François de Rugy accuses Mediapart of having exerted threats and links a burglary of which he was the victim to revelations about his lifestyle which resulted in his resignation from the government. Fabrice Arfi, journalist behind these revelations, disputes these accusations.
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“We are witnessing a form of French-style Trumpism by François de Rugy”, estimates the journalist Fabrice Arfi this Wednesday on franceinfo. He reacts to the remarks of the deputy LREM, former Minister of Ecology who declared Wednesday, October 13 on franceinfo that Mediapart exercised “pressure including on other journalists”.
François de Rugy publishes his book Thursday, October 14 Power, lobsters … but above all ecology, in which he returns to the many revelations of Mediapart having forced him to resign from the government. He accuses Mediapart in particular of having retouched the photos of lobsters to make them even more red and spectacular. “François de Rugy did not file a complaint against Medipart on the stories of sumptuous dinners at the National Assembly, replies Fabrice Arfi. He did not file a complaint for the sumptuary expenses for the repair of his ministerial apartments, which were however in very good condition. He did not file a complaint about the use of his drivers, he did not file a complaint about our revelations concerning his expense reports when he was an EELV deputy. He lodged a complaint against a single article which concerned the occupation when he was vice-president of the National Assembly of a social housing in the suburbs of Nantes. There was a trial, and he didn’t even come. “ After this defamation attack, Mediapart was released by the Paris court in April 2021.
“I feel like I’m witnessing the longest heartburn attack in the history of the Republic”, continues Fabrice Arfi. Francois de Rugy “has nothing left but libel and slander as arguments, and he is ready to tell absolutely anything. He himself is incapable of giving the slightest precision about what he is saying.” François de Rugy affirms “make the statement” that documents that were stolen from him in a “real false burglary” ended up in articles aimed at him. Asked about franceinfo on the existence of evidence, the former minister replied that “The fact that Mediapart puts pressure, including on other journalists, is common knowledge. It has always been part of their methods.” “We are erasing the border between true and false so that the former minister can communicate”, replies Fabrice Arfi.