The First Response – Briefly About Schmid: “Demand Credibility”

Schmid has been questioned by the public prosecutor on 15 subjects. He covered six new topics. Reading the interrogation protocols, it sounds like someone wants to be granted leniency status – which, as reported, is the case. You can read a summary of the previously known accusations here, recently it was even announced that Kurz as a minister would have demanded a salary increase for his partner.

The ex-chancellor – like Schmid before him – now goes on the offensive himself and launches a frontal attack on his former companion. Kurz again criticizes that “procedures in Austria are conducted not only in court but also in the media” and accuses Schmid and the prosecutor’s office of cases and corruption of exploiting this fact. In the preliminary investigation, there was “absolutely nothing” that could have corroborated the allegations against him. Now there is only one crown witness…

What Kurz seems particularly suspicious about: “While, as is well known, every area of ​​Thomas Schmid’s life has been fully documented in chat messages, it is interesting that none can be found for exactly these allegations he is now making against me.” Schmid has lied to people repeatedly — which he emphasized to Kurz that I even admitted protocol myself.

The text of the ex-chancellor’s Facebook post:

“Now that proceedings in Austria are being conducted not only in court, but also in the media, I would now like to make a public statement: For me personally, Thomas Schmid’s statements are no surprise. He is trying to gain star witness status through accusations to others, including myself, in order to avoid punishment myself.These statements are most welcome to the WKStA, as after a year of preliminary investigation there was absolutely nothing that would have confirmed the allegations against me.Although it is known that Thomas Schmid area of ​​his life has been fully documented in chat messages, it is interesting that none can be found for exactly these allegations that he is now making against me.Everyone has the right to make his or her statement, but one has to ask which one have credibility statements that are not in fact an actual admission of guilt, but aim not to be punished for one’s own wrongdoing by blaming others. In his current statements, Thomas Schmid himself says that he has repeatedly lied to people in his chats and that he often told everyone what he wanted to hear. Ultimately, it will turn out that this is also the case in this case. The claim that I committed a crime with an unknown pollster, whom I have never met in my life, and who has stated that she does not know me personally, is absurd for many reasons. It has also been repeatedly alleged that I had access to the Treasury Department budget because I had no other financial means to vote. I would like to say that in 2017 I was responsible not only for a budget of more than EUR 500 million as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but also as chairman of the Youth Party for hundreds of thousands of euros and as chairman of the Political Academy for more than EUR 2 million and as of mid-May 2017, the ÖVP as chairman had party funding of more than seven million euros available for 2017. So what would have been the point if I embezzled a few tens of thousands of euros a year into the treasury? I look forward to proving that these allegations are false, where in Austria right and wrong are really decided. Namely in court.”

Briefly lied about the church
In fact, in his statement, Schmid had stated, among other things, that he had lied to Kurz when it came to an intervention with the Catholic Church. Kurz allegedly ordered Schmid to put pressure on the church for opposing detention pending deportation. However, Schmid apparently withdrew and told Kurz that there had been a meeting and that the bishops’ conference representative “wouldn’t sleep well.”

The more than 500 pages of the protocol sometimes read adventurously, there are potential eavesdropping bugs, and Schmid also claimed that he had changed his mind through a mother and now wanted to start over. He had even cheated on his own lawyer.