just googled him. was the clearstream II thingy some CIA Op to get people like de Villepin out of the way cuz he don't play along with fake stuff?

Ah that would sure be big if true. But I don't think CIA had had to make anything up if they wanted something against him. He had a long enough career in French politics and as a Jacques Chirac's sidekick to have had time to get involved into Clearstream-level schemes.