French Senator Accused of Drugging Fellow Lawmaker

A French senator is under investigation on accusations that he spiked the drink of a fellow lawmaker with drugs this past week with an intent to sexually assault her, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.

The senator, Joël Guerriau, 66, a centrist for the Loire-Atlantique region of western France, denies the charges. He is accused of trying to drug Sandrine Josso, 48, who belongs to a different centrist party in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament, and who represents the same area as Mr. Guerriau.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said that Mr. Guerriau was being formally investigated on charges of using and possessing illegal drugs and of giving someone a mind-altering substance without their consent “in order to commit rape or sexual assault against them,” which is