The French far-right State Rally Party accused the authorities of a “new harassment campaign” after police raided the headquarters to inquire about its campaign finances.
Party Chairman Jordan Bardella said that “spectacular and unprecedented action” was “a serious attack on diversity and democratic change”.
Prosecutors said they are investigating potential behaviors of “fraudulent behavior targeting public figures” and allegedly breached behavior involving loans and donations during the 2022 and 2024 election activities.
Wallerand de Saint-Just, the party’s former treasurer, said the National Rally (RN) did nothing wrong.
“This process looks completely unacceptable and outrageous. We are persecuted every day,” he told reporters outside the party’s headquarters in Paris.
“All our campaign accounts have been approved and reimbursed.”
Despite a series of legal setbacks, RN is still leading the French opinion polls, with its 29-year-old President Bardella, a recent poll that is the country’s most popular politician.
Earlier this year, RN leader Marine Le Pen was convicted by a French court that helped embezzle EU funds. She was banned from running for office for five years, her fourth ambition to hold the presidency.
She appealed the conviction, which she denounced as a “witch hunt” but accepted last month that she had to hand over the baton to the young lieutenant before the 2027 presidential vote.
Bardella attended the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg during the police raid, but he said 20 financial travel police officers seized internal party documents and raided his office using the excuse of searches.
Le Pen did not comment immediately.
Police also raided the headquarters of several companies and their bosses.
The raiders were linked by Paris prosecutors to inquiries a year ago, which targeted allegations of misappropriation, forgery and fraud centered on Le Pen’s party.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that the investigation should determine whether the party’s 2022 presidential and parliamentary campaign and its 2024 European elections were illegal payments from individuals who benefited from the National Rally Party or candidates.
They said they will also investigate whether the inflated or virtual invoice has been submitted as campaign fees paid by the state.
RN said the allegations of illegal campaign financing were based on the fact that French banks were ready to help with funds. It previously received loans from banks in Russia and Hungary.
In another setback to the national rally, the EU prosecutor’s office formally conducted a formal investigation into a political group in the RN European Parliament this week.
Identity and democracy dissolved last year, suspected of abuse of parliamentary funds. RN is now part of the Patriots in the European group, which includes far-flung parties from Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain and Portugal.
Badra said on Tuesday that the investigation was “a new harassment operation in the European Parliament”.
