The CDU scandal surrounding the allocation of funding for projects against anti-Semitism is entering the next round. On Thursday has The freedom of information portal FragDenStaat published several thousand documents on the affairwhich can be used to reconstruct their process in detail. In many ways, the documents confirm the suspicion that prominent CDU MPs and senators have put considerable pressure on the cultural administration. The aim was to provide projects with funding that are politically acceptable to them, but whose contribution to combating anti-Semitism is doubtful.
Specifically, the CDU funding affair is primarily about a pot for “projects of particular political importance” worth 3.4 million euros. It was set up in 2025 as part of larger funding for projects in the fight against anti-Semitism after October 7th. There is suspicion of embezzlement of household funds and funding fraud. In order to clarify both, the House of Representatives has now set up a committee of inquiry which met for the first time last Friday.
In an initial assessment of the published documents, Vera Delaja-Hotko from FragDenStaat told the taz that she had noticed one thing in particular in the documents: how consistently the employees in the administration had pointed out legal concerns and in what many ways they offered resistance.
CDU versus administration
“For example, it is striking how the administrative staff meticulously wrote everything down so that the process remains understandable afterwards,” says Delaja-Hotko. This is no longer the rule, because there is now too much awareness that everything that is recorded in writing could be published afterwards. “The documents are a prime example of how powerful administration is,” said Delaja-Hotko.
In terms of content, an initial evaluation by FragDenStaat shows how leading CDU members drew up a list of 18 projects to be funded in February 2025. However, these were not supposed to be examined by an expert jury that was responsible for examining the remaining projects of the “Action Fund against Anti-Semitism”. This was rejected by CDU MP Christian Goiny as “too left-wing, too woke, too close to BDS”.as an administrative employee said in an email dated March 7, 2025. Instead, the administration itself should carry out a formal – not a substantive – review.
There is a growing suspicion that we are dealing with large-scale funding fraud.
Daniel Wesener (Greens)
But the administration is stepping on the brakes. She repeatedly refers to incomplete applications and a lack of own funds – which leads to frustration among CDU members because the money from the “Faction Ticket Fund” is not yet flowing, as the then Senator for Culture Joe Chialo (CDU) wrote in an email dated April 17, 2025. The administration repeatedly points to its own lack of expertise and legal concerns. When the administration pointed out to Sarah Wendl-Wilson, Senator for Culture, who has been in office since May 22nd, that projects usually involve their own funds, she decided to finance the projects anyway – “due to their high political importance”.
When Wendl-Wilson subsequently added another project to the list in June 2025, the administration said that its application fell “significantly short of the usual requirements”. We “strongly” advise against funding the project. State Secretary Oliver Friederici (CDU) then writes that the concerns should be “taken very seriously”. In the end, the senator decides – and comments that the comments from the administration are “merely assessments and not a fact-based conclusion.”
Funding for projects will be continued
Last had a research of the Tagesspiegel Questions were also raised as to the extent to which the funded projects’ content was suitable for contributing to the fight against anti-Semitism. When asked by the newspaper, only three out of twelve projects responded to questions about what had happened to the money they had received – even though the cultural administration had originally expected results by 2025. Nevertheless, the administration has now extended funding for some projects until February 2026, as a spokesman for taz confirmed. However, no new money was approved.
The spokesman for the Green parliamentary group on the investigative committee, Daniel Wesener, told the taz that the press reporting “fueled the suspicion that we are dealing with large-scale funding fraud.” Wesener sees the extension of the funding as an indication that Senator Wendl-Wilson’s “will to educate” is “not far off”. It would also have been possible to consider reclaiming the public funds that have not yet been used. “But apparently it is more important to Wendl-Wilson to protect the responsible CDU politicians than to repair the damage caused to the fight against anti-Semitism and to Berlin taxpayers,” said Wesener.
The investigative committee meets on Fridays during the weeks the House of Representatives is in session. After the constituent meeting last Friday, the next step is to decide in which order witnesses will be questioned – from politicians to administrative employees to experts. The committee plans to submit its report on the affair to Parliament by the summer.