The federal government is not ruling out taking legal action against press reports in certain cases. “Media law generally applies” said Government Spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Friday in response to a request from the German News Agency. In any other case, such considerations are “speculative”.
Regarding the apparent lawsuit between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the Focus magazine, the Government Spokesman made it clear that the federal government is not involved.
A well-known Berlin law firm had previously announced that it had been commissioned by Olaf Scholz to take “press law steps” against the Focus. This concerns a conversation between the Chancellor and Berlin Cultural Senator Joe Chialo (CDU) at a birthday party, where also Focus Editor-in-Chief Georg Meck was a witness. The magazine, in several reports, accused the Chancellor of a “racist outburst” because Scholz allegedly used phrases like “court jester” and “fig leaf” in reference to Chialo. The Chancellor immediately denied this interpretation.