For many years, I have observed Marine Le Pen and her party and how they operate in France. I have heard their xenophobic, anti-immigrant rhetoric and felt it contaminate French political life. It is a rhetoric rooted in the history of a party founded by figures from France’s postwar far right. Nothing they do or say surprises me any more. But even by their standards the crime is extraordinary.

A French court of appeal confirmed last week that Le Pen was guilty of a central role in orchestrating a scheme that systematically embezzled public funds for more than a decade. That the investigation also took 10 years may explain the absence of public shock waves, or why the focus has been on Le Pen’s future political moves rather than on her misdeeds. So let’s recap.

Essentially this was about an organised fake jobs scam instigated in 2004 by the leadership of the National Front (FN), now the National Rally (RN).

The party claimed EU salaries for staff supposedly working as MEPs’ assistants at the European parliament. But this money did not go to anyone carrying out legitimate European parliamentary duties: it was funnelled to France to support the activities of the party there. Among staff on its payroll as bogus MEPs’ assistants were Le Pen’s bodyguard and longtime personal assistant. The deception continued for 11 years until 2016.

The case is unprecedented in the history of French political life. Twenty-eight defendants in total were brought to court, including Marine Le Pen and her late father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was an MEP until 2019. The ruling should have been enough to shift the debate beyond the narrow (if gripping) question of whether or not Le Pen would be able to stand in the next French presidential election.

Yet, since her initial........

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