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.

"Mr. Duthion tried to contact other BFMTV journalists after the departure of Rachid M'Barki (...) to offer them other types of information, in quotation marks, that did not hold their interest," Fogiel revealed.

Journalists warned Fogiel, who passed on the information during an internal audit, he said.

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

Mr. Fogiel also reiterated that the dismissal in February for serious misconduct by Mr. M'Barki was linked to the fact that he had "seriously failed in the process of validating" information within the chain.

Mr. Fogiel said he had no information on alleged foreign influence, referring this aspect 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 journalists' collective Forbidden Stories, to which the investigative unit of Radio France and Le Monde contributed for the France.

Marc-Olivier Fogiel, October 6, 2021 in Paris © Thomas COEX / AFP/Archives

In question, suspicions of foreign interference in his work as presenter of the night news on BFMTV. This concerned a dozen short stories illustrated in pictures, relating in particular to Russian oligarchs, Qatar or Western Sahara.

Published in mid-February, this investigation pointed more broadly to the activities of an Israeli company, nicknamed "Team Jorge", specializing in disinformation for the benefit of various customers, including states. The name of Jean-Pierre Duthion was mentioned in this investigation.

© 2023 AFP