Overview
- The appeal trial began Tuesday in Paris and is scheduled to run about five weeks before a three-judge panel, with a verdict expected by summer.
- Le Pen is challenging a March conviction for misusing European Parliament funds that imposed a five-year bar from office, two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, a further two-year suspended term, and a €100,000 fine.
- Possible outcomes range from acquittal to a new conviction carrying penalties that could reach 10 years in prison and a €1 million fine, determining her eligibility for 2027.
- National Rally president Jordan Bardella, 30, is positioned to lead the ticket if she remains barred and has burnished his profile with public criticism of U.S. moves in Greenland and Venezuela.
- Polling shows Bardella’s popularity rising as Le Pen’s team pursues technical objections and argues the election ban is disproportionate.