French authorities raided the headquarters of the National Rally (RN)—the most popular party in France by far—on Wednesday as part of an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations.
The Paris prosecutor’s office is examining whether the RN financed its campaign in part with illegal loans from individuals to the party between 2020 and 2024.
“This spectacular and unprecedented operation is clearly part of a new harassment campaign,” said the party’s leader Jordan Bardella. “It’s a serious attack on pluralism and democratic transition. An opposition party has never suffered such persecution under the Fifth Republic.”
The police and investigating magistrates seized electronic communications and accounting data, but according to Bardella the judiciary has also taken unrelated material, including documents pertaining to the party’s electoral activity and files concerning RN campaigns.
Prosecutors will also look into allegations that the RN inflated or potentially faked invoices in its claims for state reimbursement of campaign finances. Offices and homes of several company executives were also searched.
Despite the show of force with 20 police officers sent to RN headquarters, prosecutors said that there have been no charges and the probe is still ongoing.
The raid came just a day after EU financial prosecutors in Brussels launched an investigation into the alleged misuse of €4.3 million by a now-defunct European Parliamentary Group, Identity & Democracy (ID), which the RN was a part of.
The raid marks another blow to RN’s electoral aspirations after Marine Le Pen was convicted in March of embezzling EU funds and barred from running for office for five years, effectively scuttling her presidential ambitions.
Le Pen is seeking to appeal the decision at the Paris Court of Appeals before the elections in 2027, with the ruling due by next summer. Le Pen is poised to be a frontrunner according to recent polls. Jordan Bardella is also topping the polls, so RN has an alternative should Le Pen not overturn the ruling.
European governments along with the EU are increasingly using lawfare to marginalize conservatives, eroding democratic institutions while claiming to be guardians of democracy. The police raid on the RN is another addition to the long list of actions taken against opposition parties, but it is unlikely to damage their surging popularity.
The post Macron’s Globalist Regime Storm Troopers Raid National Rally in ‘Campaign Finance Probe’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.