-OpEd-

PARIS — As far as beginnings go, this is a terrible start. As a matter of fact, it's going badly before it has even started. Though American politics has no shortage of scandals, this is still unprecedented. One week before his inauguration, President-elect Trump finds himself under devastating fire. Accused of mixing with a foreign power — its dodgy agents as well as its promiscuous women. Suspected of being potentially blackmailed by Moscow because of this compromising material. A new grenade thrown on the red carpet leading to the Oval Office.

The whole thing, so far, is very nebulous. Even a part of the American press, which can hardly be suspected of "Trumpism," is advising precaution. What lends these claims extra weight is the fact that the CIA and FBI deemed it necessary to warn both the outgoing president and the newly-elected one. That, and the fact that it comes on top of other allegations of Kremlin interference in American politics such as Russia hacking that, eventually, Trump himself has admitted.

Like at the end of an overcomplicated spy movie, we no longer understand what has happened. And seen from our side of the Atlantic, the conduct of U.S. intelligence services seems a little unusual. Shortly before the election, the FBI had already taken everybody by surprise by embarrassing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, before clearing her at the very last moment. That didn't help her campaign ... And now, they've proceeded to drop another political bomb, all the while admitting that none of it has been confirmed.