An important witness is said to testify about the mask affair: "Not such a disrespectful masquerade in front of the state parliament since 1946"
Created: 07/28/2022, 15:35
By: Christian Deutschländer
Andrea Tandler comes to the meeting of the mask investigation committee in the Bavarian state parliament to hear witnesses.
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
She is said to have pocketed millions of euros for her deals and should finally testify about the mask affair.
She is silent in court.
The deputies rage.
Munich – The hide-and-seek ends at 9:07 a.m. (July 27).
But only a little.
The witness comes around the corner, or to be more precise: a hooded something.
Andrea Tandler wrapped herself in a flowing dress and a scarf, put on an FFP2 mask, dark sunglasses and a blue baseball cap.
In this outfit, without a word and flanked by a lawyer, she wants to get past the cameras and into the courtroom.
It was the beginning of a bizarre appearance before the investigative committee of the Bavarian state parliament.
For months, Tandler tried to avoid questioning.
Unfortunately prevented.
Unfortunately ill.
Unfortunately still ill.
Until the committee burst its collar, it pondered the fine and demonstration by the police and ordered a medical examination.
The medical officer noted: able to be questioned, if necessary with sunglasses against a possible light allergy.
Video: Jens Spahn testifies in the mask committee
Witness appears with sunglasses, mask and cap to testify
Tandler strides past the cameras, into the noble senate hall of the Maximilianeum, takes a seat on the witness bench and initially makes no move to remove her disguise.
"Take off your hat and mask out of respect for the committee," orders the chairman, his name is Winfried Bausback, a former CSU Minister of Justice.
She follows reluctantly when the cameras are banished from the room, the glasses remain on.
It is both drama and showdown.
Tandler is a central figure in the affair surrounding politicians and business people who earned golden noses in the first few weeks of the greatest Corona emergency.
She is said to have mediated the mask deals with the state for a company of Swiss business people, grotesquely overpriced from today's perspective, but scarce goods.
According to media reports - the number is not official - Tandler received 48 million euros for it.
Possibly legal.
They are being investigated in parallel because of an initial suspicion of trade tax fraud.
The Federal Court of Justice sees the accusation of corruption against the CSU politicians Alfred Sauter and Georg Nüßlein as unfounded.
The corona mask affair had consequences for both of them.
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U-Committee: Witness is silent on mask affairs
She could tell a lot.
How she harnessed her close friend Monika Hohlmeier, CSU MEP, for her purposes and allowed her to influence politicians in Munich and Berlin.
How high the commissions really were for whom.
Why masks had flaws.
What role MP Alfred Sauter played.
But Tandler, daughter of a former CSU general secretary from Altötting, is silent.
She has the right to do so because of the ongoing proceedings.
"I'm 39 years old and an entrepreneur," she says simply, giving the U-Committee an address in Munich.
Her lawyer will do the rest of the work to get rid of her.
And with success: Nothing can be learned about the matter.
Members of the state parliament beside themselves: "greed and greed"
What remains is anger.
Committee chief Bausback, a sober to the point of exhaustion but a well-informed lawyer, goes to the limit.
"You're welcome," he says at the beginning, but in a tone that makes the room temperature drop.
In his chair, he reflects on “a large number of volunteers who have worked to the point of exhaustion” in the pandemic.
And contrasts this with the mask business, in which Tandler “gave a very high commission for it”.
The witness is silent, puts on her disguise and leaves the room again.
State parliament vice-president Markus Rinderspacher (SPD) then tweeted that since 1946 the state parliament had “not experienced such a disrespectful masquerade” as Tandler’s.
Behind the disguise "greed and greed are hidden".
The committee is now moving on, a few more politicians will follow as witnesses in the next few months, including Prime Minister Markus Söder.
Legal consequences are unlikely.
It is even considered impossible that the taxpayer will receive part of the funds used for the masks back.
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