I'm just going to lay this out here before we get to the court case.

Le Pen beats all other presidential candidates with ease in final poll before expulsion court hearing

Marine Le Pen stands poised to win the 2027 presidential election in France unless the courts disqualify her from running, new polling published just hours before a court hearing to determine her future has shown.

On Sunday, a new Ifop survey for Le Journal du Dimanche showed Le Pen leading in every run-off scenario, making her the undeniable frontrunner and obvious candidate of the right-wing National Rally.

The thing about the court case was not that a French politician was accused of something hinky to do with money - that's hardly breaking news. No, what raised eyebrows was prosecutors insisting that a guilty verdict in this court case must be accompanied by an immediate FIVE-YEAR BAN from holding public office, meaning it takes effect during the appeal process.

EXCUSEZ-MOI?

Poof. There goes the front-runner if she's found guilty, unlike, apparently, any French politician before her.

...Should the French court follow a similar path, Le Pen’s supporters — and perhaps many undecided voters — will likely view this as yet another case of overreach by an increasingly politicized judiciary.

Le Pen’s dominance isn’t marginal. Against an array of political opponents, she leads former Macron-appointed prime ministers Édouard Philippe (20–25 percent) and Gabriel Attal (around 20 percent), as well as far-left grandee Jean-Luc Mélenchon (12–13 percent), with ease.

She appears to be far more palatable to the wider electorate than others on the nationalist right, including Reconquête leader Éric Zemmour, who is polling at around 5-6 percent.

So, she'd wipe the floor with all of the establishment EU-blessed figures, which is what French polling is saying at the moment.

This morning?

Le Pen and her peeps are guilty.

National Rally (RN) party leader Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of embezzlement of public funds and was banned from running in elections with immediate execution.

On the morning of March 31, the judge at the Paris court also handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of Le Pen’s party who, like her, previously served as MEPs in the European Parliament.

According to the court, the politicians set up a system between 2004 and 2016 to funnel €2.9 million from the EP to the headquarters of the RN in Paris.

The court must know how this looks because it issued a 'This was about the crime, not the politics' statement and warned the sentencing part of the proceedings were going to take some time.

...The court stressed that “no one was judged for having done politics”, but that it was about a “system” of embezzlement of public funds.

The BBC had an update just a bit ago...

Breaking

We've just had it confirmed that Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for office for five years.

This means she will not be able to contest the French presidential election in 2027.

...with an addendum just a few minutes later.

More Details of LePen's Sentence

As we've reported, a French court has given Marie Le Pen a five-year ban on running for office with immediate effect. This means she is barred from running in the 2027 French presidential election race.

She has also been given a four-year prison sentence, of which two will be suspended. The other two can be spent with an electronic tag rather than in custody.

Le Pen has also been given a €100,000 (£82,635) fine.

She will very likely appeal the jail sentence, so this sentence will not apply now.

The appeal process in France is apparently quite convoluted and time-consuming, which also explains why 'prosecutors' were so insistent on an immediate ban from running for any political office. That timeline works out great for legally keeping LePen out of everyone's hair. Oddly enough, she's allowed to keep her parliamentary seat.

...She is almost certain to appeal, and neither the prison sentence nor the fine would be applied until her appeals are exhausted. Appeals in France can take months or even years.

But her five-year ban from running for office kicks in immediately, via a so-called "provisional execution" measure requested by prosecutors, and will be lifted only if any appeal is upheld before the election. She retains her parliamentary seat until her term ends.

There was no immediate comment from Le Pen on the ruling. Her right-hand man, RN president Jordan Bardella, said: "Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly condemned: It was French democracy that was killed".

Bardella is the heir presumptive with LePen removed.

As you might imagine, with everything happening between Germany, Romania, etc., the headlines are pretty volatile, and opinions are wildly split.

BREAKING: Judge rules Marine Le Pen ineligible to run for president in 2027 in latest blow to democracy in Europe

Shock verdict shows "power is shifting to the judges" in the latest attack on democracy in the EU

A judge has ruled Marine Le Pen is ineligible to run for office, along with eight MEPs from her National Rally party, after they were found guilty of misappropriation of EU funds. The move is the latest attack on democracy in the EU, with judges increasingly deciding elections in Europe. Le Pen has also been sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended.

Notably, the news comes right as Le Pen leads the polling for French presidential elections in 2027, as Remix News reported earlier today.

The court estimated that the total losses amounted to €2.9 million, as a result of “paying by the European Parliament people who actually worked for the far-right party.” Le Pen was found to be responsible for €1.8 million in damages herself. The judgment also concerns 12 assistants. The prosecutor’s office initially alleged that €7 million had been used in this way.

Investigators accused Le Pen of managing the illegal use of European subsidies between 2004 and 2016, when she served as an MEP. They stated that instead of working in Strasbourg, assistants were to work for Le Pen’s National Rally party in a domestic capacity.

...Other commentators have expressed surprise at not only the verdict but also the decision to exclude her from elections.

Pierre Lellouche, a lawyer and former Deputy of the French National Assembly, appeared on CNEWS to point out that the current prime minister, François Bayrou, faced the same charge and suffered no consequences.

“Then, last but not least, there is the case of (François) Bayrou, the current prime minister, who has been prosecuted for exactly the same thing, i.e., for abuses of party funding declared as parliamentary assistants in Europe, at the EU parliament. Bayrou emerged from this affair without being in the least concerned. In fact, the public prosecutor’s office has once again referred the matter to the courts, but even so, we’re dealing with a double standard here. It’s a bit surprising.”

So, considering France's sitting prime minister was 'prosecuted' for this exact thing with zero consequences, it sounds on the surface like a matter of 'the system,' as the court calls it, only being acceptable for approved crooks who belong to the right club. Not all crooks in the system qualify.

WE'RE DEALING WITH A DOUBLE STANDARD HERE

The presiding judge has just released a statement regarding their decision to impose the immediate ban on any candidacy by Le Pen:

Here’s how the presiding judge Bénédicte de Perthuis explained her decision, via AFP:

“The court took into consideration, in addition to the risk of reoffending, the major disturbance of public order if a person already convicted... was a candidate in the presidential election.”

Fairly reeks of their favorite phrase, 'saving democracy.'

Am I reading that right?

Sam Armstrong questions whether French far-right leader Marine Le Pen being found guilty of embezzlement was to "rule her out as a presidential candidate".

Julia Hartley-Brewer: "An astounding situation if she's stopped from running... I can see things kicking off!"@JuliaHB1 pic.twitter.com/v5w8bLyLqy

— Talk (@TalkTV) March 31, 2025

'Is France still a democracy?' 

...The dramatic judicial intervention into the French presidential campaign is threatening to deny to voters the choice of the candidate who is ahead in all opinion polls. On the news channels this lunchtime, the question was being posed: is France still a democracy?

According to what I have learned of the European Union's definition by watching the political lurching and machinations on the continent these past couple of years, it most assuredly is.

Granted, I am looking at this through American eyes, but, man, do I have a cynical squint on right now.

Next up, wondering what the average French citizen in the street thinks of it.

They're normally not too shy about letting anyone know how they feel.

But, boy - I hope they've got those fire trucks filled.