Overview

• On July 9, France’s Financial Brigade and investigative judges raided National Rally’s Paris headquarters, confiscating emails, accounting records and electoral files.
• Party president Jordan Bardella called the operation a “spectacular and unprecedented” act of harassment that threatens democratic pluralism.
• The raid advances a 2024 inquiry into alleged campaign finance breaches including illicit loans, money laundering and document forgery.
• In April, co-founder Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzling campaign funds, banned from office for five years and sentenced to two years of house arrest, and she has appealed the verdict.
• No formal accusations have been filed following the raid and the Paris Court of Appeal is expected to rule on Le Pen’s appeal by next summer.