French National Rally Headquarters Raided Amid Campaign Financing Investigation

The French police executed a raid on the headquarters of the far-right National Rally (RN), seizing documents as part of an investigation into alleged illegal campaign financing. Jordan Bardella, the party's leader, condemned the operation as a harassment campaign. This raid occurred just a day after EU financial prosecutors in Brussels announced a separate investigation into the misuse of €43 million by the former far-right Identity & Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament, which included members from the RN. The situation has spiraled into a significant setback for the party, especially following Marine Le Pen’s conviction earlier this year for embezzling EU funds. This conviction has subsequently barred her from holding office for five years, effectively thwarting her aspirations of running in the 2027 presidential elections. Bardella, aged 29, has been asked by Le Pen to prepare campaigning strategies in her absence and shared on social media that the RN headquarters, including the offices of its leadership, were under search by around 20 police officers from the financial brigade. The Paris prosecutor's office stated that the raid was part of an ongoing investigation initiated in July the previous year, which aims to determine whether the funding for the 2022 and 2024 campaigns was obtained via illegal loans from individuals to the party or to RN candidates. Additionally, the investigation will scrutinize allegations that the party presented inflated or fictitious invoices in its claims for state reimbursement of campaign finances. Alongside the RN headquarters, the homes and offices of several company executives connected to the investigation were also searched. The prosecutor's statement noted that the investigation encompasses potential acts of fraud, involvement in loans exceeding campaign finance regulations, aggravated laundering of fraud, forgery, and the use of falsified documents occurring between 2020 and 2024. Separately, EU prosecutors have launched an investigation following a European Parliament report that accused the ID group—comprised of MEPs from RN, Italy's Lega, Germany’s AfD, and other far-right parties—of improper spending of over €4 million in EU funds. The report claims that most of the funds had benefited companies related to a former adviser of Le Pen and his wife. Notably, the ID group was disbanded last year and has been replaced by a new coalition, Patriots for Europe. Le Pen has appealed her conviction, expressing hopes that it will be overturned to enable her for a fourth bid for the Elysée in the upcoming election cycle. Polling data indicates that either she or Bardella would be well-positioned to secure victory if the election were held today. Related Sources: • Source 1 • Source 2 • Source 3