Last week, the German government officially designated the opposition party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a “confirmed extremist” organization. The announcement came from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, and was endorsed by outgoing Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who claimed the party posed a fundamental threat to democracy. The designation opened the door to enhanced surveillance, undercover infiltration, and a potential party ban. But Faeser provided no evidence to the public, just a press release about the 1,100-page report.

Then, on Wednesday, the BfV abruptly withdrew the extremist label. “The BfV will now monitor the party only as a ‘suspected case,’” wrote Politico, “a lower-tier designation that still allows surveillance, but under stricter judicial oversight.”

Earlier this week, somebody leaked the report. It reveals that the evidence against AfD consists not of plans for violence or insurrection but of controversial rhetoric and deeply nationalist views, many of which, while inflammatory, remain legally protected and broadly shared in German society.

“Criticism of Bill Gates is classified as ‘anti-Semitic’ because Bill Gates is ‘read as Jewish,’” German free speech attorney, Joachim Steinhöfel, told Public. “Björn Höcke [a politician] is classified as particularly powerful because [AfD leader] Alice Weidel talks about wind turbines just like him.”

The report claimed that simply criticizing George Soros was anti-Semitic. And it claimed that the slogan, “Alice für Deutschland,” which means “Alice for Germany,” referring to Weidel, is coded Nazism. In place of any significant evidence that the AfD are Nazis, the report denounces AfD for comparing the government to Nazis.