Nevertheless, reports coming out of East Germany were leading to heightened cold war tensions, as part of which, in West Germany, the Communist Party was becoming increasingly marginalised. In November 1951 a criminal investigation was launched by the West German government against Paul because of his "anti-constitutional politics" ("verfassungsfeindliche Politik"). The West German chancellor signed the authorisation for the process on 20 November 1951 because Paul had "described the West German government as a puppet government and discussed illegal and warlike measures". It was also reported that Paul had been distributing Communist Party leaflets urging supporters that the " ... hour has come for the German People to take responsibility" ("Die Stunde der Verantwortung des deutschen Volkes ist gekommen"). His political agitation had already triggered an application from a regional court to lift his parliamentary immunity two months earlier, in August 1951. At the end of 1951 he reacted by temporarily removing himself across the (still relatively porous) inner German frontier into East Germany. He nevertheless remained a member of the Bundestag till the end of the parliamentary term, in July 1953, vociferous in opposition to cutting of bread subsidies, and hostile to the Adenauer government's attempt to push through "Anglo-American colonial policies" in West Germany, accusing the government of applying a "divide and rule" strategy. In 1953 he was briefly imprisoned by the West German High Court, citing "high treason" and "endangering the state" apparently in connection with the government process launched two and a half years earlier.