Suspicions of interference at BFMTV: another journalist was approached, reveals Marc-Olivier Fogiel

Rémi Jacob, with AFP 09:49, March 24, 2023

The lobbyist at the heart of a case that led the former journalist of BFMTV, Rachid M'Barki, to broadcast images outside the channel contacted another of his colleagues to try in vain to influence his work against payment, revealed the boss of BFMTV Thursday.

"Jean Pierre Duthion tried to contact other journalists"

The director general of BFMTV, Marc-Olivier Fogiel, was questioned by a parliamentary commission of inquiry into foreign interference, chaired by RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy.

The committee asked him whether lobbyist Jean-Pierre Duthion, who provided some of the images fuelling suspicions of foreign interference disseminated by Mr. M'Barki was able to contact other journalists of the channel.

"Jean-Pierre Duthion tried to contact other BFMTV journalists after the departure of Rachid M'Barki (...) to offer them other types of information, in quotation marks, which did not retain their interest", revealed Marc-Olivier Fogiel. The journalists warned Marc-Olivier Fogiel, who passed on the information during an internal audit, he said.

Rachid M'Barki "seriously failed in the validation process"

"One (of the journalists) was offered a reward at that time," he added. "I am not saying that Rachid M'Barki has been paid, I have no element, or even if it was proposed to him I do not know," said the leader.

Marc-Olivier Fogiel also repeated that the dismissal in February for serious misconduct of Rachid M'Barki was linked to the fact that he had "seriously failed in the process of validation" of information within the channel.

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Marc-Olivier Fogiel said he had no information on alleged foreign influence, referring for this part of the case to the judicial investigation. A complaint against X for passive bribery and breach of trust was filed.

The day before, Rachid M'Barki had before the same commission assured to be the target of "unfair accusations", for his first public speech since his questioning. He was implicated in an international investigation by the collective of journalists Forbidden Stories, to which the investigative unit of Radio France and Le Monde contributed for the France.