1983: The Elysee Wiretapping Scandal

Overview

«Gentlemen, our conversation is over. I didn’t think we would stoop to such a degree of despicability. » The offended man speaking these words was François Mitterrand, the French President at the time. In March 1993, two journalists questioned him on the Elysée Palace wiretapping scandal which had just come to light. The President of the Republic denied everything and was disparaging. Who set up this formidable STASI-style intelligence mechanism? Who was pulling the strings? How did this hidden cabinet work? It would take almost twenty years of investigations to get to the bottom of this large-scale spying organisation.