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Marine Le Pen testifies in ongoing RN assistants appeal trial
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In the Paris Court of Appeal's ongoing trial over alleged misuse of European Parliament funds by Front National/Rassemblement National staff, Marine Le Pen was questioned on January 20-21, 2026, rejecting claims of a 'system' of embezzlement and highlighting the European Parliament's prior silence on assistants' roles.
In the appeal trial of the Front National's European parliamentary assistants, Fernand Le Rachinel, the first defendant questioned, claimed he did not know the contracts were illegal. The 83-year-old former MEP explained that his assistants did work, but not in the proper frameworks. He acknowledged that Jean-Marie Le Pen made the recruitment decisions.