De Gaulle scandal
The week's news at a glance.
Paris
The grandson of Charles de Gaulle has been accused of fraud in a case that also implicates Prime Minister Jacques Chirac. Jean de Gaulle, 50, is suspected of having diverted Parisian taxpayers’ money to fund Chirac’s neo-Gaullist party when Chirac was mayor of Paris in the early 1990s. The allegations are that de Gaulle, now a member of parliament, and others in Chirac’s mayoral administration hired fundraisers and speechwriters for the party and paid their salaries out of city coffers. “It was clear to me,” said one employee, “that I was really working under the table for the party.”
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.
-
Critics' choice: 2025 James Beard Award winners
Feature Featuring a casually elegant restaurant, recipes nearly lost to war, and more
-
How will Trump's spending bill impact student loans?
the explainer Here's what the Republicans' domestic policy bill means for current and former students
-
Can the US economy survive Trump's copper tariffs?
Today's Big Question The price hike 'could upend' the costs of cars, houses and appliances