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Bloomberg
France’s presidential election erupted into new controversy
just before voting was due to start as the campaign of front-runner Emmanuel Macron said it was the victim of a “massive” cyber attack.
Minutes before a blackout on all campaigning at midnight Friday, Macron’s team said in a statement that hackers mixed fake documents with real ones stolen from staff’s personal and professional email accounts. That statement, which was picked up broadly by French media, said the activities shown in the documents were completely legal.
The country’s National Control Commission requested that media refrain from publishing details of the leaked information. The top aide to Macron’s challenger, Marine Le Pen, suggested that the leaks would reveal facts that he said the media had refused to investigate. The incident was the latest twist in an election that has been marked by scandal and vitriol. Voting starts in mainland France on Sunday at 8 a.m. local time, and results will be released starting at 8 p.m.