Because he was the clear favourite to beat Mr Sarkozy, Strauss-Kahn feared he would be subjected to a smear campaign by the President and his Interior Minister, Glaude Gueant.
Such theories were bolstered by the fact that the first person to break the news of Strauss-Kahns arrest was an activist in Mr Sarkozys UMP party who apparently knew about the scandal before it happened.
Jonathan Pinet, a politics student, tweeted the news just before the New York Police Department made it public, although he said that he simply had a friend working at the Sofitel where the attack was said to have happened.
The first person to re-tweet Mr Pinet was Arnaud Dassier, a spin doctor who had previously publicised details of multi-millionaire Strauss-Kahns luxurious lifestyle in a bid to dent his left wing credentials.