Le Pen and the National Rally party are once again at the center of attention as their appeal against last year's verdicts on fraud with EU funds is now set to be heard in a French court.
From Tuesday and for the next month, Le Pen will primarily try to show that no mistakes were made with the money the party received to pay its assistants in the European Parliament during the years 2004-2016.
"My strategy is to tell the truth, just as I did in the first instance, in the hope of being better understood," she told French journalists on Monday .
Crown Prince takes over?
For Le Pen, next year's presidential election is at stake. Last year's ruling bars her from running for office for five years. If confirmed, she would likely have to give up her long-standing dream of becoming president.
On the other hand, it need not be negative for the party. The official party leader and stand-in Jordan Bardella is becoming increasingly popular in France - and according to opinion polls, he would defeat all current opponents in the election if he were allowed to run.
For now, however, he prefers to stay in the background.
"I am not a candidate in the presidential election. I am a candidate to become prime minister," he insisted at a press conference on Monday.
Is the US pushing?
The court is not expected to rule on the appeal until later this spring or early this summer. At the same time, the court has already prepared to meet possible pressure from the United States.
Both President Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio accused the verdict against Le Pen last year of being political. According to unconfirmed reports in the German magazine Der Spiegel, sanctions against the judges have been considered in the United States.
"If something like that were to be proven or occur, it would be an unacceptable interference in our country's internal affairs," said the court's president, Peimane Ghaleh-Marzban, in a speech last week.
Wiktor Nummelin/TT
Facts: The verdict against Le Pen
TT
A French court ruled last year that Marine Le Pen, a long-time leading figure in the nationalist party National Rally, and about 20 other party representatives used EU funds illegally when they received EU grants for their assistants in the European Parliament from 2004 to 2016, but actually let them work on completely different things back home in France.
For example, an EU assistant effectively served as a bodyguard and driver for party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.
The ruling against Le Pen means that she is barred from running in elections for five years.
She was also sentenced to a fine of 100,000 euros and four years in prison, two of which are suspended. If the sentence is enforced, she is expected to serve it in ankle shackles, without being locked up.
