“I would be the object of a contract between two men?” : Dati loses his temper against Saintoul during questions about Bolloré

The atmosphere was tense this Thursday in the National Assembly, while Rachida Dati was questioned under oath about her potential links with the billionaire and owner of the Canal group, Vincent Bolloré, by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the allocation of radio frequencies. digital terrestrial television (DTT). The Minister of Culture lost her temper with the rapporteur, the rebellious MP Aurélien Saintoul, deeming his questions unacceptable.

This hearing comes a few weeks after the launch by Arcom, the media regulator, of the process of renewing the 15 DTT frequencies, in order to determine which channels will have the right to broadcast in France in 2025. Several people have already been interviewed in within the framework of this procedure, such as Vincent Bolloré or Cyril Hanouna. C8 and CNews, controlled by Vincent Bolloré, are perhaps not sure of keeping their frequency, given the numerous calls to order from the regulator.

After the rebellious elected official questioned her several times about her potential "knowledge of the meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Vincent Bolloré last September", Rachida Dati initially responded curtly that she was not Minister of Culture at that time. Before responding more precisely, in the face of pressure from Saintoul, that she has “no knowledge of the meetings of the President of the Republic with the people he wishes to meet”.

But the Hauts-de-Seine MP insisted, asking her if she believes that there is a link between this meeting and her appointment to the government. “It’s becoming very personal,” she told the parliamentarian, before calling the deputies to witness. “You’re going too far,” she continued. “Questions that suspect things” are not “acceptable,” according to her.

“The crusade, the attacks, the collusions or others, I am not here to respond to that,” insisted the former Minister of Justice under Nicolas Sarkozy. Before this sequence, Saintoul had questioned Dati about his “anti-woke crusade”, following his comments made on February 6 to CNews-Europe 1, when these media came under the control of Vincent Bolloré. That day, the minister declared that wokism had “become a policy of censorship”.

“Are you questioning my legitimacy, my capacity, my competence?” Dati continued. “Would I be the subject of a contract between two men so that I can exercise a function?”, she again questioned, before concluding: “I have proven myself politically, I have legitimacy. You have wanted to implicate her since the beginning of this hearing. I do not accept".