French ecology minister resigns over alleged lavish dinner scandal

French Ecology Minister Francois de Rugy announced on Tuesday that he was leaving his post to focus on defending himself following allegations that he used taxpayer money to host luxurious dinners.

In a message posted on his Facebook account, de Rugy wrote that "the mobilization necessary to defend myself makes me unable to assume serenely and effectively the mission that the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister had entrusted to me."

French Ecology Minister Francois de Rugy gives a press conference during an Ecological Defense Council, on July 9, 2019, in Paris. [File Photo: IC/POOL via AP/Ludovic Marin]

"So I submitted my resignation to the Prime Minister this morning," he added.

On July 10, the investigative website Mediapart revealed that that de Rugy and his wife had hosted a dozen luxury dinners, mostly for friends, at his official residence in central Paris. De Rugy was parliament speaker from June 2017 to Oct. 2018.

It published further reports revealing that the 45-year-old minister and his wife had spent 63,000 euros (about 70,670 U.S. dollars) of taxpayer money on refurbishing his government-provided apartment.

Rejecting the Mediapart's "untruths", de Rugy said "the attacks and media lynching against my family have led me to take the necessary step back today -- something that everyone will understand."

He also announced that he had filed a defamation lawsuit against Mediapart, which he said attacked him "on the basis of stolen photos, gossip, approximations."

De Rugy, a former green lawmaker, joined the ruling Republic On the Move party in 2016.