French investigators linked Dominique de Villepin to a scandal that has president Nicolas Sarkozy in the spotlight and placed the former prime minister under investigation on Friday.

An alleged plot to smear Sarkozy emerged after he won the presidential run-off and de Villepin is one of the top political figures involved in this slander scheme, judges placing him under formal investigation.
The politician paid a short visit to the two investigating judges Jean-Marie d'Huy and Henri Pons on Friday, the lawmakers telling him that according to French laws he is one step before a trial.

Villepin offered his full cooperation, but underlined once more his lack of implication in the so-called “Clearstream affair” that reportedly took place three years ago, when he was occupying the interior minister’s chair.

“I repeat once again this morning that at no moment did I request an investigation of political personalities, that at no moment did I participate in a political maneuver,” Villepin said in front of French journalists.

“I acted against international threats, I acted to confront threats to our economic interests. It's strictly in that framework in which I acted. It was my duty as minister,” he added.

Then, Renaud Van Ruymbeke, the judge looking into a potential illegal sale of six frigates to Taiwan received a list with names involved in this murky affair, Sarkozy’s being also mentioned.

Sarkozy was accused of possessing secret bank accounts in which large sums of money related to the sale were deposited. A former intelligence official General Philippe Rondot said Villepin ordered Jean-Louis Gergorin (a former executive vice-president of EADS) on May 4, 2004 to contact the judge in charge of the investigation and provide him with the mentioned list.
Suppositions that Villepin acted under the influence of former president Jacques Chirac quickly emerged, based on the divergences Chirac had with Sarkozy throughout time.

Until now, evidence gathered along with Rondot’s statement point at Villepin and Chirac as being the persons behind this entire scheme. Chirac also denied any implication and used his immunity to dodge an inquiry carried out by the magistrates.