Nobody said the court system was clean, but when you mix politics in, allegations, insinuations, and innuendos run rampant. Last Thursday, France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy was faced with preliminary charges that he illegally took donations from France's richest woman during his 2007 election. The woman, L'Oreal cosmetics fortune heiress Liliane Bettencourt, is now 90 and placed under legal protection for having Alzheimer's.

The ex president lost his immunity when he lost his election to Socialist Francois Hollande. Nevertheless, things aren't as neat as all that. The 150,000 Euros (about $192,000) Sarkozy may just be a red herring. After all, Thierry Mariana, a lawmaker and friend to Sarkozy's conservative party, suggests that this is all a scam to discredit Sarkozy, now that Hollande's polls are so starkly low.

Of the three charges initially brought against Sarkozy, of abusing somebody while in an impaired state, swindling, and abuse of confidence, the three judges chose to keep only the first charge. Whether its all a lot of political wrangling is a question many naturally ask. If there is an actual trial, maybe some light will be shed on the matter.