[1]President Nicolas Sarkozy's allies on Saturday came out fighting as a graft scandal threatened to derail his re-election bid, but their panicked response drew more fire from his opponents.
This week two of Sarkozy's closest associates, including the best man at his 2008 wedding, were arrested and charged by police investigating alleged kickbacks on an arms deal and illegal campaign finance contributions.
The money was allegedly kicked back to former prime minister Edouard Balladur's failed 1995 presidential campaign by middlemen in a contract to supply French submarines to Pakistan.
Sarkozy was the campaign's spokesman at the time of the alleged payments, but angrily insists he had nothing to do with funding. Government stalwarts leapt to his defence, but the response has been muddled.
"It's a plot against the president of the republic," declared centre-right lawmaker Axel Poniatowski, following the lead of many of Sarkozy's followers in painting the allegations as a political conspiracy.
But the sudden advance in the long-running investigation appears to have more to do with the royal marital troubles of one of Sarkozy's allies, his 60-year-old former communications adviser Thierry Gaubert.
Gaubert is married to Princess Helene of Yugoslavia but separated from her and she has reportedly told investigators that her husband often travelled to Switzerland with an arms dealer to pick up suitcases full of cash.
Gaubert was charged on Wednesday, but not before Sarkozy's political adviser and former interior minister Brice Hortefeux called him to warn him.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/nicolasarkozy-apjpgcropdisplayjpg-015