German agriculture minister resigns over Edathy scandal

German Agriculture Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich resigned on Friday amid accusations that he leaked confidential police data about a child porn investigation involving a parliament member. Friedrich has been the Agriculture Minister since December 2013 after holding the post of Interior Minister for more than two years. He told a press conference that he remained convinced he had acted appropriately, but the pressure surrounding the issue had grown too much for him to stay in office. Chancellor Angela Merkel said later that she had accepted Friedrich's resignation with "great respect and great regret." Friedrich, member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), had earlier said he would resign if a formal inquiry was opened against him for leaking confidential police data. Leaders of the Social Democrat Party (SPD) confirmed on Thursday that Friedrich had informed them back in October of the investigation into fellow party member Sebastian Edathy, who has been targeted by authorities as part of a child pornography investigation. Revealing such information would be a breach of German law. Edathy's resigned from his role in the parliament last week, but denied any criminal wrongdoing.