How scared should we be now about cooperating with German intel?

The arrest of August Hanning, the eighty-year-old former head of the German Federal Intelligence Service has sent shock waves throughout Germany, and no doubt among all intelligence agencies that worked with the service during his tenure. German prosecutors accuse Hanning of espionage and treason — specifically, that he passed “highly sensitive situation assessments, classified material from foreign partner agencies and reportedly ... papers on the Iranian nuclear program and the Russian military.” So far, authorities have not revealed to whom he passed that material.  Also arrested is an official thus far named named only as “Manfred D,” who was Hanning’s chief of staff. When Hanning departed the service, Manfred D. remained at the agency for sixteen years before leaving it earlier this year. German prosecutors allege that during most of those years, he passed to Hanning some 2,000 documents containing sensitive and classified material and was remunerated for his efforts. German spy scandals are nothing new. During the Cold War, the East German Stasi as well as the Soviet KGB penetrated the West German government, even at its highest levels. West German chancellor Willy Brandt, a hero of the anti-Nazi resistance, was forced to resign after his close aide, Gunter Guillaume, was arrested in April 1974 for acting as Stasi agent. Again in 1990, Klaus Kuron, a senior German counterintelligence official, was convicted as a Stasi spy. Not surprisingly, the German-American inte…