CIA ‘hired double agent’ in spy op against Germany

The Central Intelligence Agency was involved in a spying operation against Germany that led to the alleged recruitment of a German intelligence official and has prompted renewed outrage in Berlin, two US officials familiar with the matter said yesterday.

CIA director John Brennan has been asked to brief key members of the US Congress on the matter, which threatens a new rupture between Washington and a close European ally, one of the officials said. It was unclear if and when Brennan’s briefing to US lawmakers would take place. The CIA declined to comment.

The office of Germany’s Federal Prosecutor late last week issued a statement saying that a 31-year old man had been arrested on suspicion of being a foreign spy, and that investigations were continuing. The statement offered no further details.

German politicians have said that the suspect, an employee of the country’s foreign intelligence service, admitted passing to an American, contact details about a German parliamentary committee’s investigation of alleged US eavesdropping disclosed by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the US National Security Agency (NSA).

The US officials who confirmed the CIA’s role spoke on condition of anonymity. White House press secretary Josh Earnest declined comment on the dispute.

Snowden’s revelations last year, which included evidence that the NSA was targeting German chancellor Angela Merkel’s personal mobile phone, frosted US-German relations. The White House agreed to stop targeting Merkel, but rejected Berlin’s pleas for a wider “no spy” pact. The latest case risks further straining ties. Chancellor Merkel said allegations that a German man had worked as a double agent for US intelligence were serious and, if true, were a clear contradiction of what co-operation between partners is supposed to be about.

Speaking in Berlin, Snowden’s lawyer in Germany, Wolfgang Kaleck, said he hoped the latest allegations might eventually help change Germany’s stance towards his client, noting that European states had profited from his information, but were not prepared to protect him.