France's interior minister has appeared to deflect blame over the handling of a video showing Emmanuel Macron's bodyguard beating a protester, telling lawmakers he thought the presidency had dealt with the incident after he informed them.
The scandal has sparked a political storm and bolstered critics who say Macron is a lofty president out of touch with ordinary people.
That criticism amounts to the sharpest Macron has faced since he came to power 14 months ago.
Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who is one of Macron's closest allies in government, told lawmakers during a 2.5 hour grilling that he took no further action after he showed it to the presidency on May 2 and was told punishment would follow.
Collomb faces criticism over how he handled the case and his comments could be seen as an attempt to minimise his own responsibility, potentially at the expense of the presidency.
The bodyguard, Alexandre Benalla, was placed under investigation on Sunday along with four other people.
Le Monde newspaper released a video last week showing Benalla at the May Day protests in Paris wearing a riot helmet and police tags while off duty.
The footage shows Benalla dragging a woman away from a protest and later beating a male demonstrator.
Collomb said he had been shown the video on May 2, the day after the violence, had raised the issue with Macron's office the same day, and was told by his services that the bodyguard would be punished.
"I considered that the facts that were flagged were being dealt with at the appropriate level, so I did not get involved further on this issue," Collomb told lawmakers.
"I was criticised for not referring the case to prosecutors. But it's not up to the minister to do that," Collomb said." It was up to the police chief and the office of the president."
The minister said he did not know Benalla was part of Macron's team and thought he was a police officer.
Macron fired Benalla, the head of his personal security detail, on Friday but faced criticism for failing to act sooner. Benalla had initially been suspended for 15 days before being brought back into the president's immediate entourage.
The French leader has not publicly commented on the case since it broke last Wednesday. The presidency said on Sunday he had ordered a shake-up of his office following the incident, although it gave no details.
Under France's presidential system, Macron himself cannot be questioned by lawmakers.
