A judicial investigation was opened against Marine Le Pen. She is suspected of illegally financing the 2022 presidential campaign

The Paris prosecutorʼs office opened a judicial investigation against the French pro-Russian politician Marine Le Pen on suspicion of illegal financing of the presidential campaign during the 2022 elections.

Sources told BFMTV.

Prosecutors decided to open an investigation after the National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political Financing (CNCCFP) prepared a report last April on Le Penʼs campaign account for the 2022 presidential election. The investigation was opened only recently, BFMTV notes.

As the French media explains, during the elections, candidates are prohibited from exceeding the legal spending limit for the presidential campaign.

If candidates follow the rules, the state reimburses them for part of their campaign costs. Otherwise, the CNCCFP may reduce the compensation provided by the state and, if necessary, refer the case for investigation.

Thus, the CNCCFP appealed to the Paris prosecutorʼs office regarding the campaign of Marine Le Pen during the 2022 presidential election. According to the media, Marine Le Pen is not the only candidate of that election who was included in the CNCCFP report. But her case became the reason for initiating an investigation.

• Marine Le Pen is a French member of parliament, one of the leaders of the far-right National Unity party, which advocates strengthening Franceʼs ties with Russia and opposes aid to Ukraine. The party won a triumphant victory in France in the European Parliament elections, winning 31.5% of the vote, while incumbent President Emmanuel Macronʼs party won half as much — 15.2%. Because of this, the president even dissolved the parliament and called early parliamentary elections.
• Although the far-right Le Pen won the first round of the parliamentary elections and even expected to form a monomajority in the parliament, the victory in the elections was unexpectedly won by the left alliance. At the same time, the right-wing radical "National Union" was in third place.