Sarkozy lashes out at ’smear’ campaign that has shaken his government

Sarkozy lashes out at ’smear’ campaign

PARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy has denied allegations that his 2007 presidential campaign received euro150,000 ($188,000) in secret cash donations from France’s richest woman.

For weeks, Sarkozy and his government have defended Labor Minister Eric Woerth, who has been linked to suggestions of tax evasion involving France’s richest woman, L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.

The scandal — which has already destabilized Sarkozy’s conservative government — took a new twist Tuesday.

Bettencourt’s former accountant was quoted as telling a French news website that the heiress and her late husband offered Woerth euro150,000 in cash for Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign, well above the legal limit for such donations. Woerth is still treasurer for Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party.