Word: villepin
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...unshakable Chirac supporter and longtime Elysée chief of staff, de Villepin shared his mentor's hatred of Sarkozy, who in 1994 dropped nearly 20 years of filial devotion to Chirac to back an unexpected presidential run by a rival conservative politician. Chirac won that contest - and promptly sent Sarkozy into political exile until 2002, when law-and-order hard-liner Sarkozy was tapped for a key Interior Ministry post. But neither Chirac nor de Villepin ever forgave Sarkozy...
...with Sarkozy's presidential run surging, Chirac threw his weight behind de Villepin as the right's candidate to retain the Elysée, eventually appointing his Dauphin as Prime Minister to enhance his chances. The question now before the court in Paris is whether that passionate anti-Sarkozy drive went so far as using illicit dirty tricks. (See the top 10 political sex scandals...
...Villepin denies that he sought to use the list as a way to smear Sarkozy - despite the fact that an intelligence agent he'd asked to investigate the list determined it was a forgery. Notes taken at the time by that same intelligence official suggest that de Villepin and Chirac wanted to exploit the list to undermine Sarkozy. "At no point did I ask for any investigation on any political figures," de Villepin told the press after he was questioned by investigators last year. "And at no point did I participate in any political maneuver...
Legal experts and commentators say the evidence against de Villepin is partial at best - and that a conviction will be difficult. Sarkozy, who will be represented by his lawyer in court because of constitutional restraints, has publicly said he wants to see the people responsible for Clearstream "hanging from a butcher's hook." That's one reason he became a civil party to the case. Another may well be his belief that a guilty verdict for de Villepin could be the only way to rid himself of the one conservative rival who has ceaselessly criticized his record as President...
...monthlong trial is a game for big stakes. For de Villepin, a conviction would mean a maximum five-year prison sentence and a 10-year ban from public office - a death blow to his political credibility. Acquittal, however, would allow de Villepin to claim the title as the main Clearstream victim - and add legal persecution to his long list of accusations to pound Sarkozy with...