Edouard Philippe placed under assisted-witness status in Le Havre public funds probe

Hearing before two judges

Former prime minister Edouard Philippe, a declared candidate of the Horizons party in the presidential election, was questioned all day on Thursday, 29 October 2026, by two financial investigating judges. He was called in as an assisted witness (témoin assisté), a status that is less incriminating than a formal investigation (mise en examen). According to sources close to the file cited by 20minutes, he left the session with that status. The inquiry covers suspicions of misuse of public funds, favouritism and moral harassment within the Le Havre urban community, where Philippe is mayor. The status can change if new evidence emerges, but for now the prospect of prosecution has receded.

The agreement at the centre of the suspicions

The complaint was filed by Cornélia Findeisen, who was deputy director general of the urban community between September 2020 and April 2023. Her suspicions concern a multi-year objectives agreement for running the Le Havre digital campus (Cité numérique du Havre), signed in July 2020 by Philippe, then president of the urban community, and by Stéphanie de Bazelaire, volunteer president of the association LH French Tech. The association was designated after a call for expressions of interest launched by the urban community in March 2020, under a framework for services of general economic interest. Created in July 2020, LH French Tech was the sole candidate and was due to receive 2.154 million euros in public service compensation to carry out projects.

Two complaints and the path to the judges

Findeisen filed two complaints. The first, in 2023, led to a preliminary investigation and searches carried out by the national financial prosecutor's office (parquet national financier). In January 2025 she obtained, at her own request, whistleblower status. A second complaint in June 2025, filed with civil party status, led in May 2026 to the case being referred to Paris financial investigating judges. The sequence of dates is set out in the timeline below.

Reactions from both sides

Philippe's lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, welcomed the outcome when approached by AFP.

“Edouard Philippe welcomes this favourable decision, which confirms that there is nothing to reproach him for in this case.”

Findeisen's lawyer, Jérôme Karsenti, said his side was content that the inquiry is moving forward despite the status.

“We are pleased that the investigation is following its course.”

Karsenti added that the complainant's side intends to understand the reasoning behind the judges' decision.

“We will review Edouard Philippe's hearing as soon as possible to understand the judges' reasoning, given facts that appear serious to us.”

What remains open

Philippe has been a declared presidential candidate since 2024, and the assisted-witness status keeps the case open rather than closing it. The file remains with the two financial investigating judges in Paris, who can change the status if new elements come to light. The suspicions cover the 2020 agreement and the association that received it, while the wider inquiry also includes allegations of favouritism and moral harassment. The complainant's side has said it will read the hearing record as soon as it is available, so the next step is the content of that record.