Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not the only politician to be haunted by leaked recordings. On Wednesday, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy joined the expanding club of high-profile statesmen (and presumed presidential candidates) to be involved in a leaks scandal when French satirical magazine Le Canard Enchainé and the website Atlantico both published transcripts of illicit recordings made at the Elysée Palace in 2011.
The tapes (which, it must be noted, do not reveal any illegal activity) come from former Sarkozy aide Patrick Buisson, who reportedly used a hidden recorder to tape private meetings with the then president. Buisson, under heavy fire from Sarkozy’s center-right UMP party, claims the recordings were made for professional reasons — i.e., to prepare for follow-up meetings — and were later stolen from his residence. The published transcripts reveal internal squabbling over the makeup of the president’s cabinet, jabs by top officials at Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni, and Sarkozy’s dismissive attitude towards some of his ministers, notably former prime minister François Fillon.
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