"Better today than tomorrow": Warken wants to disclose Spahn report with redacted text

The investigation report into the mask affair has so far been kept under wraps. Apparently, even former Health Minister Spahn isn't familiar with the document. Current health minister Warken now intends to release as much of it as legally possible to the Budget Committee.

Federal Health Minister Nina Warken now intends to submit the previously secret investigation report on the procurement of COVID-19 protective masks to the Budget Committee. "I have decided to disclose the report to the Bundestag's Budget Committee during the coming session. The document will be forwarded to the committee secretariat for this purpose," the CDU politician told the "Rheinische Post."

However, for data protection reasons, Warken said certain passages were blacked out, citing personal employee data and trade secrets of the companies involved. "I understand the interest in transparency. I would rather publish the report in full today than tomorrow, but I simply cannot," the minister said. The document is intended only for members of parliament. "It remains classified. Unfortunately, more transparency is not possible."

The classified report by special investigator Margaretha Sudhof addresses allegations of excessively expensive mask purchases in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. According to media reports, then-Health Minister Jens Spahn favored a company from his home region of Westphalia in the logistics of mask procurement.

No statement requested?

Spahn recently stated that he, too, was unaware of the report and had not been consulted about it. The Christian Democrat also advocated for the document's publication. The Greens and the Left, in particular, are also calling for its full publication.

When asked whether the report should have been presented to the former health minister, Warken replied: "All members of parliament must have the same rights. However, I can understand that Jens Spahn would have liked to have been aware of individual passages of the report before the public discussion." It was incomprehensible that he was not even given the opportunity to comment during the drafting of the document.