The report looked at employees who participated in extremist events or people who would have shouted ‘heil Hitler’. Also, several employees are said to be in group chats where extremist ideas, photos and videos are shared. According to the ministry, this is not a network within the services.
A total of 860 employees were questioned about possible links with extreme right-wing organizations, 327 were further investigated. 83 of them work for military intelligence and eighteen for the national police.
Thirty employees of the security service are said to have links with the so-called Reichsbürger movement. Its adherents reject all state authority and refuse to pay taxes, arguing that the current German state is illegitimate because of the aftermath of World War II and Allied occupation. According to the Reichsbürger movement, only pre-war Germany is a legitimate state.