Filmed with elected officials from the Socialist Party, Thomas Legrand and Patrick Cohen deny any "conspiracy"

In a video released Friday by the conservative media outlet L'Incorrect and filmed in July in a Parisian restaurant, these two journalists speak with Pierre Jouvet and Luc Broussy, respectively secretary general and president of the national council of the Socialist Party.

During this discussion, which also discussed the left's strategy for the 2027 presidential election, Mr. Legrand, who works for France Inter and Libération, declared in particular "We are doing what is necessary for (Rachida) Dati, Patrick (Cohen) and me," which could be interpreted as a bias against the Minister of Culture.

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In a message published on X on Friday evening, Ms. Dati, nominated as the Republican candidate for mayor of Paris, called for measures to be taken against the two columnists, denouncing "serious and unethical remarks."

"Conspiracy", "infiltration", "mafia": criticism quickly came from the Republicans, the National Rally and La France Insoumise.

"A shocking video" in which "two journalists essential to the official PS plot to promote an axis +from Ruffin to Canfin+ and Glucksmann", wrote the leader of LFI, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, on X, while the leader of the RN deputies, Marine Le Pen, affirmed that "the public service cannot be the branch of the Socialist Party, any more than it could be of any other political party", and called for "reflection on its privatization".

"I understand that the dissemination of this video, recorded without the knowledge of the protagonists and what's more, truncated, could arouse suspicion," Thomas Legrand reacted in a text sent to AFP and then posted on his social networks on Saturday.

"I made clumsy remarks. (...) If the turn of phrase, taken from a truncated and private exchange, is unfortunate, I assume the responsibility of journalistically 'dealing' with Madame Dati's lies," he added, a few hours after being suspended from the air "as a precautionary measure."

"We took bits of sentences. There aren't 20 seconds of continuous conversation. It's completely manipulative," Patrick Cohen, who appeared on France Inter and the program "C à Vous" (France 5), told AFP.

"The irony of the story is that this meeting was requested by the leadership of the Socialist Party, because they are not happy with the treatment of the Socialist Party and Olivier Faure (first secretary of the party, editor's note) on France Inter. So it was anything but a conspiratorial meeting," he added.

The two journalists announced their intention to file a complaint.

The Socialist Party defended itself by assuring that "no collusion exists between the Socialist Party and journalists of any kind," and accused L'Incorrect, a conservative media outlet created by Marion Maréchal's close associates in 2017, of having the "sole aim of maintaining a conspiratorial reading of the world."

Arcom seized

In a message on X, the Society of Journalists (SdJ) of Radio France denounced the "instrumentalization" of "stolen remarks completely taken out of context", and affirmed its "solidarity" with Patrick Cohen and Thomas Legrand.

In June, Rachida Dati had a tense exchange with Patrick Cohen on the set of "C à Vous," while she was being interviewed about her legal troubles.

The LR representative responded by threatening to launch an investigation against the journalist for accusations of harassment reported in the press.

Questioned by AFP, Arcom, the audiovisual regulator, announced on Saturday that it had been notified.

"It will collect all explanatory elements from Radio France and France Télévisions as soon as possible in order to ensure that the public audiovisual service respects its obligations of impartiality and independence, for which Arcom is entrusted by law with the mission of guaranteeing," she indicated.