Yesterday, National Rally leader Jordan Bardella wrote of police raids targeting communications providers that worked with his party, as well as an upcoming judicial investigation targeting him for a job he did 12 years ago. All of these actions are being taken in the lead up to French national elections next year, where Bardella is shown to be leading in polls to become the next president of the country.
“Since early this morning, searches have been underway at the offices and personal residences of communication providers who have worked with us,” wrote Bardella on X.
“At the same time, Le Canard enchaîné also informs us of the upcoming opening of a judicial investigation concerning me, following a complaint from a militant association, regarding a job I held for a few months at the European Parliament… nearly twelve years ago,” he continued.
He then noted that these actions are being taken before elections, writing: “As always, judicial proceedings herald the electoral calendar. We have nothing to reproach ourselves for, and we will demonstrate it.”
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Tuesday it is “currently carrying out investigative measures in France and other European countries as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of European funds by a former political group in the European Parliament between 2019 and 2024.” This is a clear reference to the Identity and Democracy group.
Now, the National Rally is being targeted once again over alleged embezzlement of European funds.
🇫🇷🇪🇺The EU is using each crisis – immigration, Covid-19, and now the war in Ukraine – to seize more and more power, says Marine Le Pen.
"My deep feeling is that the EU systematically uses crises to advance its agenda and to assume powers and competences that the treaties have… pic.twitter.com/tX2XwINDT4
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) December 19, 2025Le Monde, which first revealed the information, reported that the searches are taking place as part of an investigation opened in July 2025, following a report from the European Parliament’s financial affairs directorate.
The RN calls the timing “troubling”
According to Philippe Ballard, an RN deputy for Oise and party spokesperson, the complaint originated with a “militant association.”
Speaking to france info, he said: “There are many [associations] who sue us, which they never win anyway.” He added: “We will let justice take its course. But we are calm. We will show that we are, once again, completely innocent.”
🇫🇷🇪🇸Free movement in Europe's Schengen should only be for EU citizens, not migrants, says French political leader @J_Bardella after Spain's far-left government decided to legalize up to 800,000 migrants.
"This is why I believe that the Schengen area and the free movement allowed… pic.twitter.com/KbwWsAZyT8
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) April 21, 2026RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy, for his part, told BFMTV that he found it “disturbing that one week before Marine Le Pen’s court deliberations, this affair resurfaces.” The Paris Court of Appeal is set to rule on July 7 on whether to uphold Marine Le Pen’s ineligibility in the European parliamentary assistants affair.
Notably, Bardella is leading in many polls to become the country’s next president. The question now is whether the establishment is going to wield the courts against Bardella as well, potentially eliminating him from the ballot entirely before he can even run.
As Remix News reported earlier, many in Brussels fear a Bardella versus Jean-Luc Mélenchon matchup, which could throw the EU establishment into chaos regardless of who wins. Notably, polling shows that Bardella would crush Mélenchon in a head-to-head runoff matchup.
