PARIS: France's Foreign Ministry is threatening legal action against a former security aide to President Emmanuel Macron amid reports that he continued using his diplomatic passports after being fired for beating a protester.
It's the latest in a web of scandals around Alexandre Benalla, whose association with Macron deeply damaged the president.
Le Monde reported this week that Benalla recently traveled to Chad and Cameroon for high-level meetings, and investigative website Mediapart reported that he used diplomatic passports to do so.
The presidential palace insisted that Benalla no longer has any links to Macron's office.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said the ministry asked Benalla in July to return his two diplomatic passports but he hasn't complied.
In a statement, she said the ministry "is examining next steps, including legal ones.