer remember the content of the conversation.
Even before the statement, the opposition in the federal government expressed doubts about the chancellor's credibility in the matter. "Unfortunately, I have to say it so clearly: I don't believe a word the Chancellor says," said CDU leader Friedrich Merz to the "Handelsblatt". Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch attested to the chancellor's "questionable memory gaps".
