Brigitte Macron ‘hired investigators to look into podcaster Candace Owens before suing her for ludicrous claim the French first lady is a man - and dug up links to far-right'
The Macrons are suing Owens, a well-known rightwing political podcaster, after she made a series of 'outlandish, defamatory and far-fetched fictions', including that Brigitte was born a male.
As part of the legal process, the couple hired investigators from Nardello & Co., a top corporate intelligence firm, the FT reports.
In its report, Nardello & Co. described Owens' links to the far-right in France as well as her connections to right-wing populist figures in both the UK and US, along with her online interactions with a Russian nationalist.
They also reportedly outlined her shift from a self-identifying liberal in her early career to a conservative, as well as her support for Donald Trump that she recently dropped.
According to the newspaper, the investigators were tasked with documenting Owens' public statements and detailing her background.
Lawyers often task investigative firms with digging up information on people they intend to sue on their clients' behalf.
The Macrons' lawyer, Tom Clare, told the FT that their decision to sue came from their desire to understand why a conservative American podcaster has taken such an interest in them.
He added that the research provided by Nardello & Co. would allow the Delaware jury to be informed of the context in which Owens made her claims.
But Owens hit back following the revelation that the Macrons had hired a top investigations firm for the case.
She said: 'Brigitte Macron has once again been caught, and between lawyers, international PR teams, plus investigators, the couple is spending real money to quiet the paranoia of her past.
'Exactly how much money was spent to determine that out of a total of 12,704 tweets, I twice retweeted a Russian philosopher?
'Or that out of hundreds of speaking events worldwide, I once spoke at a conference in Paris with [far-right French policitian] Marion Marechal?'
The news comes after Owens revealed last week that Donald Trump personally called her to ask her to stop pursuing her story questioning the gender and identity of France 's first lady Brigitte Macron.
'I was called by Trump in February,' Owens told Carlson in a podcast interview released Friday, noting that the phone call took place after Emmanuel Macron had visited Trump at the White House.
Owens said that the request first came from someone at the White House who was 'pretty high up' who urged her to stop talking about Macron's wife.
She said she was insulted by the request, and told the person at the White House that she was not going to do it.
Trump later phoned her personally to talk about the issue, she said, and said that Macron pulled him aside on his way to his car to ask him about whether he knew Owens.
Trump, she said, was confused by the request.
'He sounded very confused. He said he was very confused when a leader of the leader of France took him aside during negotiations for Ukraine and Russia to inquire about whether or not he knew Candace Owens,' she said.
Owens first revealed additional details of the call in a podcast episode of her own, reflecting that Trump was very flattering.
'You must be a very powerful person Candace,' Owens revealed that Trump told her, but said that her reports were distressing Macron's wife.
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