The News
France’s far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen will stand trial alongside 26 others on Monday over alleged misappropriation of European Union funds to pay party staff, almost a decade after an investigation was first launched.
Le Pen and her co-defendants could face jail sentences of up to 10 years if found guilty, as well as a $1.12 million fine. They have consistently denied the charges.
SIGNALS
The National Rally may be able to weather the storm
A guilty verdict could slap Le Pen with a five-year ban on running for public office, and scupper her hopes of unseating Macron at France’s next presidential election in three years’ time, Politico reported. But the trial itself may not damage her popularity, and could even — as with US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — prove to be a boon: The National Rally has consistently described the investigation as a form of “persecution,” The Guardian noted, a framing that “lets them cast themselves as the victim,” a political scientist told AFP. However, a conviction with a lighter sentence could still damage the party, which has sought to detoxify its far-right reputation in recent years, The Wall Street Journal noted.