German Spy Agency Recorded Hillary Clinton's Private Conversation on a Plane
-While She was US Secretary of State
- Three German news outlets citing anonymous sources reported that the conversation had been picked up 'by accident' and was supposed to be destroyed
- The sources said Germany's BND security agency also eavesdropped on other American politicians
- Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked that Washington bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone
- Hillary Clinton called Merkel 'the greatest leader in Europe' while promoting her new book in Berlin last month
Daily Mail UK, 16 August 2014
German security agents recorded a conversation involving Hillary Clinton while she was U.S. Secretary of State, media reported on Friday - a potential embarrassment for Berlin which has lambasted Washington for its widespread surveillance.
Clinton's words were intercepted while she was on a U.S. government plane, Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and German regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR said, without giving details of where she was or when the recording was made.
The respected broadsheet quoted German government sources saying the conversation had been picked up ‘by accident’ and was not part of any plan to spy on Washington's top diplomat.
Eavesdropping:
German security agents 'accidentally' recorded a conversation involving Hillary Clinton while she was U.S. Secretary of State
The fact the recording had not been destroyed immediately was ‘idiocy’, said one of the sources.
German media did not say when the recording in question was made, but mentioned that Germany's Federal Intelligence Service also allegedly eavesdropped on other 'American politicians' and other 'friendly countries.'
Both Germany's government and a spokeswoman for the National Security Council at the White House declined to comment on the reports on Friday.
Relations between the United States and Germany soured last year as a result of revelations by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that Washington spied on German officials and bugged the phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The dispute was revived in July when Germany's Federal Prosecutor arrested Markus R., a 31-year old employee of Germany's foreign intelligence agency (BND), on suspicion of spying for the Americans.
Details of the German recording of Clinton's conversation were included in documents that Markus R. had passed on to Washington, said the German media reports, without citing a source for that information.
Embarrassing:
The bombshell revelation about Clinton comes after Germany lambasted the US for bugging the phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel
The newspaper and the radio stations said a joint investigation had discovered the documents also showed Germany's government had ordered the BND to spy on a NATO partner state, without naming the country.
The media reports said U.S. authorities had brought up the affair in recent discussions, including one between current Secretary of State John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Merkel said in an interview last month that the United States and Germany had fundamentally different conceptions of the role of the intelligence service, and she stressed the Cold War was over.
Despite the embarrassing NSA spying scandal, Mrs Clinton and Chancellor Merkel have been on good terms.
As recently as last month, Hillary Clinton called Merkel 'the greatest leader in Europe' and cited her as a good argument for the United States having a woman president soon.
Leading ladies:
Merkel, and Clinton, pictured at the second day of the 47th Munich Security Conference in 2011, have enjoyed a good working relationship
High praise: During her visit to Berlin last month, Mrs Clinton, pictured with Merkel
on different occasions in 2011, called the chancellor 'the greatest leader in Europe'
‘I think we are ready for a woman to break through the glass ceiling,’ Clinton said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
In an appearance at a Berlin theater to promote her new book, Hard Choices, Clinton joked about her and Merkel's shared taste for pants suits and voiced admiration for the chancellor's leadership of Europe in the euro zone debt crisis.
‘I say in the book I think she is the greatest leader in Europe, I think she is a great leader globally, I think she carried Europe on her shoulders and it wasn't easy,’ she said.
Archive: Merkel, 'Any US spying would be unacceptable'
