PARIS (AP) 鈥� French far-right leader Marine Le Pen鈥檚 political future at an appeals trial in Paris which may damage her party鈥檚 ambitions of radically changing France鈥檚 direction through anti-immigration and nationalist policies.
Le Pen started answering the judges’ questions Tuesday as she seeks to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016.
She was given a , two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet and a further two-year suspended sentence.
Here’s why the appeals trial could significantly impact France’s political landscape:
France’s 2027 presidential race is at stake
If she鈥檚 able to run, Le Pen, 57, is expected to be among the top contenders in the 2027 presidential election, possibly the front-runner, according to opinion polls.
She finished runner-up to Emmanuel Macron in 2017 and 2022, making her one of the most experienced senior politicians in the country.
For the past 15 years, Le Pen has been trying to bring the far right into France鈥檚 political mainstream, striving to remove the stigma of racism and antisemitism that has clung to the party.
Since 2024, her National Rally party has become the largest single political group in France鈥檚 powerful lower house of parliament, even though it fell short of an outright majority.
If Le Pen is ruled ineligible, she has already designated her 30-year-old prot茅g茅, Jordan Bardella, as her successor in the presidential bid.
The fraud case involved money for hiring party aides
The National Rally and 11 of its officials, including Le Pen, are intended for European Union parliamentary aides instead to pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc鈥檚 regulations.
Some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen鈥檚 bodyguard, as well as her personal assistant. Another aide worked as a graphic designer.
Le Pen鈥檚 sister, Yann, also was paid as an EU parliamentary aide when she was in charge of organizing the party鈥檚 big events.
Others worked as aides to party officials they had no employment contract with.
鈥淭hat was how it was. It may have been reprehensible, questionable 鈥� the system was not ideal, I am aware of that 鈥� but all of those people were actually working,” Le Pen said Tuesday.
The legal proceedings stem from a 2015 alert raised to French authorities about possible fraud by Martin Schulz, then-president of the European Parliament.
Le Pen acknowledges possible unintentional mistakes
Since the appeals trial opened last week, Le Pen鈥檚 defense appeared focused on arguing the party may have made unintentional mistakes.
鈥淲e did not feel we had committed any offense,鈥� Le Pen told the court. She said European Parliament officials did not at the time tell her party that the way it was hiring people was potentially against any rules.
Faced with several emails mentioning details of internal meetings about hiring aides, Le Pen said staffing choices were aboveboard and justified by the multiple tasks required of the party. She also acknowledged some of the aides were 鈥渟hared鈥� by several elected officials for organization purposes 鈥� no matter what their contracts stated.
鈥淲e pooled a certain number of aides 鈥� though not all of them. I note that over this entire 10-year period, the European Parliament never advised us nor reproached us for having aides who were obviously working with several MEPs,鈥� Le Pen said Tuesday.
Regarding her bodyguard, 鈥渁gain, the European Parliament was aware he was a security officer,鈥� she said.
March ruling says Le Pen part of 鈥榝raudulent system鈥�
A Paris court ruled in March that Le Pen was at the heart of 鈥渁 fraudulent system鈥� that her party used to siphon off EU Parliament funds worth 2.9 million euros ($3.4 million). The ruling described the embezzlement as 鈥渁 democratic bypass鈥� unfair to competitors.
The court noted 鈥渢he seriousness of the acts committed鈥� and 鈥渢he harm caused both to citizens鈥� trust in public life and to the interests of the European Parliament鈥� to justify the sentence.
The judges handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of her party who, like Le Pen, previously served as European Parliament lawmakers. Also convicted were 12 people who served as parliamentary aides and three others. Some did not appeal the ruling.
Several options in Le Pen’s trial
The five-week trial that started on Jan. 13 reexamines the case from scratch, reassessing evidence and hearing witnesses and defendants again. A new ruling will be issued at a later date, likely before summer.
Several scenarios are possible.
Le Pen could be cleared and possibly emerge strengthened, paving the way for her presidential campaign. Alternatively, she could be convicted and barred from running, forcing her to support Bardella’s candidacy.
Bardella鈥檚 popularity has surged in recent years, particularly among younger voters, though some within the party have questioned his leadership. His relative inexperience compared with Le Pen, scripted responses during interviews and apparent lack of expertise on some economic and international topics may work against a potential presidential candidate.
Another option is for Le Pen to be found guilty, but with a lighter sentence that still allows her to run.
Le Pen’s party has criticized the judges
Le Pen denounced the March ruling as 鈥渁 democratic scandal.鈥�
鈥淭he (judicial) system brought out the nuclear bomb,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd if it is using such a powerful weapon against us, it鈥檚 obviously because we鈥檙e about to win the elections.鈥�
National party officials alleged it was a politically motivated decision implemented by what they describe as left-wing judges, which echoes language used by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2023 when he said to damage his campaign.
In France, judges are independent magistrates and cannot be removed from their posts.
鈥淚 hope I鈥檒l be able to convince the judges of my innocence,鈥� Le Pen said last week.
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