French far-right leader Marine Le Pen barred from seeking office for 5 years, a political earthquake

PARIS (AP) — 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 leader’s presidential hopes and an earthquake for French politics.

Le Pen denounced the verdict in an interview with French TV channel TF1 as a “political” move aimed at preventing her from running in the 2027 presidential election and said that millions of French people “are outraged.”

She described the ruling as 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 given four years’ imprisonment, with two to be served under house arrest and two suspended - which would not apply pending appeal.

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 it’s 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. President’s Donald Trump’s legal problems motivated some of his. But it could also leave her on the sidelines, deflating what had been her upward trajectory.

Le Pen said the court should not have made her ineligible to run for office until all her chances at appeal had been exhausted, and that by doing so it was clear the court was aiming “specifically to prevent” her from being elected president.

"If that’s not a political decision, I don’t know what is,” Le Pen said in the TF1 interview.

She said the ruling marked a “fateful day for our democracy” but vowed to keep pursuing what she called the now “admittedly narrow” path to the presidency.

“There are millions of French people who believe in me, millions of French people who trust me,” she added: “For 30 years I’ve been fighting for you, and for 30 years I’ve been fighting against injustice, so I’m going to continue fighting.”

Le Pen herself was not around to hear the chief judge pronounce the sentence that threw her career into a tailspin. By then, the 56-year-old politician had already strode out of the courtroom.

Her supporters quickly expressed their disapproval of the verdict. 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.”

Hungary’s 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.”

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 party’s most recognized figurehead and a formidable campaigner, Le Pen was runner-up to Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party’s 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. There’s 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 bloc’s 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 during the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024.

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 Pen’s 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.

The electoral ineligibility takes effect immediately, but the house arrest is suspended while she appeals.

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.

Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France. Thomas Adamson in Paris and Justin Spike in Budapest contributed.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen poses prior to an interview on the evening news broadcast of French TV channel TF1, after a French court convicted Marine Le Pen of embezzlement and barred her from seeking public office for five years, Monday, March 31, 2025, in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris. (Thomas Samson, Pool via AP)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves the National Rally headquarters after a French court convicted Marine Le Pen of embezzlement and barred her from seeking public office for five years, Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves the National Rally headquarters after a French court convicted Marine Le Pen of embezzlement and barred her from seeking public office for five years, Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

National Rally party member Louis Alio leaves the National Rally headquarters after a French court barred Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years, with immediate effect, for embezzlement, Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut answers reporters outside the National Rally headquarters after a French court barred Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years, with immediate effect, for embezzlement, Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

FILE - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen answers to the media during a gathering in support of detained Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, in Paris, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves the courtroom after a French court found Marine Le Pen guilty in an embezzlement case but didn't immediately say what her sentence might be and how it might impact the far-right leader's political future, Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves the courtroom after a French court found Marine Le Pen guilty on in an embezzlement case but didn't immediately say what her sentence might be and how it might impact the far-right leader's political future, Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at a Paris court expected to deliver a verdict in an embezzlement case that could shake up French politics and derail far-right leader Marine Le Pen's career Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, left, arrives at a Paris court expected to deliver a verdict in an embezzlement case that could shake up French politics and derail far-right leader Marine Le Pen's career Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at a Paris court expected to deliver a verdict in an embezzlement case that could shake up French politics and derail far-right leader Marine Le Pen's career Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

FILE - This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows French far-right leader Marine Le Pen during his trial, facing court on charges of embezzling EU funds at the Paris court house, in Paris France, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Valentin Pasquier, File)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at a Paris court expected to deliver a verdict in an embezzlement case that could shake up French politics and derail far-right leader Marine Le Pen's career Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

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)

Tornadoes and violent storms struck parts of the South and Midwest on Wednesday, knocking down power lines and trees, ripping roofs off homes and shooting debris thousands of feet into the air.

A tornado emergency was briefly issued in northeast Arkansas, with the National Weather Service telling residents on the social platform X: “This is a life threatening situation. Seek shelter now.”

Dozens of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Mississippi as storms hit those and other states in the evening. Forecasters attributed the violent weather to daytime heating combining with an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming into the nation's midsection from the Gulf.

The coming days were also forecast to bring the risk of potentially deadly flash flooding to the South and Midwest as severe thunderstorms blowing eastward become supercharged. The potent storm system will bring “significant, life-threatening flash flooding” each day through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

With more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain possible over the next four days, the prolonged deluge “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the weather service said. “Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible.”

More than 90 million people were at some risk of severe weather in a huge part of the nation stretching from Texas to Minnesota and Maine, according to the Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center.

A tornado emergency was briefly declared around Blytheville, Arkansas, Wednesday evening, with debris lofted at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers), according to Chelly Amin, a meteorologist with the weather service. That was the weather service’s highest alert, and rare. It was not immediately clear whether there were any injuries.

“It's definitely going to be a really horrible situation here come sunrise in the morning in those areas, coming out of Arkansas,” Amin said.

More than 2 miles (3 kilometers) of Highway 18 in the area was temporarily shut down due to a downed power line.

A tornado was also reported on the ground near Harrisburg, Arkansas, in the evening.

In Pilot Grove, Missouri, several structures were damaged, cars flipped over and power poles were snapped, the state emergency management agency said. Minor injuries were reported, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Meanwhile roads were closed because of storm debris and downed utility lines near the town of Potosi, southwest of St. Louis, according to the state transportation department.

Authorities in eastern Missouri were trying to determine whether it was a tornado that damaged buildings, overturned vehicles and tore down utility poles, tree limbs and business signs in the morning in and around the city of Nevada.

Another tornado touched down in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Owasso about 6:40 a.m., according to the weather service office in Tulsa. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the twister heavily damaged the roofs of homes and knocked down power lines, trees, fences and sheds.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service office in the area of Paducah, Kentucky, took cover during a warning at night. “We’re all good here at the office, the circulation JUST missed us to the south,” the agency said on social media.

Power was knocked out to more than 134,000 customers in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

High winds with gusts up to 50 mph (80 kph) were expected across large parts of the Midwest. In Indiana five semitrucks were blown over on Interstate 65 near Lowell, state police reported. No one was hurt.

The dangerous weather came nearly two years to the day after an EF-3 tornado struck Little Rock, Arkansas. No one was killed, but there was major destruction to neighborhoods and businesses that are still being rebuilt today.

About 2.5 million people were in a rarely called “high-risk” zone, covering parts of west Tennessee including Memphis; northeast Arkansas; the southeast corner of Missouri; and parts of western Kentucky and southern Illinois.

The Storm Prediction Center said “multiple long-track EF3+ tornadoes" were likely. Tornadoes of that magnitude are among the strongest on the Enhanced Fujita scale, used to rate their intensity.

At a slightly lower risk for severe weather was an area that included Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Louisville, Kentucky. Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee and Nashville, Tennessee, were also at risk.

Thunderstorms with multiple rounds of heavy rain were expected in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley from midweek through Saturday. Forecasters warned that they could track over the same areas repeatedly, producing dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping cars away.

Middle Tennessee was looking at severe storms followed by four days of heavy rains as the front stalls out and sticks around through the weekend, according to NWS meteorologist Mark Rose.

“I don’t recall ever seeing one like this, and I’ve been here 30 years,” Rose said. “It’s not moving.”

Rain totaling up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) was forecast over the next seven days in northeastern Arkansas, the southeast corner of Missouri, western Kentucky and southern parts of Illinois and Indiana, the weather service warned, with some areas in Kentucky and Indiana at an especially high risk for flooding.

In Michigan, crews worked to restore power after a weekend ice storm. More than 122,000 customers were still without electricity on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us.

The Mackinac Bridge connecting Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas was shut down because large chunks of ice were falling from cables and towers. It was the third consecutive day of bridge interruptions from the ice storm.

Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Seth Borenstein in Washington; Isabella O'Malley in Philadelphia; Ed White in Detroit; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Lightning strikes as storms move through the area Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Ashland City, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Lightning strikes as storms move through the area Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Ashland City, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A tree fell and knocked down power lines and blocked a street in a residential neighborhood during storms on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

Gary Deripaska, left, cleans up storm damage at his home off 96th Street North just west of Garnett Road, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

A car drives through a flooded section of road near Lions Park Beach Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in St. Joseph, Mich., after heavy storms moved through Southwest Michigan. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)

Severe storm damage is shown off 96th Street North between Garnett Road and Mingo Road Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

An early morning severe storm damaged homes, destroying the roofs and knocked down power lines, trees, and fences off 96th Street North near Garnett Road, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

Ryland Mosley, 18, who was on the 2nd story of his home when the storm passed, stands outside of it observing the damage, Wednesday, April 2, 2025 in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

An aerial image of a barn that collapsed after a severe storm hit Sunday along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Weekend storms that toppled the steeple at Grace Baptist Church in Franklin, Ohio, is seen Monday, March 31, 2025. (Nick Graham/Dayton Daily News via AP)

A tree lies on top of a damaged home where authorities say a man was killed during a weekend storm in Stockbridge Township, Mich., seen on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

An Antrim County Road Commission crew clears branches and trees hanging near Atwood Road from ice build up Tuesday, April 1, 2025, near Ellsworth, Mich., following weekend storms that deposited as much as one inch of ice over areas of northern lower Michigan. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)

Sgt. Tyler Midyett of the Emmet County Sheriff's Department works along with Sgt. Mitch Wallin, not pictured, to clear fallen trees from along Eppler Road in Petoskey, Mich., Tuesday, April 1, 2025, as cleanup from the weekend's ice storm continues. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)

Piper Kuzel, 5, watches her father, Jesse Kuzel of Charlevoix, Mich., fill gas containers at the Ellsworth Farmers Exchange Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Ellsworth, Mich., as his family has been using heat from their home's natural gas stove to keep warm with power outages widespread following the ice storm. (Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle via AP)

An uprooted tree leans on a home after a severe storm hit Sunday along Clear Lake in Barry County, Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Storm damage from severe weather on Sunday at a farm along 84th Street near Hanna Lake Avenue in Gaines Twp., Mich. on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A barn that collapsed from Sunday's severe storm along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A toppled tree with its roots showing on Woodworth Street in Linden, Mich., on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

A tree lies on top of a damaged home where authorities say a man was killed during a weekend storm in Stockbridge Township, Mich., seen on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)