Marine Le Pen found guilty of embezzling EU funds

Zut alors. The trial of the decade is concluding in France today, with major ramifications for the next presidential election in 2027. This morning Marine Le Pen and eight MEPs were found guilty of misappropriation of public funds. The case revolved around the alleged embezzlement of EU funds to pay RN staff for party work. Talk about being good Europeans!

The RN leader was found to have misappropriated €474,000, in particular for the contracts of her bodyguard, Thierry Légier, and her former parliamentary attaché, Catherine Griset. Sentencing at the court in Paris will occur later today, with Le Pen potentially barred from holding public office for the next five years. That would rule her out from standing as Macron’s successor…

It is worth noting that some of Marine Le Pen’s staunchest opponents have spoken out against her being banned from running for president. Among them is Éric Coquerel, MP for the radical left party LFI, who said ‘I don’t agree that things that should be decided by the ballot box are decided by the courts. It will only paint the National Rally as a victim.’ Will that be born out in the next polling?

We await to see what the judge does later today…