Overview
- The U.S. State Department called a Der Spiegel report that Washington considered sanctioning the judges who convicted Marine Le Pen “stale and false,” according to POLITICO.
- Paris court president Peimane Ghaleh-Marzban warned that any such penalties would constitute “unacceptable and intolerable interference” in France’s internal affairs.
- Le Pen denies the embezzlement charges and begins her appeal next week after a March 31, 2025 sentence that included prison time and five years of ineligibility from public office, with a ruling expected before summer.
- Recent U.S. sanctions on 11 International Criminal Court judges, including a French magistrate, underpin French alarm about pressure on judicial independence.
- Le Pen’s National Rally distanced itself from perceived White House support, condemned the ICC sanctions, and dismissed the Der Spiegel story as “fake news,” while President Donald Trump previously criticized her conviction on Truth Social.