The backlash against Martin Selmayr's appointment to the European Commission's top civil service post turned into open warfare Monday, with journalists accusing senior officials of a cover up.

The Commission's normally sedate midday press briefing turned into a verbal brawl between reporters and chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas. It came on the 13th day of questions about the lightning-quick elevation of Selmayr, Jean-Claude Juncker's domineering chief of staff, to the role of secretary-general, leader of the Commission's 33,000-strong civil service.

It followed allegations of Machiavellian machinations, from the buying of commissioners' support for the promotion to a plan to increase the severance packages they receive at the end of their term, and a rumored takeover by Selmayr of the Commission's legal service — all of which the Commission vehemently denied.

Selmayr's appointment has also drawn complaints because it puts another German in a senior EU leadership post — the secretaries-general of the European Parliament and the European External Action Service are also German — and because it elevates another man in an institution where women are under-represented in upper management. There have been calls from within the Parliament for an investigation into the appointment.

Outrage has been building since the appointment of Selmayr on February 21 and appears to have caught the Commission off-guard.

Schinas, back from a week traveling with Juncker in the Western Balkans and a weekend in his native Greece, was unflappable. "All the procedures, and I repeat all the legal procedures, under the staff regulations have been respected religiously," he declared at the midday news conference. "I repeat — respected religiously. It was all done by the book, by the rules."

In the press room, no one quite believed him.

By tradition the Commission president has discretion in selecting the secretary-general, but Selmayr's predecessors had lengthy leadership roles in the civil service prior to securing the top job. Selmayr, a lawyer by training, never worked as a deputy director general or director general in any of the Commission's departments.

Outrage has been building since the appointment of Selmayr on February 21 and appears to have caught the Commission off-guard.

The furor has only grown since the Commission's acknowledgement that Selmayr was briefly named as deputy secretary-general, giving him the civil service grade needed for further advancement, and then slotted immediately into the top post following the resignation of Alexander Italianer — whose retirement Juncker said he had expected for two years, but which caught everyone else by surprise.

The Commission also acknowledged that there was only one other candidate for the deputy secretary-general vacancy and that person withdrew before the selection process was completed. While the Commission has refused to name the other candidate, Jean Quatremer, longtime EU correspondent of the French newspaper Libération, reported that it was Clara Martinez Alberola, Selmayr's former deputy and who has now succeeded him as the head of Juncker's private office.

Quatremer led the charge on Monday as the midday briefing turned into a veritable uprising, with reporters demanding that Selmayr himself come to the podium to answer questions about how he got his new job, whether the vacant positions were properly advertised and if other procedures were followed according to EU regulations.

"These institutions don't belong to you," Quatremer snapped at Schinas in response to his assertion that all questions on the matter had already been asked and answered. "They belong to the European citizens, and it is our perfect right to ask you questions, to repeat the questions as often as we want, without you giving us lessons in morality," Quatremer said before asking yet more questions.

"You say it was legal; the rules were respected," he told Schinas. "It doesn't look legal to me, and as a representative of French public opinion, I tell you there's a problem here."

That a French journalist would gripe about a German official’s promotion didn’t seem to particularly move the Greek spokesman.

On several points, the press corps was unrelenting, with some reporters noting that the Commission's responses indicated that Selmayr was well aware he would get the job before the application process started.

"Perhaps the way of lancing this boil would be to get Martin Selmayr down into the press room," James Crisp of the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph said.

Schinas, trying to make light of the situation, replied: "Are you implying now that he is after my job as well?"

While Selmayr may be German, the move that landed him the top job is known in the world of civil servants by a French term: parachutage.

Crisp fired back, "If he wanted it, I am sure he'd take it."

The uproar seems to be less about whether following the rules more closely would have yielded a different result, and more about Selmayr himself — a man who is as feared and hated as much as he is admired and respected.

While Selmayr may be German, the move that landed him the top job is known in the world of civil servants by a French term: parachutage.

It is a concept as old as civil service itself — a well-connected appointee effectively dropping out of the sky into a plum post — and veteran officials say it has happened many times in the Commission, though not previously for the post of secretary-general.

But Selmayr has long shown disdain and disregard for the traditional workings of the Commission, and a willingness to strong-arm colleagues and bulldoze opponents, earning him the nickname Monster of the Berlaymont.

One result of the combination of Selmayr's rise and reputation has been an array of allegations over what sort of power-grab may be next on his agenda. Among the charges: a potential takeover and dismantling of the powerful and independent legal service, which answers not to the secretary-general but directly to the Commission president, and would include the forced retirement of its current director, Luis Romero-Requena.

A spokesman for the Commission insisted no such plan was in the works. "We firmly deny any plans to reorganise the Legal Service," the spokesman said in a statement. "We are very happy with the way the Legal Service works, and we are equally happy with its Director-General staying in his post as long as he wants."

Maïa de La Baume contributed reporting.