New revelations in the rape investigation targeting Gérald Darmanin

Since June 2020, Gérald Darmanin has been at the heart of legal information after the complaint of a woman Sophie Patterson, who accuses him of rape, facts dating back to March 2020. On December 14, the Minister of the Interior , placed under the status of assisted witness, was heard by the investigating judge.

He has unrolled a new line of defense, in which he evokes political revenge, according to Mediapart, which revealed the information on Tuesday.

"My client did not file a complaint for a change of political label, but for rape"

Gérald Darmanin therefore suggests that Sophie Patterson filed a complaint against him in 2017 because she could not bear his leaving Les Républicains, of which she was then an activist, for La République en Marche, in the midst of the presidential campaign. .

A defense that frightens Elodie Tuaillon-Hibon the lawyer for the complainant.

"It is he who nevertheless spread in the media on the fact that he had had a young man's life, that it was something saucy, and today, finally, it is a political revenge ? "she chokes.

"Everyone can see that this is something which, until now, had not been mentioned publicly by the principal concerned. We, this matter of policy, frankly, we do not care. Ma client did not file a complaint for a change of political label, but for rape. "

"There was no quid pro quo in this sexual relationship"

Gérald Darmanin has once again brushed aside the accusations of abuse of power.

"There was no quid pro quo in this sexual relationship," he told the investigating judge.

This is the heart of the matter.

Sophie Patterson says on the contrary that she felt obliged to give in to the advances of Gerald Darmanin, then UMP city councilor, to obtain his help in a legal case.

In his hearing, the Minister of the Interior expressed only one regret, that of having met the complainant.

His lawyers declined to comment.