It’s published •update
French authorities stormed the headquarters of the far-right National Rally (RN) on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations, calling party President Jordan Bardera a “new harassment campaign.”
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office said the investigation is investigating whether RN funded the campaign through illegal loans between 2020 and 2024.
The survey relates to the RN’s 2022 French presidential election campaign, the country’s legislative elections that year, and the use of possible money laundering and forged documents during the 2024 European elections.
Prosecutors said there have been no charges so far and the investigation is ongoing.
In a post on X, Bardella said armed officers and court officials stormed the party’s Paris office on Wednesday morning, seizing emails, documents and accounting data.
“The whole file (all parties’ election campaigns) on recent regional, presidential, parliamentary and European campaigns is in the hands of justice today,” Burdera wrote.
“This epic and unprecedented operation is clearly part of a new harassment campaign,” Bardella added. “It’s a serious attack on pluralism and the democratic transition. The opposition has never suffered such persecution under the Fifth Republic.”
The RN has gained popularity in recent years, becoming France’s largest single parliamentary party, but was locked out of the government by a coalition of mainstream political forces after last year’s SNAP election, in which President Emmanuel Macron was called.
Wednesday’s attack comes around three months after party co-founder and de facto leader Marine Le Pen and other RN members were found guilty of embezzling European Union funds. The ruling could prevent her from running in France’s 2027 election, as she held her three-time presidential candidate Le Pen in office for five years.
Le Pen has appealed to the verdict, and the Paris Court of Appeals is due to rule by next summer. Separately, she asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday to intervene and request it via lifting the ban on France from taking office.
In another investigation, the European Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday said there are alleged misuse of 4.3 million euros by identity and democracy, the far-right group currently being abolished in the European Parliament, including the RN.
