A leak running to thousands of emails has landed on Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right AfD in Germany. German press outlets began publishing the revelations on Friday 23 October. According to the reports, the intercepted correspondence appears to contradict her longstanding statements on party funding. The documents touch on suspected illegal financing, a subject at the heart of Germany's party finance rules. The affair is shaking the political scene, where the AfD already faces scrutiny over extremism cases. Opponents of the party are likely to press for investigations based on the leaked material. How damaging the story proves to be will depend on whether the authenticity of the emails is confirmed.