Photo: AFPFrançois Fillon came out fighting on Monday insisting that the salary paid to his wife as his parliamentary assistant was "perfectly justified". Fillon refused to step aside, but he did at least apologize to the French public for the "mistake" of employing his own family. Blasting the attempted "political assassination" against him, conservative candidate Fillon admitted his wife had worked for him and for his friend and fellow MP Marc Joulard for around 15 years. That salary was totally justified for someone with a law degree, Fillon said, dismissing the idea that he should pay it back. British-born Penelope Fillon is suspected of having been paid without doing any of the normal work of a parliamentary aide.

Source: The Local February 06, 2017 15:39 UTC