The Prime Minister’s Office has rejected a request for access to an SMS message sent by one of Mette Frederiksen’s special advisors, which allegedly demanded the dismissal of a partner at the consulting firm Rud Pedersen, according to several media outlets, including B.T. The rejection comes in the wake of the Ombudsman’s decision to investigate the Prime Minister’s Office’s denied request for access to this message. The Prime Minister’s Office has stated that the special advisor has denied the claim of demanding sanctions against an employee. “The specific special advisor has informed the Prime Minister’s Office that the allegation of demanding sanctions against an employee in this particular case can be dismissed,” the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office reads. They added that it is natural for special advisors to have ongoing dialogues with actors in Danish society.
Last week, B.T. revealed that Sune Steffen Hansen, a partner at the consulting firm Rud Pedersen, had been sent home after making critical comments in Jyllands-Posten about the Social Democratic Party’s political challenges. The article in Jyllands-Posten discussed how Mette Frederiksen posed a problem for the Social Democrats, and Hansen explained that a focus group of classic Social Democrat voters was unlikely to be won back to the party.
In connection with this statement, an SMS was sent from one of the Prime Minister’s Office special advisors to an employee at Rud Pedersen. According to B.T.’s information, the message was highly critical of Sune Steffen Hansen’s comments, but the Prime Minister’s Office does not want to disclose the contents of the SMS. According to B.T., it was special advisor Martin Justesen who sent the message, but the Prime Minister’s Office has declined to confirm this.
Since B.T. reported on the issue, the Ombudsman has decided to intervene, as the Prime Minister’s Office refuses to provide further insight. The Ombudsman has requested to be presented with all the documents related to the case. The Prime Minister’s Office justified the rejection by stating that it is a “meaningless text message” and further explained that messages with assumed private or party-political character can be exempt from disclosure. B.T. subsequently asked if the SMS was of a private or party-political nature, which the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on further.