The cables relate how an FDP insider – “a fly on the wall, a young, up-and-coming party loyalist who was taking notes during the marathon talks” – delivered documents to the US embassy and kept US diplomats informed on the new government formation in October last year.
On Monday Westerwelle dismissed the reports as false and insisted there was no mole. But Helmut Metzner, his chief of staff, was sacked after admitting he was the source of the US intelligence.
“The staff member of the FDP’s federal headquarters, who has admitted his contacts with the US embassy in Berlin, has been relieved of his duties as chief of staff for the FDP chairman,” said a party statement.