Macron aides withheld information in Benalla hearings: senate committee

A French senate committee said on Wednesday that senior aides to President Emmanuel Macron withheld information during their testimonies to parliament's investigation into the Benalla affair.

The committee recommended the upper house notify prosecutors.

The senators said Alexis Kohler, Macron's closest adviser, and his chief of staff Patrick Strzoda had "withheld a significant part of the truth during their statements, notably about the remit of Alexandre Benalla's security functions."

Benalla, Macron's former security aide, was caught on video last year beating a May Day protester while wearing a police armband. Macron and his senior aides faced criticism for being slow to come clean on the facts, prompting allegations of a cover up.