PARIS — Jordan Bardella, the leader of France’s National Rally and president of the Patriots group in the European Parliament, on Tuesday evening said authorities had raided “offices and private residences of communications contractors” with which his team had worked.
While Bardella did not specify why the contractors’ properties were raided, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed in a statement to POLITICO that it was “conducting investigative measures in France and other European countries as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of European funds by a former political group in the European Parliament between 2019-2024.”
POLITICO reported last year that the Patriots’ predecessor group, Identity and Democracy, had breached spending rules to the tune of at least €4.3 million, according to a confidential report.
French daily Le Monde, which first reported the raids, said they were connected to the allegations of financial wrongdoing leveled against the Identity and Democracy group. A high-ranking National Rally official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the ongoing probe, said the searches were conducted in connection with the European prosecutor’s investigation.
Bardella, 30, is leading opinion polls in next year’s French presidential election. Whether he runs will depend on whether Marine Le Pen, the far-right party’s candidate in the past three presidential elections, can successfully appeal her conviction for embezzling European Parliament funds and her five-year ban on running for office. The verdict in her appeal will be delivered Tuesday.
This isn’t the first time the National Rally has had to deal with raids linked to judicial probes. The party’s Paris headquarters were searched last summer in a separate case looking into potential electoral law violations, an accusation the party has denied.
That case is still ongoing.
This story has been updated.
Clea Caulcutt contributed to this report.
