France's Former President Sarkozy Said To Have Taken Money From Gaddafi

Awkward!

Documentary proof exists that France's former President Nicolas Sarkozy took more than €50 million ($78.8 million) from the late Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, a French judge has been told.

The claim, leaked this week, was made just before Christmas by Lebanese-born businessman Ziad Takieddine, who has been a fixer for legal—and allegedly illegal—dealings between France and the Middle East for 20 years.

Expanding on claims already made by one of Gaddafi's sons and a French investigative website, Takieddine told an investigative judge he could show him written proof that Sarkozy's first presidential campaign in 2006-7 was "abundantly" financed by Tripoli. The payments, he said, continued after Sarkozy was elected.