A number of simultaneous searches were carried out by French police on Wednesday, September 27, as part of an investigation into suspected foreign interference in French media and politics. They followed revelations about the disinformation industry published in February by Forbidden Stories, Le Monde and some 15 other international media as part of the Story Killers project, which led to the opening of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office for influence peddling, bribery of public officials and private corruption.
The Normandy home of Jean-Pierre Duthion, the lobbyist implicated in the affair, was searched by police, according to Le Monde, confirming a report by Politico. Duthion was suspected of having been an essential cog in a number of different influence campaigns, on behalf of clients in Morocco, Bahrain and Qatar. In particular, he was suspected of having provided "verbal elements" and even ready-made "subjects" to journalists, including former BFM-TV presenter Rachid M'Barki, as well as to elected representatives, including MP Hubert Julien-Laferrière (Europe Écologie-Les Verts, EELV).
The MP's office and his home were also searched on Wednesday. Mediapart had revealed that Julien-Laferrière had promoted a cryptocurrency called Limocoin during a committee hearing at the Assemblée Nationale. Launched by a Cameroonian businessman accused of fraud, this dubious and relatively confidential cryptocurrency has lost 85% of its value in the space of a year. In particular, the police are seeking to establish whether Julien-Laferrière, who was in contact with Duthion, may have received any quid pro quo in exchange for this plea, or whether it was, as the MP claims, all "bullshit." None of the individuals involved have so far been taken into custody, according to Le Monde's information.
In February, Duthion was thrust into the spotlight after the discovery of a number of different segments were broadcast on the BFM-TV nightly news. These subjects presented by M'Barki, who was dismissed by the channel after an internal investigation, included a short report on European sanctions in the yachting sector, a piece on a summit in Western Sahara and various segments devoted to a Qatari personality who was the subject of a smear campaign on French soil orchestrated from Bahrain.
The two common elements to these and other segments were not only Duthion, suspected of having played the role of intermediary in influence campaigns, but also Team Jorge, an Israeli company offering to set up disinformation campaigns from scratch, for profit or political purposes, for clients, businessmen or government officials. During a meeting with journalists from the Forbidden Stories consortium, who had posed as potential clients, the head of the company had presented images of a subject by M'Barki, claiming that he was behind their broadcast.
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