It is a short paragraph of fifteen lines that went almost unnoticed in the last annual report of the Court of Auditors on the budget of the Elysee. On page 8, the magistrates note that the envelope devoted to legal costs by the Presidency of the Republic suddenly swelled last year, going from 2,352 euros in 2018 to 159,766 euros in 2019. These expenses represent support. legal fees for fourteen employees or former employees of the Palais for legal protection.
The report of the administrative jurisdiction does not specify their names but France Inter reveals this Friday that one of them is none other than Claude Guéant, the former secretary general of the Elysee. The person concerned recognizes that, "as the law provides", his legal fees are paid 100% by the budget of the presidency in the so-called "Elysée polls" case, for which he was dismissed. before the criminal court by Judge Tournaire.
He adds that, "obviously", this is not the case for the other legal proceedings in which he is involved as they have nothing to do with his former Elyos functions. Still according to France Inter, Emmanuelle Mignon, at the time chief of staff of the Head of State, also benefits from the financial support of the Elysee for the same case.
Too good, the taxpayer?
This procedure is completely legal and falls within the framework of article 11 of the law of July 13, 1983 relating to the functional protection of public officials of the State. “The request to cover all or part of the legal costs is made by the agent to his administration who can accept or refuse, explains Louis Le Foyer de Costil, lawyer in public law. The fault committed must have been committed in the course of his duties and not be a personal fault ”. In short, "it is like a super legal aid: it is the employer State which protects its agents", decrypts the council.
If he does not dispute the principle of the legal protection of public officials, the former deputy René Dosière, specialist in public finances and president of the Observatory of public ethics, nevertheless wonders: " it is legitimate that taxpayers pay large sums to support people who have hijacked the law? Because, in the event of conviction, the agent does not have to reimburse the sums collected.
The Elysée screwdriver
Asked about the inflation of the envelope devoted to legal protection expenditure in 2019, the Elysee justifies it by "variations in the judicial rhythm, jolts in the procedures". The fourteen current cases concerning advisers or former advisers to the presidency represent an amount capped at 603,000 euros, each request being the subject of "specific agreements concluded with the lawyers of the interested parties", specifies the Court of Auditors.
In its response to the magistrates, the services of the Presidency nevertheless underline that the payment of the lawyers' fees of its accused agents is "henceforth applied in a more restrictive manner". These "thus plan to only take care of the legal protection of staff in office and no longer of former staff, unless the latter are not civil servants or are retired", we can read in their report.