“Your envelope is not a right, it belongs to the European Parliament”: Marine Le Pen faces harsh test of facts in court

"Your envelope is not a right, it belongs to the European Parliament": Marine Le Pen faces harsh test of facts in court

Marine Le Pen, lundi, au tribunal de Paris. MAXPPP – Thomas Padilla

Au début de trois jours d’interrogatoire à son procès pour détournement de fonds, Marine Le Pen a été mise en difficulté sur un premier cas d’assistant parlementaire. Notre récit à l’audience.

It is time for detailed explanations and figures at the Paris court, which has been trying the RN and 24 of its executives since September 30 – including Marine Le Pen – for the alleged misappropriation of funds intended for parliamentary assistants for the benefit of the party, from 2004 to 2016.

Since her indictment, the double finalist in the presidential election has provided the same explanation, repeated yesterday (14.10). In summary, the work of an elected official, a party leader and a European deputy cannot be distinguished and it would therefore be legally futile to pick a fight with the RN over the tasks carried out by parliamentary assistants.

Black pantsuit, written arguments and documents laid out on the lectern, Marine Le Pen was at ease in this register, sometimes calm, sometimes virulent. "I absolutely do not feel that I have committed the slightest irregularity or the slightest illegality".

"Mutualized"

A party is not a business and besides, she explained, the RN elected officials in Strasbourg could not do anything on the legislative level – according to her conception – because sitting in the opposition. It was therefore normal that her assistants, who were, she explains, "mutualized" among all the elected officials, were not only in Strasbourg or Brussels.

It was necessary to campaign to "have more elected officials" and therefore in a certain way, she assumed to distance herself from the European Parliament: "Our role is to ensure that elected representatives are not lost to the cause", she said.

This political explanation given, it was necessary to go into the details of the facts, which the prosecution sees as damning. The case of Catherine Griset was discussed, listed as assistant and then chief of staff to Marine Le Pen on the party's organization chart, but who was paid as a European parliamentary assistant in 2008-2016.

Her salary increased from 2,813 to 4,472 euros gross per month. The investigation showed that she had never resided in Brussels – which was mandatory – this workplace being mentioned in her contract.

Worse, she was almost never in Parliament: her access badge shows, for example, 12 hours of presence between August 2014 and October 2015, while at the same time, she spent 15 to 22 days per month at the party headquarters, the police established.

A spicy exchange

“Between being in Brussels from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and being there permanently, there is a nuance", replied Marine Le Pen, when questioned on this point. Catherine Griset accompanied her for the sessions, she explained, but worked otherwise "not at the party headquarters but at my seat of my office as a deputy" (in the Paris region). She considered that the rules were not clear.

A sharp exchange by the president of the court ensued.

– Mrs Griset was paid by the European Parliament.

– On our envelope, yes. (At the time, each MEP had a monthly envelope of €21,000 for their assistants – Editor’s note)

– Your envelope is not a due, it belongs to the European Parliament.

– It belongs to the voters.

– No, no. You can't do just anything with it. There is no absolute right to use the envelope as one wishes.

Marine Le Pen subsequently got carried away, considering that this prosecution could be “contrary to the Constitution”. Two days of questioning will follow on other cases of Marine Le Pen's parliamentary assistants, including the incongruous case of her personal bodyguard Thierry Légier, who notably received €9,078 gross monthly over three months in 2011.

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