Germany Seeking To Clarify US Spying Allegations Government in touch with national and international authorities on matter, says spokesman for German chancellor. Germany has contacted "all relevant international and national authorities" to clarify reports of US spying on German leaders, a senior government official said Monday. "The German government has taken note of the reporting," Steffen Seibert, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, said during a press conference in Berlin following reports that Denmark's intelligence agency helped the US National Security Agency (NSA) spy on European leaders including Merkel and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Meanwhile, Denmark's Defense Minister Trine Bramsen told the Danish news agency Ritzau that "systematic wiretapping of close allies is unacceptable."