Germany booting top U.S. spy out of country

Germany announced Thursday it is kicking out Washington’s top spy in Berlin, a dramatic response from a key U.S. ally to a yearlong spying dispute over eavesdropping on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone calls that flared anew this week.

 

The immediate trigger for Thursday’s move was the emergence of two new cases of alleged American spying. More deeply, it appears to reflect a Germany at the end of its patience with what it sees as a pattern of American disrespect and interference in a nation that has cherished traditions of privacy.

 

U.S. officials described Germany’s move as extraordinary. A former U.S. official said he couldn’t remember a time in recent history when an intelligence official was asked to leave a country. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss intelligence issues publicly.

Read More: Germany booting top U.S. spy out of country – CBS News.