At the heart of the Clearstream scandal -- and much else -- is the 1991 sale of French frigates to Taiwan. You would think Jack anxious to establish French propriety in the conduct of the sale.

He is not.

Before you ask why, consider that no French government has wholly cooperated with this investigation. French graft, it is a very big club.

FRANCE REFUSES TO DECLASSIFY WARSHIP SCANDAL DOCUMENTS

PARIS October 6, 2006 (China Post/AFP) - The French government refused on Wednesday to declassify documents related to alleged kickbacks in the 1991 multi-billion dollar sale of six naval frigates to Taiwan.

The refusal is the fourth time in five years that Paris has blocked the investigation and may mean it will be closed, a source told AFP.

The customs documents requested contain the names of Chinese and Taiwanese officials who received commissions related to the US$2.8 billion dollar (2.2 billion euro) deal. Investigating judges hoped that the names would lead them to individuals within defence company Thomson-CSF (now known as Thales), the maker of the ships, as well as French politicians and parties.

PFFT (What is this?): All is known 5 | Nothing is revealed 5 | Rayonnement français 0