French Media Requested to Submit Articles on Fillon's Wife in Fake Job Probe

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A French judge requested that the media check their archives for the materials about the wife of The Republicans party member Francois Fillon that could be used in the investigation into her allegedly fictitious job as a parliamentary assistant, local media reported.

Actu.fr news outlet said Tuesday that the weekly editions section of the Publihebdos publishing group, which operates in northwestern France, was requested by judge Serge Tournaire to submit "all the published articles mentioning Mme Penelope Fillon namely the articles telling about her participation in the local events (inaugurations, official ceremonies, visits to hospitals, retirement homes, art exhibitions, various competitions, etc.) published between 1998 and 2016."

The request applied to such weeklies as L’Action Républicaine, le Perche, l’Orne Hebdo, Le Petit Courrier du Val de Loir – L’Echo de la Vallée du Loir, Le Journal de l’Orne and Les Nouvelles de Sablé was dated April 19, the media said, adding that it was made before the first round of the French presidential election in which Fillon participated.

In early 2017, Fillon was alleged of having employed his wife Penelope and two of their children as parliamentary assistants for which they were paid while reportedly doing little to no work. According to media reports, they were paid about 800,000 euros ($871,200) in taxpayer money over the course of 20 years for their jobs as parliamentary assistants.

In March, Fillon, and then later his wife, was both placed under formal investigation. Fillon has repeatedly denied all allegations.