PARIS – French financial police raided the headquarters of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party in Paris on Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged illegal financing of election campaigns.
According to party leader Jordan Bardella, approximately 20 armed officers from the financial crimes brigade seized documents, emails, and accounting records dating back to 2022, covering all of the RN’s electoral campaigns, including regional, presidential, parliamentary, and European races. The raid was overseen by two investigative judges.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said the judicial probe followed “multiple alerts from an institutional source” that accused the RN of financing campaigns through illegal loans from supporters. Investigators are examining whether campaign funding was illegally supplemented through overbilling of services or fake invoices submitted for state reimbursement.
Although loans from individuals are permitted under French law, they must not be “habitual” and must be repaid within a specific timeframe. Such loans are not subject to the same donation limits imposed by the campaign watchdog, which restricts individual donations to €7,500 annually per party and €4,600 per candidate per election.
Facing chronic difficulty in securing loans from French banks, the RN has previously relied on “patriotic lending schemes” to raise campaign funds from supporters.
The raid comes as the party reels from the conviction of Marine Le Pen and several party members over the embezzlement of EU funds — a case that could block her from contesting the 2027 presidential race. Le Pen is appealing the ruling and has insisted she still intends to run. However, tensions within the RN leadership have grown, with Bardella positioning himself as a potential presidential candidate if Le Pen is legally barred.
Reports also indicate that the European Parliament has launched a new inquiry into alleged misuse of funds by the RN’s parliamentary group, deepening the party’s legal and political troubles.
