PARIS (AP) — Paris prosecutors on Wednesday requested a 2-year prison sentence for far-right leader Marine Le Pen and an additional 5-year period of ineligibility to run for office, in a trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds where her ability to participate in the 2027 presidential race is at stake.
The National Rally party and 25 of its officials, including Le Pen, are accused of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to instead pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc’s regulations. The National Rally was called the National Front at the time.
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FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters at the Elysee Palace after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at the courtroom for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at the courtroom for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at the courtroom for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at the courtroom for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters at the Elysee Palace after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
Prosecutors asked the court to declare Le Pen guilty and impose a 300,000-euro fine and three more years of suspended prison sentence. They requested that the period of ineligibility be declared effective immediately, independent of whether Le Pen files an appeal or not.
The nine-week trial is scheduled to finish Nov. 27, with a verdict at a later date. Defense lawyers are to speak in the next couple of weeks.
Le Pen did not show any emotion in the courtroom as she listened to the prosecutors' demands.
“It’s no surprise,” she told reporters. “I note that the prosecutors' claims are extremely outrageous."
Le Pen said she felt prosecutors were “only interested” in preventing her from running for president in 2027. “I understood that well,” she said.
Le Pen was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party’s electoral support has grown in recent years.
Prosecutors also requested a guilty verdict for all other co-defendants, including various sentences of up to one year in prison and a 2-million euro fine for the party.
Prosecutor Louise Neyton said the judicial investigation has shown that the alleged fraudulent acts “are unprecedented because of their scope, duration and because of their organized, automatic and systemic nature.” She denounced “the serious and lasting damage these facts and this behavior have caused to the democratic game.”
Le Pen has focused all her energy in recent weeks fighting what she claims are unfair accusations.
From the outset of the long and complex trial, she has been a forceful presence, sitting in the front row, staying for long hours into the night and expressing her irritation at allegations she says are wrong.
A lawyer by training, she follows the proceedings with extreme attention, sometimes puffing her cheeks, making her disagreement known with forceful nods of the head and striding over to consult with her lawyers, her heels loudly clicking on the courtroom’s wooden floors.
Le Pen has denied accusations she was at the head of “a system” meant to siphon off EU parliament money to the benefit of her party, which she led from 2011 to 2021. Speaking in court last week, she instead argued the missions of the aides were to be adapted to the MEPs’ various activities, including some highly political missions related to the party.
Parliamentary aide “is a status,” she said. “It says nothing about the job, nothing about the work required, from the secretary to the speechwriter, from the lawyer to the graphic designer, from the bodyguard to the MEP's office employee.”
Le Pen’s co-defendants — most of whom owe her their political or professional career — testified under her close watch.
Some of the aides provided embarrassed and confused explanations, faced with the lack of evidence their work was in relation with the EU parliament.
Often, they could hear her bringing precisions or rectifications even when it wasn’t her turn to address the court. Sometimes, she would punctuate a point they made with a loud “voilà” (“that’s it”).
Le Pen insisted the party “never had the slightest remonstrance from the Parliament" until a 2015 alert raised by Martin Schulz, then-president of the European body, to French authorities about possible fraudulent use of EU funds by members of the National Front.
“Let’s go back in time. The rules either didn’t exist or were much more flexible,” she said.
Le Pen feared the court would draw wrong conclusions from the party’s ordinary practices she said were legitimate. “It’s unfair,” she repeated. “When one is convinced that tomato means cocaine, the whole grocery list becomes suspicious!"
The president of the court, Bénédicte de Perthuis, said no matter what political issues may be at stake, the court was to stick to a legal reasoning.
“In the end, the only question that matters ... is to determine, based on the body of evidence, whether parliamentary aides worked for the MEP they were attached to or for the National Rally,” de Perthuis said.
Patrick Maisonneuve, lawyer for the European Parliament, said the cost of the suspected embezzlement is estimated to 4.5 million euros. “In the past few weeks, it has appeared very clearly that the fraud is, I think, largely established,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
As she was heading to the Paris courtroom last week, Le Pen wished Donald Trump “every success” in a message on X. The French far-right leader, who has vowed to run for president for the fourth time in 2027, may keep in mind that Trump’s felony conviction earlier this year didn’t divert his path away from the White House.
AP journalists John Leicester, Marine Lesprit and Alexander Turnbull contributed to this report.
FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters at the Elysee Palace after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at the courtroom for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at the courtroom for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at the courtroom for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at the courtroom for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers reporters at the Elysee Palace after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Aug. 26, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump made a victor’s return to Washington on Wednesday, visiting the White House for a nearly two-hour meeting with President Joe Biden and committing to a straightforward transition of power despite actively working to disrupt the same process four years ago.
Sitting in the Oval Office, in front of a strong fire in the fireplace, the former rivals shook hands before Biden called Trump "Mr. President-elect and former president” and then settled simply on “Donald.”
“Congratulations,” the Democrat told the Republican. “I look forward to having, like they said, a smooth transition. Welcome. Welcome back.”
Trump replied, “Thank you very much," saying that “politics is tough. And it’s, in many cases, not a very nice world. But it is a nice world today, and I appreciate it very much.”
Except for the opening moments, the meeting was private, with Biden and Trump joined by their chiefs of staff. Trump said the transition between the outgoing and incoming administrations "will be as smooth as it can get and I very much appreciate that, Joe.”
Trump, the winner this time, says he's ready to ensure that there is a seamless move between administrations. But when he lost four years ago, it was a very different story: Trump filed scores of lawsuits falsely claiming widespread voter fraud, refused to actively participate in transition work, denied the election results and helped incite a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol, trying to stop the certification of Biden’s victory.
He also didn’t invite Biden to the White House, and he refused to attend the inauguration — the first time that had happened since Andrew Johnson skipped Ulysses S. Grant’s swearing-in 155 years ago.
The new, all-smiles scene at the White House — despite what occurred four years ago — put in stark relief the remarkable political rebound for Trump, who departed Washington in 2021 as a diminished, politically defeated leader. Today he's preparing to come back to power with the Republicans having taken back the Senate, on the cusp of clinching a House majority and with what he and his GOP allies see as a mandate for governance.
Neither the president-elect nor Biden answered questions shouted by reporters after their brief remarks. At one point, Biden looked at Trump, who moved his head to the side and gave a small shrug, but did not respond.
Trump later told The New York Post that he and Biden discussed two issues on which they have differed sharply, the war in Ukraine and Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
“I asked for his views and he gave them to me,” Trump told the paper. “Also, we talked very much about the Middle East, likewise. I wanted to know his views on where we are and what what he thinks. And he gave them to me, he was very gracious.”
It was unclear how long the president-elect's mild attitude toward Biden, set to be both his successor and predecessor at the White House, might last. After his 2016 election win, Trump met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office and called it “a great honor.” But he soon was back to heaping insults on Obama.
Trump looked at ease in the Oval Office in Wednesday, unlike eight years ago, when he appeared nervous and subdued when meeting with Obama. The president-elect left the White House after his session with Biden without addressing the large contingent of reporters on the driveway, waiting in case he made an appearance.
First lady Jill Biden greeted Trump upon his arrival and gave him a handwritten letter of congratulations for his wife, Melania, who did not make the trip to Washington. The letter also expressed the first lady's team’s readiness to assist with the transition.
As he met with Biden, Trump sent out a fundraising email to supporters saying that he "is inside the White House right now conducting a very important meeting.”
Trump had flown from Florida in the morning, joining up with billionaire Elon Musk for a morning session with House Republicans, telling them, “It’s nice to win.”
He received a standing ovation from GOP lawmakers, many of whom took cellphone videos of Trump, as he ran through their party's victories up and down the ballot.
“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say he’s good, we got to figure something else,” Trump said to laughter from the lawmakers. The Constitution's 22nd Amendment prevents presidents from running for a third term.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said of Trump's arrival, “He is the comeback king.”
“We owe him a great debt of gratitude," Johnson said.
Trump's reemergence comes amid Republican congressional leadership elections. He's endorsed Johnson's return to the speaker's office, with the president-elect saying he is with Johnson all the way, according to a person familiar with the remarks but not authorized to publicly discuss the private meeting.
Musk joining Trump on the Washington trip came after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has been spending much of his time at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida estate, and participating in discussions as the incoming Trump administration prepares to transition from Biden's. Trump has named Musk to a government efficiency advisory role in his incoming administration. Some close to the president-elect and his team now see Musk as the second most influential figure in Trump’s immediate orbit, after Susie Wiles, the campaign manager who is Trump's incoming chief of staff.
Biden insists that he'll do everything he can to make the transition to the next Trump administration go smoothly. That's despite having spent more than a year campaigning for reelection and decrying Trump as a threat to democracy and the nation’s core values. Biden then bowed out of the race in July and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him.
Traditionally, as the outgoing and incoming presidents meet in the West Wing, the first lady hosts her successor upstairs in the residence, But her office said Melania Trump wasn't attending, saying in a statement that “her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success.”
Wednesday's trip was not the first time Trump has returned to the Capitol area since the end of his first term. Congressional Republicans hosted him over the summer.
Trump left Washington Wednesday without visiting his party's senators. While he was in town, they chose Sen. John Thune of South Dakota in a three-way race to replace outgoing GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Trump's allies were pushing GOP senators to vote for Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Farnoush Amiri, Darlene Superville and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Allison Robbert/Pool via AP)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks before President-elect Donald Trump arrives to meet the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Allison Robbert/Pool via AP)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks as he arrives for a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. From left are Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn. AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Donald Trump, escorted by House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., arrives for a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks as he arrives for a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Elon Musk, left, sits with Kelly Johnson, wife of House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., as President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Elon Musk, left, sits with Kelly Johnson, wife of House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., as President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Allison Robbert/Pool via AP)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (Allison Robbert/Pool via AP)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump, escorted by House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., arrives for a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks as he arrives for a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. From left are Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn. AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks as he arrives for a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump speaks as he arrives for a meeting with the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks before President-elect Donald Trump arrives to meet the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks before President-elect Donald Trump arrives to meet the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Elon Musk and others, walk off President-elect Donald Trump's airplane, as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump’s airplane, with Trump aboard, arrives, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump's airplane, with Trump aboard, arrives, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A motorcade carrying President-elect Donald Trump leaves Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A motorcade carrying President-elect Donald Trump leaves Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk listens as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
This combo image shows President Joe Biden, left, and President-elect Donald Trump, right. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, left; Alex Brandon, right)
FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump smiles at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
