The trial of a “system” allegedly organized by the Front National (now Rassemblement National) to finance itself through European funds will begin on September 30 in the Paris judicial court. Between 2004 and 2016, the party is accused of using parliamentary assistants who were actually working for the party. Among those facing charges alongside Marine Le Pen and her party are Louis Aliot, Thierry Légier, Wallerand de Saint-Just, and others.
Louis Aliot, a former European Parliament member and the former chief of staff of Jean-Marie Le Pen, is now the mayor of Perpignan, the largest city in France governed by the far-right. He is currently the first vice-president of the RN, and he is accused of employing a fictitious parliamentary assistant for four months. Thierry Légier, who has been the personal bodyguard of FN and RN leaders since the 1990s, is suspected of being improperly compensated as a collaborator for several MEPs. Wallerand de Saint-Just, a prominent figure in the FN, served as treasurer during the period when the party allegedly created the system to finance itself with European funds.
Among the former parliamentary assistants who have now risen to higher positions within the RN are Julien Odoul, Catherine Griset, and Timothée Houssin. Julien Odoul, who was one of the alleged fictitious assistants, is now a spokesperson and deputy of the RN, while Catherine Griset, a longtime friend of Marine Le Pen and former chief of staff, was elected to the European Parliament in 2019. Timothée Houssin, the former alleged collaborator of Nicolas Bay is now a regional councillor in Normandy and a deputy for RN in Eure since 2022.
Another key figure in the trial is Nicolas Bay, who left RN during the 2022 presidential campaign and joined Eric Zemmour. Despite rejoining RN after being elected as a member of the European Parliament on the list of Reconquest!, he remains unwelcome to Marine Le Pen. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the former president and cofounder of Front National, is not expected to be present at the trial due to health reasons. The trial will shed light on the alleged system of misusing European funds for party financing.
