Rachida Dati—Paris mayoral candidate and current minister of culture—will stand trial in September 2026 on suspicion of corruption. The minister was a member of the Emmanuel Macron and Nicolas Sarkozy governments as the minister of justice.
The trial will take place between September 16th and 28th next year and will be of great political significance, since the municipal elections in Paris will be held between March 15th and 22nd. Jewelry worth €420,000—missing, apparently, from her official declaration of assets—will at the very least overshadow her candidacy.
Dati has several legal cases pending. She served as an MEP from 2009 to 2019, and since 2019, prosecutors have been investigating whether she received €900,000 in undeclared lobbying fees on behalf of Carlos Ghosn, then CEO of French automotive giant Renault. Dati has denied the allegations, arguing that the lobbying activities of MEPs are strictly regulated. The French politician also accuses the prosecutor’s office of bias.
The case has sparked heated public debate, as the minister is also under investigation for her declaration of assets. This investigation concerns jewelry worth €420,000 that the politician failed to declare.
Dati denies these allegations too and claims that she has not committed any wrongdoing. However, in France, elected officials are required to declare assets worth more than €10,000. Failure to do so can result in three years in prison and a €45,000 fine. Nevertheless, Dati stated in May that there was “nothing to correct” in her declaration of assets.
Rachida Dati started 2024 as the most talked-about appointment in the government at the time, but her poor judgement and now several current corruption cases look set to derail her political ambitions.
