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A French court on Monday convicted Marine Le Pen of embezzlement and barred her from seeking public office for five years a hammer blow to the far-right leaders presidential hopes and an earthquake for French politics. Speaking to French TV channel TF1 in her first reaction to the verdict, Le Pen called the ruling a political move aimed at preventing her from running in the 2027 presidential election and said that millions of French people are outraged.” She called the verdict a violation of the rule of law, said she would appeal and asked that the court proceedings take place before the 2027 campaign. She would remain ineligible to be a candidate until the appeal is decided. Le Pen also was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, with two to be served under house arrest and two suspended. The court ruling was a political as well as a judicial temblor for France, hobbling one of the leading contenders to succeed President Emmanuel Macron at the end of his second and final term. So broad were the political implications that even some of Le Pen’s opponents said the Paris court had gone too far. But its too early to say how the case will affect voters. The potential elimination of Le Pen could fire up diehard supporters, just as U.S. Presidents Donald Trumps legal problems motivated some of his. But it could also leave her on the sidelines, deflating what had been her upward trajectory. Le Pen herself was not around to hear the chief judge pronounce the sentence that threw her career into a tailspin. By then, she had already strode out of the courtroom after the judge first indicated that the 56-year-old would be barred from office, without saying straight away for how long. Although Le Pen did not immediately comment, her supporters quickly expressed disapproval. Jordan Bardella, her 29-year-old protégé who could replace her on the ballot in 2027 if she cannot run, said on X that Le Pen was being unjustly condemned and that French democracy was being executed. Hungarys populist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, quickly took to social media to express his support, posting Je suis Marine! I am Marine on X. Among political opponents of Le Pen who expressed unease was conservative lawmaker Laurent Wauquiez, who said the verdict put a very heavy weight on our democracy. A political death scenario The sentence could prevent Le Pen from making what would have been her fourth run for the presidency in 2027, a scenario she has previously described as a political death. The partys most recognized figurehead and a formidable campaigner, Le Pen was runner-up to Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her partys electoral support has grown in recent years. Only an appellate ruling that overturns the ban on public office could restore her hopes of running. But with the election just two years away, time is running out. Theres no guarantee that an appeals court would rule more favorably, and appeals in France can take several years to conclude. The verdict was a resounding defeat for Le Pen’s National Rally party, formerly the National Front. She and 24 other party officials were accused of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to instead pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, violating the 27-nation blocs regulations. The judge handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of her party who, like Le Pen, previously served as European Parliament lawmakers. Also convicted were 12 people who served as parliamentary aides and three others. Only one defendant was acquitted. All had denied wrongdoing. The chief judge said Le Pen had been at the heart of a system that her party used to siphon off EU parliament funds, though she said they didn’t enrich themselves personally. The ruling described the embezzlement as a democratic bypass” that deceived the parliament and voters. From the front row of the court, Le Pen showed no immediate reaction when the judge first declared her guilty. But she grew more agitated as the verdict was delivered in greater detail. She shook her head in disagreement as the judge said Le Pens party illegally used European funds for its own benefit. Incredible, she whispered at one point. She then left without warning, picking up her bag and striding out, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. The abrupt departure left many in the courtroom in disbelief as they turned their heads toward the door. Rodolphe Bosselut, Le Pen’s lawyer, said he was appalled at the courts decision, which he described as extremely scandalous and said it would be appealed. The electoral ineligibility takes effect immediately, but the house arrest is suspended while she appeals. Le Pen has enjoyed growing support During the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024, Le Pen argued that ineligibility would have the effect of depriving me of being a presidential candidate” and disenfranchise her supporters. There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election, she told the panel of three judges. Le Pen also serves as a lawmaker in France’s National Assembly, a role not affected by the ineligibility ruling that she can keep for now. But if Macron dissolves parliament again, as he did last year, and calls early legislative elections, she would be barred from running. Sylvie Corbet and John Leicester, Associated Press Thomas Adamson and Justin Spike contributed to this report.
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A union that represents 150,000 U.S. government employees filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to block President Donald Trump from stripping hundreds of thousands of federal workers of the ability to collectively bargain with government agencies through their unions. The National Treasury Employees Union said in the lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. federal court that Trump’s executive order last week exempting more than a dozen agencies from collective bargaining obligations violates federal workers’ labor rights and the U.S. Constitution and threatens the union’s very existence. The NTEU said the order applies to more than 100,000 of its 158,000 members and would require agencies to stop deducting union dues from those workers’ paychecks, a major blow to the union’s revenue and bargaining power. “The strength and influence of any union correlate directly with the size of its membership,” the NTEU said. The NTEU said Trump issued the order to punish unions that have challenged many of his efforts to purge the federal workforce. The union has filed lawsuits over the mass firings of recently-hired federal employees, the shuttering of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and an attempt to make it easier to fire workers in policy-related jobs. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On the same day Trump issued the executive order, eight federal agencies filed a lawsuit against dozens of local union affiliates seeking to invalidate existing union contracts covering thousands of workers. Eliminating collective bargaining would remove obstacles for agencies to alter working conditions and fire or discipline workers. And it could prevent federal worker unions from challenging Trump administration initiatives in court. Trump in his order said that exempting large swaths of the federal workforce from collective bargaining was necessary to safeguard national security. None of the agencies covered by the order are primarily involved in intelligence or national security work, the NTEU said in the lawsuit. The order was “instead based on a policy goal of making federal employees easier to fire and political animus against federal sector unions who have opposed the Trump Administrations initiatives,” the union said. The lawsuit seeks a ruling blocking Trump’s order and barring federal agencies from complying with it. Trump in the order excluded from collective bargaining obligations agencies that he said “have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work.” The order applies to the Justice, State, Defense, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services departments, among other agencies. The NTEU on Monday said the order affects 75% of federal workers currently represented by unions. Trump’s order significantly expanded an existing exception from collective bargaining for workers with duties affecting national security, such as certain employees of the CIA and FBI. The agencies that sued to invalidate union contracts said the Biden administration had entered into many of the agreements in order to impede Trump from carrying out his agenda, including a drastic downsizing of the federal workforce. The unions that were sued last week by the Trump administration have not yet responded in court, but have said the bargaining agreements are legally binding and that the lawsuit is a meritless attempt to intimidate unions and workers. Daniel Wiessner, Reuters
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E-Commerce
As a potential TikTok ban looms in the United States (again), Substack is making (another) play for video creators to join its platform. Back in January, Substack CEO Chris Best wrote on his personal account that the company was going to rescue the smart people from TikTok! It seems hes making good on that promise, as the company announced on Monday that its rolling out a scrollable video feed in its app. Given the timing of this TikTok-like launch, Substack appears eager to capitalize on the potential void left behind if TikTok is actually banned this time around. Substack first launched video in 2022, later introducing an in-app Media Tab in 2024. The latest redesign transforms that tab into a scrollable, TikTok-style feed featuring short-form videos under 10 minutes, with long-form content and podcast previews expected to follow. This update comes just a month after Substacks announcement that creators can now monetize their videos on the platform and publish video posts directly through the Substack app. As of February, 82% of the platforms top-earning writers are using multimedia, up from just over 50% last April. Substack hopes to continue building on this momentum. According to the company, creators whove adopted video and/or audio have seen their revenue grow 2.5 times faster than those who havent. The new scrollable feed is designed to boost visibility and discovery for creators experimenting with new formats, while also helping readers stumble across new voices beyond their inboxes. Substack isnt built around any one mediumits built around creators. Were committed to giving them the tools to share their work, connect with subscribers, and contribute to a thriving network of independent voices, Substack product manager Zach Taylor tells Fast Company. As we expand publishing capabilities across formats, the updated media tab makes it easier to discover standout video content from across the networkwhether its a sharp take, a compelling story, or a powerful clip that sparks connection.” Taylor continues: Were excited to keep evolving the Substack app into a dynamic space where creators of all kinds can grow, connect, and build a sustainable business. From TikTok to Substack, the demand for bite-size content shows no signs of slowing down.
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