Brigitte Macron's daughter testifies about alleged cyberbullying of France's first lady

PARIS (AP) — The daughter of France’s first lady Brigitte Macron testified Tuesday about the “deterioration” of her mother’s life after alleged cyberbullying spread claims that President Emmanuel Macron ’s wife is a man.

“She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her," Tiphaine Auzière told the second and final day of the Paris trial.

Ten people are accused of posting alleged malicious comments online about the first lady’s gender and sexuality, and of associating the 24-year age gap with her husband with “pedophilia.” Some posts have been viewed tens of thousands of times.

Some defendants told the court the comments they posted were humor or satire and they did not understand why they were on trial. They include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. They face up to two years in prison if convicted.

“I’d like to express what her life looks like since she was the target of massive cyberbullying. This has led to a deterioration in her living conditions,” Auzière, one of Brigitte Macron’s three children, told the court.

Auzière noted that many images of Macron are being misused online: “As a result, she is forced to be careful about her outfits, her posture and her everyday life.”

Brigitte Macron did not attend the trial. A verdict is likely to come at a later date.

Auzière said the family suffers consequences.

“This has repercussions on her children and grandchildren. They hear things at school such as, ‘Your grandmother is a man.' I don’t know how to make it stop,” she said.

The Macrons for years have been dogged by conspiracy theories that Brigitte was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux, who supposedly took the name Brigitte as a transgender woman. Jean-Michel Trogneux is the name of Brigitte’s brother.

Asked whether she sees her uncle, Auzière said, “I saw him a few months ago and he was doing very well.”

The Macrons also filed a defamation suit in July in a Delaware court as their lawyer said they seek “substantial” damages from U.S. conservative influencer Candace Owens if she persists with claims that Brigitte is a man.

The Macrons, married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.

Emmanuel Macron, 47, has been France’s president since 2017.

Activist Juan Branco , left, and defendant Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, known as Zoe Sagan on social media, leave for break as ten people go on trial accused of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron after they allegedly made "malicious" comments online spreading claims that President Emmanuel Macron's wife is a man, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Tiphaine Auziere, daughter of Brigitte Macron, arrives as a courtroom as ten people go on trial accused of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron after they allegedly made "malicious" comments online spreading claims that President Emmanuel Macron's wife is a man, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron pose before a dinner ahead of the UN Ocean Conference Sunday, June 8, 2025 in Nice, French Riviera. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, file)

Tiphaine Auziere, daughter of Brigitte Macron, arrives as a courtroom as ten people go on trial accused of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron after they allegedly made "malicious" comments online spreading claims that President Emmanuel Macron's wife is a man, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has denied a prosecutor’s appeal of an order that the state’s fake elector case against President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others over the 2020 presidential election be sent back to a grand jury.

The decision released Thursday marks another setback for Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes as she struggles to push the sprawling case through the courts. Mayes’ office said it will again present the case in its entirety to a grand jury rather than end the prosecution. Her office declined to comment further on the court's decision.

The ruling came after similar cases in Michigan and Georgia were dismissed by the courts and a special prosecutor dropped a federal case in late 2024 that charged Trump with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. Cases related to the fake elector scheme remain in Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin.

A lower-court judge in Phoenix concluded in May that the case’s first grand jury hadn’t been shown the text of the Electoral Count Act, a 19th century law that governs the certification of presidential contests and was invoked by those charged in defending themselves.

Defense lawyers argued the law allowed for multiple slates of electors to be submitted to Congress in case the results were disputed, though it was amended in 2022 to specify that a state could put forward only one slate of electors and that it was the governor who would sign off. Mark L. Williams, an attorney representing Giuliani, applauded the court’s decision and questioned whether Mayes’ office will carry through on its promise to bring the case back to the grand jury. “In my mind, the whole thing is meritless," Williams said. "Mr. Giuliani has done nothing wrong.” There has been no movement in the Arizona case at the trial court level since mid-May 2025.

Former President Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020 by 10,457 votes.

The state attorney general has faced steep challenges in making her case.

It was filed nearly three and a half years after the 2020 election and levels complicated conspiracy charges against 18 defendants. A dozen dismissal requests filed by defense attorneys have slowed down the case’s pace.

The first judge on the case recused himself in late 2024 after an email surfaced in which he told fellow judges to speak out against attacks on Kamala Harris’ campaign for the presidency. The next judge ordered the case to be sent back to a grand jury.

Of the 18 Arizona defendants, two were former Trump aides, five were lawyers working for Trump and 11 were Republicans who submitted a document falsely claiming Trump won Arizona.

Three defendants have resolved their cases, including one who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

The rest have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges. Some said they signed the certificate in case Trump won court challenges and a new slate of electors was needed urgently before Congress’ Jan. 6 deadline to tally votes.

FILE - Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes speaks at the Arizona State Prison, March 19, 2025, in Florence, Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb, File)