Francois Fillon, France's would-be president, is fighting a scandal involving his wife allegedly receiving public money improperly.
French prosecutors have opened an investigation on Penelope Fillon, after the French weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaine charged that she earned about $536,000 as her husband's assistant in parliament, according to the BBC News.
Le Carnard Enchaine claimed in reviewing pay slips from Penelope Fillon, she reportedly earned the money in three periods from 1998 to 2012. It said it could not find anyone who witnessed her working.
"I won't make any comment because there is nothing to comment on," said Francois Fillon, per the BBC News. "But I'm outraged by the contempt and the misogyny in this story. Just because she is my wife she should not be entitled to work?"
Francois Fillon is a conservative former prime minister and French political veteran of 35 years, noted The Guardian. He has positioned himself, though, as an "anti-system" candidate. He has been considered the frontrunner in May's presidential election.
He called the charges against his wife campaign mud-slinging and it is not illegal or against legislative rules for members of parliament to hire family members as long as the person is genuinely employed.
"I see the stink bomb season has started," said Fillon.
Agence France-Presse said Penelope Fillon had kept a low profile through much of her husband's years in French politics. He has said she raised the first four of their five children virtually single-handedly at their home in Sarthe while he worked in Paris.
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