Chirac and De Villepin Implicated in Sarkozy Smear

The French version of the NYT, Le Monde, has come out with a story that implicates French President Jacques Chirac and his chosen successor, Dominique de Villepin, in an attempt to smear the head of the UMP and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy in a kickback scheme. And Le Monde appears to have been informed about this by one of France's senior secret service agents, General Philippe Rondot, who claims that de Villepin personally asked him to implicate Sarkozy in the lowng-brewing scandal in 2004.

The Financial Times has the story in detail in two segments today.

French president Jacques Chirac on Friday categorically denied any involvement in an alleged smear campaign against Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister and his potential successor, in a scandal that risks embarrassing his prime minister and undermining the government.

The Clearstream scandal, named after the Luxembourg-based financial house cited in corruption allegations at the heart of the affair, is spiralling into a damaging affaire d’?tat, tarnishing the final year of Mr Chirac’s rule and becoming a decisive issue in the battle to succeed him.

Dominique de Villepin is fighting to save his premiership after a retired senior intelligence officer accused him of lying about his role in a corruption inquiry into Mr Sarkozy, his main rival on the right in next year’s presidential elections.

Mr Chirac issued a statement yesterday denying claims he had told Mr de Villepin to launch a probe into Mr Sarkozy, their common rival. Mr Chirac said he “categorically denied having asked for the slightest inquiry targeting political personalities.”

Members of the ruling UMP party have called for a cabinet reshuffle, while speculation rises that Mr de Villepin’s job is on the line. Already weakened by his humiliating climbdown over a bungled labour reform earlier this month, his approval ratings have hit a record low.

The Clearstream scandal has exposed the personal animosity at the top of the government, with Mr Sarkozy accusing the prime minister of sitting on a secret service report that cleared his name. Underlining how the atmosphere has deteriorated at the top of the French government, Jean-Louis Debr?, head of the National Assembly and a close Chirac ally, said: "Sarkozy has put a bullet in Villepin’s head. He wants to put a second one in straight away to make sure he is dead."

On Friday, Mr de Villepin issued a statement admitting he had ordered a series of investigations into the Clearstream scandal as foreign minister, but denying allegations that he personally ordered a probe into Mr Sarkozy’s involvement.

This was contradicted yesterday by retired general Philippe Rondot, a former de Villepin ally and leading French intelligence expert. Mr Rondot told Le Monde that Mr Villepin, under “instructions” from Mr Chirac, personally ordered him to extend his probe to include Mr Sarkozy.

Anyone familiar with the long history of French scandals knows that the French government can suppress investigative journalism by methods unheard of in the US or UK. When I was living and working in France, the Watergate Scandal had the French mystified, as the French government had just suppressed a similar scandal of wiretapping through a "table d'ecoutes" the HQ of Le Canard Enchaine, and when Le Canard made a big fuss about it, the government simply raised the price of newsprint paper to the news outlets and that was that.

Of course, the US press believes it is empowered to leak information damaging to national security with impunity---as long as it fits the MSM agenda to damage the GWB administration.

This story is unlikely to get much traction in the NYT and MSM in general, since Chirac and de Villepin earned the undying gratitude of the ultra-left MSM when both conspired successfully to thwart efforts of the Bush Administration to get UN support, which de Villepin had previously promised to Colin Powell not to oppose, and then kept its German houseboy from supporting the US as well.

This has earned Chirac and de Villepin slavish adulation from the American MSM and it is doubtful that the latest Chirac "chienlit" will be noticed, unless in a way to pin the blame on Sarkozy.

BTW, it is worthwhile to note that both Chirac and de Villepin have ratings that make Bush look wildly popular in comparison. The feckless Dominique, never elected to office in his political career, looks dead-in-the-water as far as next year's presidential elections are concerned. However, Chirac, like a dead scorpion, still can poison Sarkozy from beyond his political grave.

The happiest politicians in France are the Socialists, who watch the UMP self-destruct in obvious anticipation of gaining the presidency next year.