Former BND chief August Hanning is said to have made a profit from secret information. There is a suspicion of espionage. Now the United States is threatening to withhold information.

At the beginning of October, the former President of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) August Hanning was suspected of espionagearrested. He has been in custody ever since. The investigation only got going with the so-called block case.

Because in 2025, in connection with theChildren's kidnapping caseChristina Block searched several of Hanning's residential and business premises, as a resultEvidence materialscould be ensured. They later raised suspicions of espionage.

Search of the time ordered: Block process endangers freedom of the press

Former office manager passes on up to 2,000 BND documents

August Hanning was President of the BND from 1998 to November 2005. Worked at that timeManfred D.along with him as his office manager. After Hanning later moved to the Federal Ministry of the Interior as State Secretary, Manfred D. followed him as a seconded assistant. In 2009 Hanning was promoted to...temporary retirementtransferred and his civil service career was ended. He then worked as a consultant in the private sector. At the same time, Manfred D. moved back to the BND. However, the connection apparently continued to exist.

Manfred D. apparently continued to work part-time for Hanning with official permission from the BND, the reportedMirror. According to the investigators, the ex-BND boss and his former office manager agreed that Manfred D. should continually obtain valuable BND intelligence for Hanning in return for payment.

According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, Hanning was able to obtain almost 2,000 documents by 2022, many of which are classified. He is said to have used this information profitably in his consulting work.

Profit from secret information

The Federal Prosecutor's Office suspects August Hanning of treasonous spying and spying on state secrets. He is also accused of attempted treason and acting as a secret service agent.

The investigators are goingSuspicionthat he maintained contact with an Azerbaijani intelligence officer. The documents received are said to have been used by Hanning to create a written analysis. According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, this analysis was intended for an "employee of a foreign intelligence security apparatus." Whether this reached the addressee is currently the subject of ongoing investigations.

In addition, Hanning is said to have been in intensive contact with an employee of another state intelligence service and to have provided him with political information for years. According to theMIRROR-Research should lead this trail to China.

Is the USA turning off the information tap?

After the arrest of the former BND chief, US secret services are said to have warned their German colleagues of the consequences, according to media reports. What exactly these should look like is still unclear. However, the cooperation is now coming to an endTest bench.

Foreign MinisterJohann Wadephul(CDU) said during a visit to Atlanta, USA, that he was the wrong person to contact in the federal government. “But I can’t imagine that at all because we have a very successful and trusting cooperation between the intelligence services,” he added.

German secret service reform: Who and what exactly is affected

The announcement of the test bench has already caused great excitement at the BND. The USA is consideredmost important intelligence partnerGermany. The BND's greatest concern might therefore be that the flow of information would come to a standstill. In very urgent cases, such as possible terrorist attacks, the US would probably continue to transmit information.

Managers are said to have been instructed to immediately report changes in exchanges with the USA. So far there has been no sign of any reluctance to cooperate with the US secret services, it was said in Berlin. “The collaboration is in the normal state of cooperation,” saysSecurity circles.“Just a few work meetings have been postponed.” These have already been rescheduled.

Application still unclear

Other German security authorities such as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) see no reason for concern so far. Cooperation with US partner services continues as before, it said. The exchange of intelligence between the US military, the US military intelligence service DIA and the Bundeswehr should also remain unchanged.

The threat from the US government could in turn be used to enforce demands against the German government and its secret service. In the past, the Trump administration frequently used threats of high tariffs to enforce economic agreements with other countries. It remains to be seen whether this will also happen in the case of the BND.

The postAfter the arrest of the ex-BND chief: US secret services check cooperationappeared firstperspective.