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| Nicolas Sarkozy accused of misusing public funds to pay for opinion polls | Nicolas Sarkozy accused of misusing public funds to pay for opinion polls |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Nicolas Sarkozy could face yet another legal headache after an anti-corruption group filed a complaint for alleged misuse of public funds to pay for private opinion polls in which he regularly sounded out the nation on issues such as his relationship with Carla Bruni. | Nicolas Sarkozy could face yet another legal headache after an anti-corruption group filed a complaint for alleged misuse of public funds to pay for private opinion polls in which he regularly sounded out the nation on issues such as his relationship with Carla Bruni. |
| The anti-graft group Anticor argued that polls ordered by the Elysée under Sarkozy's rightwing presidency were of a "private interest" to him and therefore constituted embezzlement of state funds. A report in Le Monde suggested that topics covered in Sarkozy's personal polls to gauge the mood of the nation included the pregnancy of the justice minister Rachida Dati and his probable opponents in the election race of 2012. The French public was also sounded out over Sarkozy's courtship with the ex-supermodel turned folk-singer Carla Bruni, then their marriage and her capacity to represent France. Other polls were allegedly carried out into voting intentions in various local elections and the public's view of a TV show performance by the then Socialist presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn. | The anti-graft group Anticor argued that polls ordered by the Elysée under Sarkozy's rightwing presidency were of a "private interest" to him and therefore constituted embezzlement of state funds. A report in Le Monde suggested that topics covered in Sarkozy's personal polls to gauge the mood of the nation included the pregnancy of the justice minister Rachida Dati and his probable opponents in the election race of 2012. The French public was also sounded out over Sarkozy's courtship with the ex-supermodel turned folk-singer Carla Bruni, then their marriage and her capacity to represent France. Other polls were allegedly carried out into voting intentions in various local elections and the public's view of a TV show performance by the then Socialist presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn. |
| Anticor's lawyer, Jerome Karsenti, told Le Monde the French taxpayer had no place funding partisan polls at the Elysée. The group estimates at €9.4m Sarkozy's total expenditure on hundreds of polls ordered during his presidency – spending which had already met disapproval from the state auditor. | Anticor's lawyer, Jerome Karsenti, told Le Monde the French taxpayer had no place funding partisan polls at the Elysée. The group estimates at €9.4m Sarkozy's total expenditure on hundreds of polls ordered during his presidency – spending which had already met disapproval from the state auditor. |
| It is not the first time Sarkozy has been targeted in a legal complaint over his fondness for ordering opinion polls to find out what France was thinking. Anticor previously lodged a complaint about the Elysée's costly polling habits under Sarkozy in 2010 but he then enjoyed protection under presidential immunity. | It is not the first time Sarkozy has been targeted in a legal complaint over his fondness for ordering opinion polls to find out what France was thinking. Anticor previously lodged a complaint about the Elysée's costly polling habits under Sarkozy in 2010 but he then enjoyed protection under presidential immunity. |
| The latest legal complaint also makes another allegation: favouritism. One contract for polling and advice worth more than €3m over five years was given to a firm owned by one of Sarkozy's key advisers, with other advisers allegedly benefiting from polling contracts not put out to tender. | The latest legal complaint also makes another allegation: favouritism. One contract for polling and advice worth more than €3m over five years was given to a firm owned by one of Sarkozy's key advisers, with other advisers allegedly benefiting from polling contracts not put out to tender. |
| The latest complaint draws on new documents obtained by the ecologist Raymond Avrillier who went through the courts to obtain Elysée records that showed polls were carried out about the president's private life, as well as issues such as the controversial Tunisian holiday taken by Sarkozy's foreign minister while the revolution was under way. | The latest complaint draws on new documents obtained by the ecologist Raymond Avrillier who went through the courts to obtain Elysée records that showed polls were carried out about the president's private life, as well as issues such as the controversial Tunisian holiday taken by Sarkozy's foreign minister while the revolution was under way. |
| The Elysée had also taken the national temperature on the Bettencourt affair – a saga that began as a family feud in one of the richest dynasties in France but sparked major legal inquiries including into illegal party funding and tax evasion. | The Elysée had also taken the national temperature on the Bettencourt affair – a saga that began as a family feud in one of the richest dynasties in France but sparked major legal inquiries including into illegal party funding and tax evasion. |
| Sarkozy lost his legal immunity this summer after leaving office. French police have since searched his home and offices as part of the high-profile investigation into illegal campaign funding in 2007 and alleged brown envelopes of cash to politicians from France's wealthiest woman, the L'Oreal hairspray heiress Liliane Bettencourt. He denies any wrongdoing. | Sarkozy lost his legal immunity this summer after leaving office. French police have since searched his home and offices as part of the high-profile investigation into illegal campaign funding in 2007 and alleged brown envelopes of cash to politicians from France's wealthiest woman, the L'Oreal hairspray heiress Liliane Bettencourt. He denies any wrongdoing. |
| All Sarkozy's actions as part of his presidential role are still covered by immunity so a complaint about opinion polling would have to prove the polls were of a private nature. France's highest court has yet to rule whether complaints over the polling can be pursued. | All Sarkozy's actions as part of his presidential role are still covered by immunity so a complaint about opinion polling would have to prove the polls were of a private nature. France's highest court has yet to rule whether complaints over the polling can be pursued. |
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