The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has suffered a major cyberattack resulting in the theft and public release of approximately 300GB of internal emails, contracts, invoices, and other documents dating back to the party’s founding in 2013. The leak, which appears to be the largest data breach ever recorded at a German political party, includes an estimated 430,000 emails, 138,000 individuals, 44,000 images, 29,000 spreadsheets, and around 1,000 audio files.
Among the exposed material are sensitive details such as the names, home addresses, contact information, and dates of birth of more than 10,500 AfD members. Additional documents reveal specifics about the party’s security arrangements for events, including the type of firearms carried by police coordinating security and contact information for former law enforcement officers employed as bodyguards. The full extent of the damage and implications will require weeks to assess.
While some of the leaked content dates as recently as last month, much of the data appears concentrated between 2015 and 2019. The AfD has downplayed the breach, asserting that many of the compromised email accounts are obsolete and that much of the material consists of routine administrative records, such as invoices, press summaries, and conference scheduling debates. Nonetheless, early examinations suggest the files offer significant insight into the party’s internal operations, particularly around its national leader, Alice Weidel.
The documents indicate that during Weidel’s ascent within the AfD, she came to depend on a small circle of little-known aides and advisers who exerted considerable influence. Daniel Tapp, described as a "shadowy presence," has served as a close advisor to Weidel since her election to the Bundestag in 2017, assisting with communications by drafting speeches, quotes, and interview responses. Tapp was reportedly recruited from Barbara Rosenkranz, a former leading figure in Austria’s Freedom Party.
The leak also highlights Weidel’s associations with figures such as Swiss-German political consultant and author Thor Kunkel, known for a controversial novel about the Nazi elite, and a proposal to engage Steve Bannon, the former adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, as a presenter for the AfD’s media unit. Additionally, the documents reveal a contract brokered by Kunkel with Vincent Harris, a right-wing American digital strategist tied to Trump’s 2016 campaign and known for his work with Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party and France’s National Rally party. Harris and his team implemented digital marketing strategies designed to pressure German voters, including an ad campaign targeting former Chancellor Angela Merkel with accusations related to immigration and terrorism, financed with over €100,000 paid to Google. However, Google reportedly withdrew these ads shortly before the election, reportedly causing frustration within the AfD.
The correspondence also points to outreach efforts connecting the AfD with right-wing figures in the United Kingdom. In 2017, a Conservative Party adviser invited Weidel to speak at an event in London, though there is no confirmation she attended. Later that year, a senior Conservative MP attempted unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting between the AfD and British politicians in Berlin. In 2018, AfD MP Petr Bystron—who is currently under investigation for suspected bribery linked to spreading Russian propaganda—organized plans for a summit on the "Islamisation of Britain" involving prominent Brexiteers in the UK Parliament, supported by a Canadian entrepreneur. Invitations for this event extended to Weidel and deputy AfD leader Beatrix von Storch, but it remains unclear if the meeting took place.
The leak also sheds light on the party’s procedures regarding membership vetting and responses to extremist views among members. Enforcement appears inconsistent; some individuals expressing overtly racist opinions remained within the party, while others were rejected, including those deemed to engage in "polemicising Islamophobia." One notable rejected applicant was Klaus Rainer Röhl, a former communist who sought to join the AfD after concluding that Nazis had been a "lesser evil" than Weimar-era communists.
The AfD has so far projected a stance of nonchalance in response to the breach, though it remains uncertain what impact the revelations will have on the party’s reputation or support among German voters. The party has faced ongoing scrutiny for allegations related to xenophobia, nationalism, and internal power struggles throughout its existence. The significance of the leaked material will likely unfold as journalists and analysts continue their review in the coming weeks.