PARIS (AP) — The stakes are high Marine Le Pen as she and other officials of the French far-right party National Rally go on trial Monday on charges of embezzling European Union funds. The case has the potential to derail her political ambitions.
The nine-week trial will be closely watched by Le Pen’s political rivals remains a strong competitor in the race to succeed Emmanuel Macron when the next presidential elections take place in 2027.
It comes as a new government dominated by centrists and conservatives just took office in the wake of Parliamentary elections June-July. Some observers expect the trial could prevent National Rally lawmakers, including Le Pen himself, from fully playing their opposition role in Parliament, as they could then focus heavily on defending the party.
Since stepping down as party leader three years ago, Le Pen has tried to position herself as a mainstream candidate capable of appealing to a broader electorate. Her efforts have paid off, with the party making significant gains in recent elections at both European and national levels. But a guilty verdict could seriously undermine her bid to take the Elysee.
The National Rally and 27 of its top officials are accused of using money intended for EU parliamentary assistants to pay staff who instead did political work for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of EU rules 27 country block. The National Rally was called National Front at the time.
Le Pen, whose party has softened its anti-EU stance in recent years, denies wrongdoing and claims the case is politically driven.
“Parliamentary staff do not work for Parliament. They are political aides to elected officials, political by definition,” she argued in her defense. “You ask me if I can define the tasks I have assigned to my assistants; it depends on the skills of each person. Some wrote speeches for me, others took care of logistics and coordination.”
If found guilty, Le Pen and her co-defendants could face a prison sentence of up to 10 years and fines of up to 1 million euros ($1.1 million) each. Additional penalties could also be imposed, such as loss of civil rights or ineligibility for office, a scenario that would undermine Le Pen’s goal of launching a new presidential bid after the end of Macron’s term could hinder or even nullify it. Le Pen came second to Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections.
She served as party president from 2011 to 2021 and now heads the group of RN lawmakers in the French National Assembly.
Despite her denial, her party has already paid back 1 million to the European Parliament, said Parliament’s lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve. Of that amount, 330,000 euros were directly related to the alleged misuse of funds by Marine Le Pen.
A long-standing controversy
The legal proceedings stem from a 2015 warning from Martin Schulz, then President of the European Parliament, to French authorities about possible fraudulent use of European funds by members of the National Front.
Schulz also referred the matter to the European Anti-Fraud Office, which launched a separate investigation into the matter.
The European Parliament’s suspicions were heightened when a 2015 organizational chart revealed that sixteen European lawmakers and twenty parliamentary assistants held official positions within the party – roles unrelated to their supposed duties as EU parliamentary staff.
A subsequent investigation found that some assistants were contractually linked to MEPs other than the ones they actually worked for. This points to a plan to divert European funds to party workers in France.
Alexandre Varault, a National Rally spokesman who was elected to the European Parliament in June, told The Associated Press that Le Pen will attend the first day of the trial, adding that he hopes for the acquittal of all defendants.
Abuse of public funds alleged
Investigating judges concluded that Le Pen, as party leader, orchestrated the allocation of budgets for parliamentary assistance and instructed Members of the European Parliament to employ individuals who held party positions. These individuals were presented as EU parliamentary assistants, but in reality were believed to have worked for the National Rally in various capacities.
The European Parliament’s legal team is demanding €2.7 million in compensation for financial and reputational damage. This figure corresponds to the 3.7 million euros allegedly defrauded through the scheme, minus the 1 million euros that has already been repaid.
During the 2014 European elections, the National Front won a record 24 seats in the European Parliament, finishing first with 24.8% of the vote, ahead of the centre-right and the Socialists. This strong increase resulted in a significant financial windfall for the party, which was experiencing serious financial problems at the time.
An audit of the party’s accounts between 2013 and 2016 showed that it had a deficit of 9.1 million euros at the end of 2016. Yet the party still had a cash balance of 1.7 million euros and had lent 1 million euros to Le Pen’s 2017 fund. presidential campaign, while also holding 87,000 euros in loans to Cotelec, the financing association.
At the time, the party also had debts to a Russian bank for 9.4 million euros, a loan that was taken out in 2014 for 6 million euros.
Suspected systemic practice
The investigation revealed many irregularities involving prominent party members.
Thierry Légier, the longtime bodyguard of Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie, was listed as his parliamentary assistant. But his CV made no reference to this role, and he made no mention of it in his 2012 autobiography. Légier admitted during the investigation that he had not been interviewed and signed his employment contract without fully understanding his official role.
Jean-Marie Le Penwho led the National Front from 1972 to 2011, will not appear in court together with his former colleagues due to health reasons. Now 96, he was deemed unfit to testify by a court in June. He has eleven previous convictions, including for violence against a government official and hate speech.
He has denied wrongdoing during his time as party leader and stated that the “pool” of aides was public knowledge. “I did not choose which assistants were assigned to me. That was decided by Marine Le Pen and others. I just signed the contracts,” he said.
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