Debate about Spahn's masks: Political diversionary tactics instead of dealing with the coronavirus

Finally, a scapegoat of the coronavirus pandemic has been found. Jens Spahn is said to have purchased masks for far too much money . And to have done so from a logistics company in his neighboring constituency. The report by Margaretha Sudhof, the special representative for mask procurement, was recently leaked to public broadcaster. She was supposed to investigate the criteria according to which contracts for the procurement of masks , protective clothing and disinfectants were awarded at the beginning of the pandemic. The report, at least according to WDR and NDR, makes serious allegations against Spahn. Under his leadership, the Ministry of Health is said to have appointed the Münster-based logistics company Fiege as the central purchaser, despite massive resistance from other authorities. According to the special investigator, this led to the logistics of mask procurement ultimately "collapse".

This sounds suspicious; it smacks of nepotism. The contract with Fiege was allegedly concluded "without competitive bidding" and includes services worth 1.5 billion euros. Were hundreds of millions of euros gambled away? So far, the public has not been able to view the document because the current Health Minister, Nina Warken of the CDU , only wants to disclose parts of the report to the Bundestag. The Greens are outraged; they are demanding the entire report, and CDU parliamentary group leader Spahn is under pressure.

It goes without saying that the entire report must be published. The suspicion that Spahn favored contacts is too strong. And if the public broadcaster already has the document, it will become public anyway.

But ultimately, the outrage over Spahn and the focus on his possible misdeeds is primarily a diversionary tactic. Even more than two years after the official end of the pandemic, a true review of the coronavirus period is still not taking place. Yet, all decisions made during the coronavirus years should be made transparent. And not piecemeal each time against resistance, but comprehensively. Why not within the framework of a committee of inquiry or a commission of inquiry?

Fake Corona investigation

Those in charge obviously don't want an honest, fundamental review of the past. While everyone, including the President of the Bundestag and the Federal President, has called for this, nothing has happened so far. This would be necessary to heal the deep wounds caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, political opponents often feign a review of the past in order to harm each other.

Take Spahn's mask deal, for example: The public learns of the special representative's report, and one might think she's a completely independent authority. But the special investigator, Sudhof, isn't a judge, UN envoy, or procurement expert, but an SPD party colleague of Karl Lauterbach . He appointed her to investigate the failings of his predecessor, Spahn. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a scoundrel. Incidentally, she previously served as State Secretary under then-Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. That doesn't mean her report is necessarily biased. Perhaps Spahn made serious mistakes. Was it intentional? That needs to be clarified. But we should also clarify the situation at the time.

It helps, for example, to watch the Tagesschau news broadcast from Friday, March 13, 2020, online again. That was the day Spahn informed the federal government's coronavirus crisis team that the logistics company Fiege was to procure the masks. The entire program revolves around one topic: coronavirus. Two days earlier, the WHO had declared Covid-19 a global pandemic; the following Monday, schools and daycare centers across Germany closed, and Denmark and Poland had already closed their borders. Finance Minister Scholz announced unlimited loans for companies. Merkel declared: "We are willing to do whatever is necessary to get through this crisis as best as possible." A few days later, the images of the coffins in Bergamo went around the world. A state of emergency.

Should the mask procurement be reviewed? Very good. But what about the large sums and the even bigger questions? The EU Commission is still keeping secret text messages in which Commission President von der Leyen is said to have negotiated tens of billions of euros for vaccine doses with the Pfizer CEO. An EU court has ordered them to release the documents, but the Commission is blocking them. Why?

Karl Lauterbach himself refused to release Robert Koch Institute records proving that he prevented a downgrade of the coronavirus risk in February 2022, against the agency's recommendation. When a journalist finally leaked the documents, Lauterbach declared there was nothing to hide.

And what about the biggest elephant in the Corona circus? In mid-March, Die Zeit reported that the BND (Federal Intelligence Service) had assumed since the beginning of the pandemic that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory. The German government knew this and yet, for five years, publicly acted as if it were a conspiracy theory. Here, too, no clarification. Incidentally, experiments with viruses continue worldwide, including at the Charité hospital in the heart of Berlin.

Spahn has written a book titled "We will have to forgive each other a lot." He's right. But in order to forgive, all the facts must be put on the table. Otherwise, what really happened during the coronavirus pandemic is essentially unforgivable.

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