Finance minister scandal
The week's news at a glance.
Paris
French Finance Minister Hervé Gaymard resigned this week, after admitting that he leased a luxury apartment with taxpayer money. Gaymard, who is close to French President Jacques Chirac and was widely seen as a future prime minister, recently told the magazine Paris Match that he was a “humble” worker’s son with “no personal wealth.” But an investigation by the newspapers Le Canard Enchainé and Libération turned up multiple properties in Gaymard’s name, including a house in the Alps and another in Brittany. The most damaging revelation was that the fancy Paris apartment the Finance Ministry leased for him cost $18,500 a month. As finance minister, Gaymard had pledged to cut wasteful spending.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gandhi arrests: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's opposition
The Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff