German President Christian Wulff has been accused of trying to prevent a newspaper revealing details of his home loan.
Wulff is reported to have left a message on the mobile phone of Kai Diekmann, editor-in-chief of Bild, in which he threatened to break all contact with the paper's publishers if the story appeared.
The call was made on 12 December, a day before the paper broke the story about Wulff having accepted the €500,000 (£417,000) loan - at an advantageous interest rate - from the wife of wealthy businessman Egon Geerkens. He later admitted that he should have disclosed the loan.
Bild, German's most popular tabloid, did not report the call, but it was later revealed by the Munich daily, Süddeutsche Zeitung.
It also alleged that Wulff had called Mathias Dopfner, president of Bild's publishing house Axel Springer, and the company's main shareholder Friede Springer. Both rebuffed him, saying it was an editorial decision.
Editorials in Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Financial Times Deutschland called on Wulff to resign for failing to act appropriately.
