Overview
- The Paris public prosecutor’s specialised AC2 unit said it had seized the matter and opened a judicial inquiry on Tuesday, 18 August into suspected interference aimed at Édouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal and Raphaël Glucksmann.
- Gabriel Attal filed a complaint for 'foreign interference' on 7 August and Raphaël Glucksmann filed on 12 August, and prosecutors said they took up the case proactively before receiving all formal complaints.
- Security sources and reporting link a series of low‑visibility operations this summer to pro‑Russian networks that used personalised smear tactics against the three politicians.
- Reported attacks included false health rumours about Édouard Philippe, targeting of Raphaël Glucksmann through his partner, and claims suggesting Gabriel Attal might have Parkinson’s, but attribution is still being developed by investigators.
- The AC2 probe matters for the 2027 vote because it aims to establish technical and legal evidence for cross‑border influence and could lead to broader criminal proceedings or tightened safeguards for electoral integrity.