Élysée polls affair: Claude Guéant before the courts again

After having already appeared between January and March in the trial of the Libyan financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign , Claude Guéant appears again from this Monday, May 5, before the Paris Court of Appeal. The role of the former secretary general of the Élysée is being examined in the Élysée polls affair which had shaken the presidency of the former head of state. The latter was never implicated in this case, because covered by presidential immunity guaranteed by the Constitution.

At the end of the trial at first instance, the court sentenced Claude Guéant in his absence – already under electronic monitoring in another case – to one year in prison, eight months of which were suspended for favouritism, with a committal order. The presiding judge denounced the offences which had "seriously undermined the authority of the State" and "brought discredit upon the Presidency of the French Republic and the senior civil service" . The court ruled that the former Secretary General of the Élysée , who held an "eminent position" at the "heart of the Presidency of the Republic" , had betrayed his "duty of probity" . However, the court acquitted him of the charges of negligent misappropriation of public funds.

The court ruled that millions of euros in political consultancy and polls billed to the Élysée Palace between 2007 and 2012 by Patrick Buisson, then an influential advisor to the head of state, and former pollster Pierre Giacometti, as well as by the Ipsos Institute, had indeed been the subject of favoritism, because they had been awarded without prior calls for tender.

Thus, the Élysée polls affair began in 2009 with the publication of a report by the Court of Auditors on the execution of the "castle's" 2008 budget, in which the Court criticized a series of opinion polls. The National Financial Prosecutor's Office considered that the favoritism had involved a total of €7.5 million of public money, which was not publicized or put out to tender.

Claude Guéant's lawyer, Philippe Bouchez El Ghozi, believes that at the time there were "decisions by the Council of State, a certain number of court decisions which allowed us to consider that there was no control over the use of the funds available to the Presidency of the Republic" .

The trial is expected to last three weeks to take into account the health of the former secretary general of the Élysée Palace, who suffers from multiple illnesses that recently required surgery, reports Agence France-Presse. Claude Guéant has indicated that he hopes for an acquittal in this case as legal troubles also mount. During the trial concerning the alleged Libyan financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign, the prosecution requested a six-year prison sentence and a €100,000 fine against Claude Guéant, and the verdict will be delivered on September 25.

In this Élysée polling case, former pollster Pierre Giacometti will also be tried on appeal. He was sentenced at first instance to a six-month suspended prison sentence and a €70,000 fine for receiving favouritism, and his company, No Com, was fined €300,000. "We strongly contest this accusation," Patrick Maisonneuve told AFP, arguing his client's good faith. "He wasn't the one who decided on the award procedure. He wasn't the one who refused to participate in a call for tenders," the lawyer insisted.

In addition, the Ipsos institute, which was convicted in 2022 of receiving favouritism and fined €1 million, will also participate in this appeal. Patrick Buisson, a former influential inspirer of the president , convicted at first instance of receiving favouritism, misuse of corporate assets and embezzlement of public funds, died at the end of 2023.