US EditionAt appeal trial, France's Le Pen denies EU embezzlement charges
Marine Le Pen denies orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to misuse €2.9 million in EU funds, seeking to overturn a 2025 conviction that barred her from elected office.
- On Jan 20 and Jan 21, Marine Le Pen softened her tone in Paris court, denying wrongdoing while facing appeal over her ban from public office for misusing EU funds.
- Conviction records show the case centres on misuse of EU funds, with Le Pen and others found guilty of misappropriating more than 4 million euros from 2004–2016 and a five-year ban imposed in 2025.
- Answering Judge Michèle Agi's questions, Le Pen focused on legal arguments and said, `I formally contest the idea that there was a kind of system`, blaming past party management and her late father Jean‑Marie Le Pen until 2014.
- The trial is expected to last until Feb 12 with a ruling expected before the summer, keeping Le Pen’s 2027 presidential election hopes alive if the ban is revoked; if barred, 30-year-old RN party president Jordan Bardella is expected to replace her.
- At the Paris courthouse on the Île de la Cité, Le Pen appeared with the RN party and 10 other defendants found guilty of diverting European Parliament funds, referencing her late father Jean‑Marie Le Pen who died last year at 96.
52 Articles
52 Articles
Hears this Monday before the Paris Court of Appeal, this activist and historical cadre of the FN admitted that not all his parliamentary assistants had worked only at his service. He pleads the pooling of forces.
The trial of the National Rally is ongoing, and it highlights heavy suspicions: fictitious jobs, misappropriation of European public funds, and an organised system at the heart of the party.
It is the process of her life. Le Pen struggles in her appeal process to be allowed to take part in the presidential elections in 2027. However, it is difficult for her to refute the allegations against her.
Le Pen Trial: French judge Magali Lafourcade had a strange conversation with two American diplomats last year. According to her, they were seeking…
The Americans argued against the French far-right politician's ban from holding public office, in order to help Marine Le Pen.
After Marine Le Pen lost her right to run for office for five years last year, two American officials approached a French judge in an attempt to find evidence of political interference.
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