The interior minister is accused of rape and abuse of weakness. An investigation reveals very explicit text messages from Gerald Darmanin, which contradict his line of defense in this affair.
The Darmanin case is in fact two Darmanin cases which the courts are investigating, after a first complaint in 2017, then a second complainant in 2018. In both cases, the politician had sexual relations following a asks from these women, to whom he made understand that he could perhaps use his status of political representative to help them. Meanwhile, the man in question has been appointed Minister of Action and Public Accounts and then Minister of the Interior.
The Mediapart investigation site revealed text messages exchanged between Gérald Darmanin and the complainants. These messages contradict the defense of the Minister, who presented himself in July 2020 in an interview for Le Point as a victim, "whose name is dirty. It is to me that we attribute behaviors that I have never had". These texts show on the contrary an insistent man, who calls again his interlocutors to see them again.
"I would like you to call me back if you like…. Gerald"
The second complainant, who accused the Minister of abuse of power for the allocation of social housing, has since had the complaint dismissed, due to a lack of evidence regarding the lack of consent in their sexual relations. Mediapart reveals virulent texts from this woman to the Minister, reproaching her for promising nothing but wind while continuing to have relations with them: "I would have known at the very beginning never I would have spoken to you !!! Neither supported !!!" she says.
It is especially on the exchanges of texts with the first complainant that the defense of the Minister takes water. The one named Sophie contacted Gerald Darmanin in 2009 to have a conviction erased against her. She assumes he can help her by writing to the then Keeper of the Seals. It was in 2017 that she filed a rape complaint, claiming that the relationship had been unwilling. First SMS are unveiled, where Sophie writes "When did I know the effort it took me to fuck with you !!!! To take care of my file" (sic) . To which the Minister replies: "You are right I am probably a dirty jerk. How can I be forgiven?"
As the justice system advances, Gérald Darmanin's defense is built around the idea of insistence on the part of this woman. The minister presents himself as a naïve young man. The exchanges revealed by Mediapart seem rather to show the opposite: the minister is at the initiative of most of the written conversations.
We discover a man who insists again and again to see Sophie again, rather in the evening. Far from the image of the naive and manipulated young man that his defense evokes.
In July 2020, his appointment as Minister of the Interior sparked an uproar, reinforced by Emmanuel Macron's remarks about a considered decision after a discussion "man to man". At the time, part of the political class called for respect for the presumption of innocence, facing a forum demanding his resignation, which collected more than 18,000 signatures. The hashtag #darmanindemission also regularly returns to the top tweet of the French social network.
The case is symptomatic of the difference in treatment when it comes to accusations of sexual violence. In an article on aufeminin, we recalled the words of Nicolas Domenach, political columnist at Challenges (which one can hardly suspect of radical opposition to this government) which explained: "When someone is suspected of embezzlement or other petty crimes, they are asked to leave the government." Why should rape and abuse of power charges be the exception?