Political wrongdoing shouldn’t be excused, but it should have fair consequences. In the case of leftist leaders, there are usually no consequences at all. We all saw this with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his breach of ethics law, and trampling the constitutional rights of citizens when he “broke the highest law in the land by invoking the Emergencies Act.” Both of these were serious breaches of the law, yet Trudeau suffered no consequences. As for Joe Biden, there is good reason that his family has earned the nickname the “Biden Crime Family.” Now compare the zero consequences those two former leaders received for their actions with the verdict on France’s Marine Le Pen, who has just been found guilty of siphoning off “EU money intended to pay EU parliamentary aides to pay party staff instead between 2004 and 2016.” Le Pen still denies the accusation. Nonetheless, she has been barred without recourse from being a candidate in the next Presidential elections.
As to be expected, the leftist media was quick to gloat, and as it did so, once again called the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders and Italy’s Matteo Salvini, both of whom condemned the verdict, “far right.” They are constantly tarred with this label because they oppose the suicidal immigration policies of the globalist left.
How low is the corrupt left willing to go to stop their opponents? This gives us an idea: the left tried to destroy Trump politically and economically, and when that failed, they tried to jail him. That, too, failed and then came two assassination attempts.
Although Le Pen “said before the verdict that that any immediate ban on running for election would be like a ‘political death sentence,'” and that judges had “the power of life or death over our movement,” let’s hope the decision backfires. After the ruling, she stated that prosecutors were “‘only interested‘ in barring her from the presidential election,” set for 2027.
The populist movement needs to gain more strength than ever now in light of Le Pen’s verdict. Not coincidentally, Le Pen had led the polls for the first round of the 2027 election.
France’s Marine Le Pen, leading right-wing politician, found guilty of embezzlement, barred from elections
by Frank Andrews, CBS News, March 31, 2025:
Marine Le Pen, the figurehead of the ascendant far-right political movement in France, was hit with a non-custodial prison sentence and barred from running in elections for five years on Monday as a court found her guilty of embezzling European Union funds to pay members of her National Rally party’s staff.
In handing down the sentence, the judge said the public office ban would take effect immediately and she will not be able to appeal, which means Le Pen will not be able to run for the French presidency in 2027.”The court took into consideration, in addition to the risk of reoffending, the major disturbance of public order if a person already convicted… was a candidate in the presidential election,” judge Benedicte de Perthuis, was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP.
De Perthuis also sentenced Le Pen to four years in prison, but said that part of her sentence would be served with her wearing an electronic tag, not in prison, and that two years of the sentence would be suspended. He also fined her more than $100,000. Both the fine and the prison sentence can be appealed. Recent polling has shown Le Pen is likely to have won at least a first round in France’s next national election, though it is much less clear how she would have fared in a second round against a more moderate candidate….
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'Free Le Pen!': Vance, Trump, Musk rally behind France's far-right leader
US President Donald Trump called it a "witch hunt", Vice President JD Vance said it was "not democracy" and billionaire Elon Musk wrote "Free Le Pen!" on X. The three voiced their support for French far-right leader Marine Le Pen after she was convicted for embezzling €4.6 million in public funds and barred from running for office for five years.
US President Donald Trump, his Vice President JD Vance and billionaire backer Elon Musk have all voiced their support to French far-right leader Marine Le Pen after she was found guilty of embezzlement and barred from running in France’s 2027 presidential election.
Trump, who often labelled his own legal woes as a leftist witch-hunt, drew parallels with Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party, who was widely seen as a plausible presidential winner.
She was convicted on Monday of misappropriating European Union funds by using the money to pay party officials. She received a four-year prison sentence, two of which are suspended and two to be served under home detention, and a €100,000 ($108,200) fine.
She also received an immediate five-year ban on running for office that will prevent her from the 2027 presidential election unless the ruling is overturned next year.
"The Witch Hunt against Marine Le Pen is another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech, and censor their Political Opponent," Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform. "It is the same ‘playbook’ that was used against me."
Trump was indicted for covering up a hush money payment to a porn star, for attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost, and for retaining classified documents after his first term ended. He was convicted in the hush money case. He denied wrongdoing in all cases and has called them politically motivated.
Federal charges against him were dropped following his 2024 election win.
JD Vance, who has accused European nations of democratic abuses by seeking to block far-right parties from office, also weighed in to support Le Pen.
"The Europeans, they are absolutely 100% our friends. But that relationship ... it’s going to get stressed and it’s going to get tested if they keep on trying to throw opposition leaders in jail," he told Newsmax on Thursday.
And Elon Musk, who has lent his support to far-right figures across Europe, reposted Trump’s message on his own X social media platform, writing: "Free Le Pen!"
The expressions of support for Le Pen by Washington’s three most powerful figures underline a growing divergence between the United States and other nations – including many in Europe – over how judges adjudicate thorny constitutional questions or wrongdoing by politicians.
Le Pen has accused France’s judiciary of sparking a democratic crisis by barring her from the 2027 election and called for a mass protest in Paris on Sunday, although there are signs her attacks on judges are playing badly with voters.
Having previously said she backed lifetime ineligibility for politicians convicted of misappropriation of public funds, she said in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper on Wednesday that the charges against her were different.
“Misappropriation of public funds has always been: I take public money and I put it in my pocket. That’s inexcusable. That was not the case in the affair that concerns us,” she said.
It remains to be seen if Trump and his allies’ support will help or hinder Le Pen.
“I’m not sure it helps,” Manuel Valls, France’s minister for overseas territories, said on franceinfo. “It shows there’s an international far-right movement that seeks to influence the debate. Hands off French justice, Mr. Trump!”
As if there isn't a far-left movement that is already controlling the debate in Europe. Open your eyes, Manuel! It's there for all to see.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
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