National Front assistants affair

Twenty-seven members of the National Front (renamed National Rally in 2018) party in France, including its then-leader Marine Le Pen, were accused of having hired people as European Parliament assistants between 2004 and 2016 to work for the political party while being paid with public funds. The core accusation was that these funds, intended for legitimate parliamentary work, were systematically diverted to finance the National Front's domestic political activities. The investigation revealed a network of contracts and payments that suggested a coordinated effort to misuse these funds. Nine Members of European Parliament (MEPs), including Le Pen, and 12 assistants were convicted in March 2025, and sentences included temporarily banning several from running for political office.

The French courts indicted several members of the National Front (FN) for embezzlement of public funds or complicity in this crime. Among the figures charged were Marine Le Pen, her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, Wallerand de Saint-Just, Nicolas Bay, Julien Odoul, and Louis Aliot. Current-day party leader Jordan Bardella, despite serving as a parliamentary assistant in 2015 to FN MEP Jean-François Jalkh, was not charged in this case.

The trial occurred in 2024, and the judgment was delivered on 31 March 2025. Marine Le Pen and eight other MEPs were convicted of embezzling public funds. Additionally, 12 parliamentary assistants were found guilty of receiving stolen funds, while three other party members were convicted of complicity in the embezzlement. One defendant was acquitted.

The damages in the case were estimated at €2.9 million. Marine Le Pen received a sentence of four years in prison, two of which were to be served under electronic tagging. She was also fined €100,000 and given five years of ineligibility with provisional execution. This sentence prevents her from running for office until 2030, including the 2027 French presidential election and the next legislative election. Twelve of the twenty-four convicted appealed the decision, including Le Pen.