Bernadette Chirac came out today in support of Hillary Clinton.  Mrs. Chirac is the wife of former French President, Jacques Chirac, who just left office in May of this year.

"From the first look, the first words, Hillary Clinton is a friendly, smiling person who never lets herself be caught out," she said. She even expressed interest in attending the Democratic convention in Denver in August. "And if I can be of any use to her somewhere in the campaign, I'm available. I'd like to go with her and I'm going to suggest it to her."

"Across the Channel, Britain's Times reports that the just-announced case "is one of half a dozen which sprang from investigations that began in 1999 into 'la machine Chirac,' the fortress-like city hall...the former president built up as his power base" before becoming president in 1995. The paper notes that ongoing investigations and other, already completed trials have shown that the equivalent of millions of dollars "of city and corporate funds were diverted for political ends during...Chirac's mayoral reign....Half a dozen of his former subordinates have been sentenced to suspended prison terms over affairs arising from his mayoral years, while his presidential immunity has until now shielded him from proceedings."