ER Editor: Reactions and fallout from Le Pen’s conviction yesterday.
We published a decent analysis of the background to the case from European Conservative showing that being accused of so-called embezzling EU funds for parliamentary assistants is something a lot of parties have been accused of because the rules aren’t clear, and neither are the duties the European Parliament PAs are permitted to perform for the parties they are paid by. Le Pen’s legal defense seemed to make a sensible case for why there had been no wrongdoing. The claims go back from 2004 to 2016, so clearly there has been a dredging operation going on. See —
Le Pen Trial: French Democracy In the Dock?
eugyppius also gives a decent and clear account, with a few opinions —
Paris court strips Marine Le Pen of the right to run for public office – at one stroke disqualifying the highest-polling candidate from the 2027 French presidential elections
… what Le Pen did was far from unusual and the sentence just seems ridiculous to me. Many European parliamentary representatives have used staff paid from parliamentary budgets for party projects – including Franziska Brantner, the present co-chair of German Green Party. Until recently this was a common practice, and even now the distinction between party and parliamentary work is not always easy to maintain, and both routinely and deliberately blurred.
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Le Pen’s reaction as per Politico.eu —
PARIS — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Monday there was “no way” she was leaving politics and that she planned to fight for her right to run for president after a court barred her from running for public office for five years as punishment for embezzlement.
Crucially, she played down the prospect that she could soon have to pass her mantle over to her 29-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella to stand as the National Rally’s presidential candidate in 2027.
“I’m combative, I won’t let myself be eliminated,” a visibly infuriated Le Pen told broadcaster TF1 on Monday evening in her first interview since she was sentenced earlier in the day.
BREAKING: Marine Le Pen breaks her silence with a DEFIANT message:
“I’m a fighter. I’m NOT going to let myself be eliminated. I will pursue every avenue of appeal that I can. I have fought for the French people for 30 years and I will keep doing so all the way.”
— Cillian (@CilComLFC) March 31, 2025
THIS was Marine Le Pen winning her first round as France outright rejected WEF’s Macron.
THIS is why they’re banning her from elections and why she’s being sent to Prison. pic.twitter.com/HYmp5qvm2m
— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) March 31, 2025
The French people LOVE Marine Le Pen and demand that her “Guilty” Verdict is immediately overturned!
— Cillian (@CilComLFC) March 31, 2025
GLOBALISM – Every leader who dares challenge the establishment meets the same fate, prosecution, imprisonment, or exile.
Marine Le Pen in France. Bolsonaro in Brazil. Imran Khan in Pakistan. Salvini in Italy. Trump in America. Calin Georgescu in Romania.
Different countries,… pic.twitter.com/9MMnVx2ZBq
— Bernie (@Artemisfornow) March 31, 2025
Russell Brand —
Marine Le Pen Just Got TRUMPED! pic.twitter.com/MZevW7HNWH
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) March 31, 2025
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See also this from RT —
US State Department reacts to Le Pen conviction
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President Trump speaks on Marine Le Pen’s sentencing today:
“That’s a big deal. She’s been banned from running for President despite being the leading candidate. That sounds like this Country.”
It sounds like Emmanuel Macron is in BIG trouble with Trump. GOOD! pic.twitter.com/a1gVgjg1Za
— Cillian (@CilComLFC) March 31, 2025
Putin is a dictator?
Meanwhile in Europe:
France : Marine Le Pen sentenced and barred from running in the elections.
Romania : Elections canceled, winning candidate arrested and imprisoned.
Germany : Preparations for a similar scenario against the AfD party.
Slovakia :… pic.twitter.com/gTp0To4U4p— Sprinter Observer (@SprinterObserve) March 31, 2025
Forgive us, but we still insist that there is a popcorn element to this … and we stand firmly by this view.
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Le Pen conviction ‘a very big deal’ – Trump
The US president has said the prosecution of the French opposition leader reminds him of his own legal battles under the former administration
RT
US President Donald Trump has said the criminal prosecution of French opposition leader Marine Le Pen reminds him of his own legal battles under the administration of former President Joe Biden.
On Monday, Le Pen, the former leader of the conservative National Rally (RN) party, was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which will be suspended, and was barred from holding public office for five years. The embezzlement conviction effectively bars her from the 2027 presidential race.
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office about the verdict, Trump replied, “That’s a very big deal.”
“I know all about it, and a lot of people thought she wasn’t going to be convicted of anything,” he said.
“But she was banned [from] running for five years, and she’s the leading candidate. That sounds very much like this country.”
Trump has often claimed that the court cases and investigations into his activities were part of a politically motivated “witch hunt” led by the Biden administration and the Democrats.
US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce has said the prosecution of Le Pen is “particularly concerning, given the aggressive and corrupt lawfare waged against President Trump here in the United States.”
According to the prosecutors, Le Pen siphoned off EU funds intended for her staff’s work in the European Parliament to fund the activities of her party in France. She denied any wrongdoing and called the verdict “a fatal day for our democracy.”
Le Pen’s party holds the highest number of seats in the National Assembly. According to an Ifop poll published in Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday, 34-37% of those surveyed said they plan to vote for Le Pen in 2027 – over 10 points more than her nearest rival, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. Le Pen ran for president three times, finishing second in 2017 and 2022.
Source
Featured image source, Le Pen:
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Published to The Liberty Beacon from EuropeReloaded.com
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