French presidential candidate Francois Fillon’s home searched as part of investigation

Police officials say authorities searched the Paris home of French presidential candidate Francois Fillon in an investigation into no-work parliamentary jobs allegedly held by his family members.

Two police officials said the search was carried out Thursday morning. The officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly comment on the investigation, would not provide further details.

Lawyers for Fillon and his wife, Penelope, would not comment on the search.

In a campaign rally in Nimes in southern France on Thursday night, Fillon said, “My life has been put to the test in recent weeks” and is being “dissected” because of the jobs allegations.

Fillon is struggling to keep his conservative party together amid discord over his decision to continue his campaign despite facing preliminary charges in the jobs investigation.

He denies wrongdoing in the case, in which he’s accused of arranging taxpayer-funded jobs for his wife and two of his children that they never did.

“Standing before you is a fighter,” he told the cheering crowd.

Fillon’s presidential bid also hit trouble earlier, with more defections from his campaign because of the pending corruption charges against him.

The campaign treasurer and three legislators from his Republicans party announced Thursday they are quitting his campaign amid growing pressure for Fillon to step down in favor of someone else.

Treasurer Gilles Boyer tweeted his departure, while legislators Benoist Apparu, Edouard Philippe and Christophe Bechu said in a statement that the campaign has taken a turn “incompatible” with their political vision.

They’re particularly angry that Fillon initially said he would step down if charged, but decided Wednesday to maintain his candidacy even though he’s been summoned to face charges March 15.

Others are also reportedly quitting the campaign, mainly those who supported staunchly conservative Fillon’s more moderate rival Alain Juppe in last year’s primary. Juppe was runner-up, but has said he doesn’t want to run in Fillon’s place.

UPDATES:

1:20 p.m.: This article was updated with Fillon’s home being searched.

This article was originally posted at 11:15 a.m.