A major leak of AfD email accounts reportedly exposed about 281 gigabytes of data, including 421,326 emails and member lists. German media said that some of the material, including messages involving party leader Alice Weidel, had been examined and verified where possible. The emails reportedly concern potentially illegal donations made in 2017, internal disputes over extremism and alleged failures to act against members accused of Nazi, racist or antisemitic views. The donation case, suspended by German prosecutors in 2021 for lack of evidence, could be reopened.

The material has also intensified discussion about a possible ban on the AfD. Lawyers said the emails could be used in such proceedings, both as evidence that the party leadership knew about extremist views and as evidence that it sometimes tried to act against them. The AfD confirmed that it had been hacked, but said that not all the leaked emails were authentic and criticized the use of the stolen data. Only a fraction of the material had been checked, and its full evaluation is expected to take months.