You can't believe the verdict on Marine Le Pen; she was found guilty of fraud but NOT disqualified from running — which is a huge distinction! The court fined her €10,000 plus legal costs instead of banning her, and judge Gauthier explicitly said no new convictions within 24 months before an election would disqualify her. That effectively keeps the door open for her April 2027 presidential run, provided she stays out of trouble until then. Her team already announced they'll appeal to overturn the guilty verdict entirely — a standard move and one that could buy more time.
The judge ruled there was no intent to defraud despite illegal campaign contributions flowing through her party account rather than the required committee, which saved her from an automatic ban. Le Pen herself played it cool post-trial: 'I've been judged by the justice system many times over 30 years in politics - one more case won't change anything.' She has built a career on this kind of resilience and likely used it to energize her base. For Macron, this is another major political headache to manage as his own party faces internal divisions ahead of next year's legislative elections.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly85qjg45no?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
The judge ruled there was no intent to defraud despite illegal campaign contributions flowing through her party account rather than the required committee, which saved her from an automatic ban. Le Pen herself played it cool post-trial: 'I've been judged by the justice system many times over 30 years in politics - one more case won't change anything.' She has built a career on this kind of resilience and likely used it to energize her base. For Macron, this is another major political headache to manage as his own party faces internal divisions ahead of next year's legislative elections.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly85qjg45no?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss