The Wiretapping Affair

How Presidential Surveillance Betrayed Democracy in France

For more than a decade, the French presidency secretly listened to its own citizens.

From 1983 to 1993, an illegal wiretapping operation ran from inside the Élysée Palace—the very heart of French democracy. Journalists, lawyers, writers, intellectuals, and private citizens were monitored without warrants, oversight, or accountability. The orders left no paper trail. The targets were not terrorists—but critics, confidants, and perceived threats.

In The Wiretapping Affair, Evan Blackmoor delivers a gripping, meticulously researched investigation into one of Europe’s most disturbing abuses of executive power. At the center stands President François Mitterrand, a leader celebrated for intellect, culture, and moral authority—who presided over a clandestine surveillance machine that operated above the law.

This book reveals:

• How a secret wiretapping cell functioned inside the presidency itself

• Why fear and terrorism were used to normalize permanent illegality

• How journalists, lawyers, and artists became surveillance targets

• Why no president was ever held accountable

• How democratic institutions chose silence over truth

Written with the pace of a political thriller and the rigor of historical inquiry, The Wiretapping Affair exposes how democracy can be quietly dismantled—not through coups or violence, but through secrecy, reverence for power, and the slow erosion of rights.

This is not just a French story. It is a warning for every modern democracy living under surveillance.