French Presidential elections: WikiLeaks teases thousands of documents relating to leading candidates

WikiLeaks has turned its focus to the upcoming French presidential election, revealing that its archives contain thousands of potentially sensitive documents on three candidates.

A series of posts on its Twitter account targeted Republican Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and independent candidate Emmanuel Macron.

WikiLeaks claims to have over 3,000 files on Fillon, whose popularity has dropped amid allegations that he paid his wife close to €1 million of public money with little evidence of work.

Fillon denies any wrongdoing, but calls for him to drop out of the presidential race are mounting.

Le Pen, who is currently leading the polls according to the latest numbers from Elabe, is the subject of a further 1,138 WikiLeaks documents.

She’s also embroiled in a financial scandal, with a European parliament watchdog claiming that the National Front leader illicitly paid her party’s staff nearly €300,000 between 2011 and 2012, using money that should only be used for MEPs to pay for legislative tasks.

She had until Tuesday to pay it back, but has refused to.

WikiLeaks also focused on En Marche! leader Macron, highlighting an excerpt of a US State Department document apparently prepared for Hillary Clinton in 2012.

It describes him as “a banker in mergers and acquisitions at Rothschild in Paris,” adding that “he previously worked at the general inspection of finances and could also become the top civil servant at the Finance Ministry.”

WikiLeaks’ release of a number of files from Hillary Clinton’s campaign damaged her chances of winning the US Presidential race, and its latest updates suggest it could have a significant role to play in the outcome of the French election too, which is set to take place on 23 April.