French Prosecutors Probe Marine Le Pen Over Campaign Funding
Prosecutors in Paris have launched an inquiry into National Rally leader Marine Le Pen's 2022 presidential campaign funding over suspicions of embezzlement, forgery, fraud, and claims that a candidate accepted a campaign loan....
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Facts
- Prosecutors in Paris have launched an inquiry into National Rally leader Marine Le Pen's 2022 presidential campaign funding over suspicions of embezzlement, forgery, fraud, and claims that a candidate accepted a campaign loan.1
- In the second round of the 2022 French presidential election, Le Pen received 41% of the vote and was defeated by incumbent Pres. Emmanuel Macron.2
- In that election, Le Pen allegedly spent around €11.5M ($12.4M), which the National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political Financing characterized as 'irregular.'3
- Previously, the Commission rejected over €873K ($944K) in her 2017 campaign spending against Macron, most of which was a loan from her father's Front National (now National Rally) party. Le Pen didn't appeal.4
- Two years ago, the EU's fraud agency accused Le Pen and her party members of misusing public funds while serving in the European Parliament. Le Pen denied wrongdoing, rejecting the allegations as 'foul play.'5
- In September, Le Pen and 24 others will stand trial for allegedly employing assistants for members of the European Parliament as party employees between 2004 and 2016. She denies the allegations.6
Sources: 1BBC News, 2POLITICO, 3Al Jazeera, 4Le Monde.fr, 5France 24 and 6Dw.Com.
Narratives
- Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Euronews. Le Pen and her far-right National Rally party aren't new to controversies. Several allegations of misappropriation of funds have also been made before. It's high time she and her party are probed objectively and convicted for exorbitant campaign expenses and fraudulent financial deals.
- Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Guardian. This persecution should come as no surprise. Authorities continue to conduct frivolous investigations into the campaigns of Le Pen and the National Rally party to bring a solid opposition to Macron down. It's more the norm than the exception. It's clear that there's political manipulation at play.
