the secret that blew up the right

In the beginning, there is the electoral defeat and its bitter aftermath, when yesterday’s political friends reveal well-kept secrets live on television. May 2014, two years almost to the day after the defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy, the deputy director of his campaign confesses. This man in the shadows is called Jérôme Lavrilleux.

According to him, the accounts of the right-wing candidate for the 2012 presidential election were simply rigged. To hide millions of euros of real expenses, a system of false invoices would have been put in place. Since then, justice has confirmed the existence of a fraud … at 18 million euros.

Jérôme Lavrilleux delivers his truth

For “Complementary investigation”, Jérôme Lavrilleux agreed to deliver the whole truth on a case which tore his political family apart and whose shock wave may also have precipitated his defeat in the following presidential election, that of 2017.

Because the Bygmalion affair is also the story of five years of struggle where all shots seem allowed. A fight between three great political beasts: Nicolas Sarkozy, François Fillon and Jean-François Copé.

Pressure blows, low blows and intox

“Complément d’Enquête” collected the words of former ministers and the very specific memories of former executives of the UMP. For the first time, the magazine has also recorded the exclusive testimony of one of Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest collaborators.

Could the former President of the Republic be unaware that the real budget of his campaign exceeded the ceiling set by law by several million euros? Who organized the fraud? In the candidate’s team and at the UMP, who was aware of this system of “ventilation” of expenses revealed by Jérôme Lavrilleux?

For “Additional investigation”, investigative journalists Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme (The world) and Tristan Waleckx (France 2) have brought together unpublished testimonies on this extraordinary affair which blew up the right.

First aired March 11, 2021.

The editorial staff of “Complément d’Enquête” invites you to comment on the program on Facebook or on Twitter with the hashtag #ComplementDenquete.

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