Patrick Buisson

Patrick Buisson (19 April 1949 – 26 December 2023) was a French right-wing essayist, journalist and political advisor. He was a journalist for Minute, Valeurs Actuelles and Le Crapouillot as well as La Chaîne Info. He wrote several books about Vichy France, the Algerian War and the Indochina War. The founder and co-owner of Publifact, a polling agency, he was a key advisor to former President Nicolas Sarkozy from 2006 to 2012, during which time he surreptitiously recorded private conversations he had with the president. He was the co-presenter of Historiquement show, a television program on Histoire, a subsidiary of the TF1 Group, which he chaired.

Early life Patrick Buisson was born on 19 April 1949 in Paris. His father, Georges Buisson, an engineer for Électricité de France, was a member of the Camelots du Roi, and later the Rally for the Republic. His parents divorced when he was five years old, and he lived with his mother. In 1981, he started writing for Minute. He later wrote for Valeurs Actuelles. He also wrote for Le Crapouillot.

Buisson served as a political advisor to Philippe de Villiers in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was described by Le Monde as "one of the Fifth Republic's most influential advisors." He owned 58%. In 2008, the firm received €1,082,400 from the Élysée for various polls and reports. A month later, in March 2014, Le Canard enchaîné published the transcripts. Buisson's son, Georges, denied being the one who leaked them.

Buisson was a television journalist for La Chaîne Info. His contract was renewed in 2015.

On 21 January 2022, Buisson and three co-defendants, former Sarkozy chief of staff Claude Guéant, former cabinet director Emmanuelle Mignon and former pollster and consultant Pierre Giacometti, were found guilty of polling fraud involving allegations that they misused public money while ordering public opinion polls worth a combined €7.5 million ($8.7 million) during the course of Sarkozy's presidency between 2007 and 2012. Buisson would receive no jail time in his sentence, was instead handed a two-year suspended sentence and a €150,000 fine.