VSD disputes findings of Seimas inquiry commission

The State Security Department (VSD) disputes the findings of a parliamentary inquiry into a VSD whistleblower’s case. An ad hoc commission of the Seimas examined how the VSD collected information during the 2019 presidential election campaign. The commission concluded that then presidential candidate Gitanas Nausėda was surrounded by dozens of individuals who posed a threat to Lithuania’s national security. Yet the VSD denies these claims.

According to the intelligence agency, such findings of the parliamentary commission contradict testimonies of intelligence officials and other information that had been transferred to MPs.

“VSD responsibly states that no individuals were identified in Nausėda’s environment during pre-election and election period who would have posed a threat to national security,” the agency said Tuesday.

The VSD says it had not determined that certain individuals would have had unlawful influence on political processes or decision-making by attempting to establish contacts with representatives of Lithuania’s state institutions. Therefore, it believes that the parliamentary inquiry’s findings are “unsubstantiated interpretations”.

The VSD sent its assessment of the parliamentary commission’s findings to President Gitanas Nausėda, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, the Special Investigation Service (STT) and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The VSD claims that the ad hoc commission deliberately ignored information that was provided to MPs. Therefore, it argues that the findings are baseless and are merely assumptions, and that its director is being unfairly accused.

As reported previously, the parliamentary inquiry concluded that Director of the State Security Department (VSD) Darius Jauniškis aided President Gitanas Nausėda in his election campaign by collecting information on his inner circle. The commission stated that the VSD director collected intelligence on Nausėda’s team members and supporters.

According to the commission, Nausėda hindered the Seimas from carrying out its constitutional functions and violated his oath and the Constitution by refusing to testify.

The VSD whistleblower’s story first attracted parliament’s attention in 2019. However, the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence concluded at the time that the VSD acted within its competence.

The Parliament returned to the issue after investigative journalists Dovydas Pancerovas and Birutė Davidonytė published the book A Whistleblower and the President, which revealed a potentially unlawful collection of information about private citizens during the 2019 presidential election campaign. It later transpired that VSD employee Tomas Gailius was the whistleblower.