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Ex-Austria Holding PLC director Thomas Schmid refused to answer questions before the parliamentary committee investigation the ÖVP's alleged corruption
Servus!
First the explosion, and then, silence. Last Thursday, ex-Austria Holding PLC director Thomas Schmid showed up at parliament ready to appear before the committee investigating the People’s Party (ÖVP) and corruption allegations surrounding, among other things, its management of the finance ministry dating back to 2016. He looked set to be a key witness for the committee, Schmid having already told federal anti-corruption authorities (WKStA) following 15 interviews that he was willing to flip and become a witness for the state.
Schmid had been expected to put flesh on a number of allegations he had made during those conversations with the WKStA, including that former chancellor Sebastian Kurz ordered him to use finance ministry funds to pay for sexed-up opinion polling that was then published in a friendly tabloid freesheet. Schmid also told investigators that president of the Austrian parliament Wolfgang Sobotka had personally intervened in tax investigations into two foundations linked to the ÖVP, while ÖVP parliamentary faction boss August Wöginger had interfered in the appointment of a new director for the tax office in Braunau, Upper Austria, on behalf of the ÖVP’s preferred candidate. In all cases, the presumption of innocence applies.
Abruptly and unexpectedly, however, when Schmid sat before the committee, he told them he wouldn’t be answering any of their questions. His reasoning, he said, was that he did not wish to prejudice the WKStA’s own investigation in which, of course, his evidence may play a decisive role. By remaining silent, one should add, Schmid also avoided any potential banana skins, including saying something that may have contradicted what he told the WKStA or made him liable to legal action. Again and again, committee members peppered him with questions; again and again, he refused to answer. For stonewalling the committee, Schmid could face a penalty of up to €10,000.
What happens next remains up in the air, and depends on whether parties to the investigative committee decide to invite Schmid back for a second run and/or extend the life of the committee. In the meantime, the fallout from the WKStA’s investigation has extended beyond the realm of politics and the prosecutable to the murky world of journalism, causing the resignation (or temporary stepping-aside) of two senior Austrian journalists in a single morning: Rainer Nowak, editor and publisher of the right-leaning daily Die Presse; and head of television news at the public broadcaster ORF Matthias Schrom.
On Monday morning, the owner of Die Presse, Styria Media Group AG, announced it was launching an internal investigation into text messages exchanged over a number of years between Schmid and Nowak, which were published over the weekend by the investigative newsweekly Profil. In the “chats,” as Austrians are wont to call them, Schmid repeatedly pressed Nowak about articles he didn’t like in the Presse, while Nowak expressed his hopes of one day becoming the ORF’s director general. Last week, Nowak apologized for the “tone” and “uncomfortable closeness” of his messages with Schmid; now, Nowak is on gardening leave until his employer’s investigation is concluded.
As for Schrom, he too was brought down by a series of unbecoming text messages, though not with Schmid but with the former vice-chancellor and far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Heinz-Christian Strache. Schrom reportedly talked to Strache about job postings that the latter wanted filled at the ORF by party supporters, while Schrom also told Strache, with reference to news coverage and staffing at ORF 2 that “those who believe that the SPÖ is able to be rescued are becoming fewer and fewer.” Schrom also described ORF 1 as “much more left-wing” than ORF 2. The whole thing is an embarrassment for the ORF, whose ethics council is now investigating the affair as Schrom takes a much needed vacation.
Bis bald!
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