Jacques Chirac is not the most apparently corrupt politician in France, but only because the numbers are in his favor and because Charles Pasqua and Dominique de Villepin are both still living.
But it’s smilin’ Jacques who’s being put on trial nonetheless, according to Bloomberg and other reports. The investigating magistrate must have pulled the charge — giving make-believe jobs to his faithful party hacks — out of a hat. (And speaking of hats, let me tip one to John Williamson for the good link.)
As Heather Smith reports, the news comes after a bout of bad news for the old elite. Since Sarkozy’s biggest political threats come from inside his own party these days, it’s all good news for him.