WHEN CARLA Bruni-Sarkozy gave a radio interview to play down allegations of a plot to damage her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, the first couple hoped her intervention would kill off a saga that has dominated the news for days.
Instead, it has breathed new life into the controversy.
The Paris prosecutor this week began an inquiry into the source of rumours about the president’s marriage, which were published last month on a blog and, despite not being substantiated, were subsequently reported in the British media.
Several confidantes of Mr Sarkozy this week suggested the story might have been deliberately spread to damage the president’s standing, with his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, saying he could not exclude the possibility of a “conspiracy” to destabilise the president. Another close adviser, Pierre Charon, said: “We want those who tried to spread fear to feel fear themselves”.
Amid rising disquiet within the ruling UMP party over a story that has dominated the news all week, however, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio on Wednesday evening that the first couple found the rumours “ridiculous” and “insignificant”.
“It’s true we’ve been victims of rumours; it’s true that it’s not very pleasant and it’s true that it has no importance for us at all,” she said.
The former model added that the story was assuming “ridiculous proportions” and rejected speculation that French intelligence officials has been asked to look into the source of the story.
Just hours later, however, the head of domestic intelligence appeared to contradict her position when he told the news agency Agence France Presse that his organisation had looked into the case, although that investigation had ended once the Paris prosecutor began his own inquiry.
In a curious subplot, meanwhile, palace advisers have been suggesting that former justice minister Rachida Dati – a former protégée of Mr Sarkozy – might have been involved in spreading the rumours, with Claude Guéant, the Elysée Palace’s secretary general, saying: “The president of the republic does not want to see Rachida Dati any more.”
Ms Dati has strongly denied the allegations, saying it was “scandalous” that she was being implicated and threatening legal action. In her own interview, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy insisted Ms Dati remained a good friend of the first couple.
Whatever the truth, this week’s counter-attack by the palace has backfired badly on the president.
The rumours about the Sarkozys’ marriage had largely been ignored by French media and the story had gained scant traction until the president’s advisers took turns this week to suggest that a conspiracy was afoot.
The opposition has been content to remain above the fray, sensing that Mr Sarkozy is doing enough to feed the impression of a head of state more interested in personal vengeance than in France’s problems. The left-wing daily Libération devoted four pages to the “Vaudeville presidency” on Wednesday.
Within the ruling UMP party, attempting to regroup after a heavy defeat in regional elections last month, there is a feeling of exasperation.
“The UMP deputies are reacting very badly,” said their leader in the National Assembly, Jean-François Copé.
“They really didn’t need this right now.”