As French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's appeal trial ends, her presidential bid is at stake

PARIS (AP) — A Paris appeals court set a verdict date of July 7 for Marine Le Pen in her European Union misuse of funds case, a crucial decision that could derail the far-right leader’s presidential bid.

The trial ended Wednesday with one question looming above all others — whether Le Pen will be able to run for president next year.

Le Pen, 57, is challenging a March 2025 verdict that found her and other members of her National Rally party guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016.

She denies accusations that she was at the center of a fraudulent system meant to siphon off EU funds.

Asked by the court whether she'd like to say anything in conclusion, Le Pen declined to speak. She quickly left the courthouse without stopping in front of a crowd of reporters.

Here's why the outcome of the five-week trial may change the course of France’s 2027 presidential election.

Le Pen was widely seen as a top contender to succeed centrist President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until a Paris court banned her from holding office over charges of misusing public money.

She was twice a contender in the runoff against Macron in 2017 and 2022, and her party has been coming out on top in opinion polls in recent years.

The appeal trial is a second chance to win an acquittal that would clear her path to the presidential race.

If convicted, Le Pen could be sentenced to a ban on holding elected office. In that case, she has said, her 30-year-old protege Jordan Bardella would run instead.

Bardella's popularity has surged in recent years, but some observers have pointed to his relative lack of experience, especially with international and economic affairs, as a potential weakness for a presidential bid.

Le Pen's lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, told the three-judge panel his client “is entrusting you with the work of her life, and the question is thus whether it will end here or whether it can be rebuilt.”

Le Pen is joined in her appeal by 10 other officials who were convicted last year, as well as the party itself.

They're seeking to overturn convictions for misusing funding meant for European Parliament aides between 2004 and 2016, while Le Pen was serving as a member of the EU legislature.

Prosecutors say that she organized the hiring of several people as EU parliamentary aides, but made them work for her party instead. The investigation showed some of the people had no contact with members of the European Parliament, and one acted as Le Pen's bodyguard, in alleged violation of parliamentary rules.

In March 2025, a Paris court ruled that Le Pen was at the heart of “a fraudulent system” that her party used to siphon off European Parliament funds worth 2.9 million euros ($3.4 million). She was given a five-year ban from holding elected office and two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet.

Le Pen denounced a “democratic scandal,” while anti-corruption campaigners argued that her conviction was proof that no one is above the law.

House arrest sentences are on hold until the appeal is resolved.

The earlier verdict isn’t expected to influence the July 7 decision, because the appeal trial examines the case from scratch. In France, criminal defendants have the right to ask a higher court to rehear their case after conviction.

It’s common for judges to give a verdict weeks or months after a trial ends. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Libya case, for example, ended in April 2025 and the court issued its ruling in late September.

During the appeal trial, Le Pen acknowledged some employees paid as EU parliamentary aides performed work for her party, then known as the National Front, but insisted that she believed such work was allowed and never attempted to hide it.

“The mistake lies here: there were certainly some aides, on a case-by-case basis, who must have worked either marginally, more substantially, or entirely … for the benefit of the party. And voilà,” Le Pen told the court.

She also reproached European Parliament officials for not warning her party, at the time, that the way it was hiring people was potentially against any rules.

“We have never concealed anything,” she said.

The party’s lawyer said Wednesday that there was a “gray area” regarding the rules that should benefit the defendants.

“There have been perhaps some administrative shortcomings, perhaps carelessness, hastiness,” but overall party officials acted in good faith, David Dassa-Le Deist said.

Prosecutors argued the financing of employees by EU money was unfair to other domestic political parties and that Le Pen, a lawyer by training, couldn't have failed to notice the discrepancy between aides’ actual jobs and the contracts they signed.

One prosecutor, Stéphane Madoz-Blanchet, pointed to “public money siphoned off drop by drop until it formed a river.” He denounced “a system” led by Le Pen.

“The acts of misappropriation of public funds were deliberately and carefully concealed,” he said.

Thierry Ramonatxo, another prosecutor, said the alleged misappropriation of public funds represents “a very serious breach of probity” that gave the party “a concrete advantage in the form of substantial savings made at the expense of the European Parliament.”

They have asked the court to ban Le Pen from holding elected office for five years and to sentence her to one year under house arrest with an electronic tag.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen walks outside the courtroom during a short break in her appeals trial, in Paris, France, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center, arrives for her appeal trial, in Paris, France, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives for her appeal trial, in Paris, France, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives for her appeal trial, in Paris, France, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives for her appeal trial, in Paris, France, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Konnor Griffin endured plenty of emotions when the 19-year-old shortstop learned the Pittsburgh Pirates were calling him up to the majors just a week into the season.

Shock was not one of them.

“I'm ready for this,” Griffin said Friday, just hours before making his major league debut against Baltimore at PNC Park.

He certainly looked ready, delivering an RBI double off Baltimore's Kyle Bradish in his first at-bat to help the Pirates to a 5-4 victory.

The Pirates are betting more big moments are on the way after making Griffin the first position player to arrive in the majors before his 20th birthday since Juan Soto did it with Washington in 2018.

Just 628 days after Pittsburgh selected him with the ninth pick in the 2024 amateur draft, the athletic and mustachioed 6-foot-3 Griffin found a No. 6 jersey hanging in his locker at PNC Park and his name penciled in the seventh spot in the lineup against the Orioles.

On the surface, it seems fast. The reality is that Griffin checked every box — and checked every box quickly — while sprinting through the Pirates' system. The final steps came over the last week when he hit .438 in a handful of games for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly felt Griffin was “pressing” near the end of spring training, when he smashed three homers but also hit just .171. The club made Griffin one of the last cuts before the opening-day roster was set. Yet rather than sulk, he headed to Triple-A, made a couple of adjustments, and saw immediate results.

“He just went right down and hit his stride and was able to reset in a couple of days,” Kelly said. “Which again, for anybody, is really impressive, especially for a 19-year-old kid whose hopes and dreams were to make the big leagues.”

That doesn't make Griffin unlike the millions of kids who pick up a bat when they're in elementary school. It's everything that has come after it, however, that has set Griffin apart. He raced through the lower levels of the minors last year, hitting 21 homers, driving in 94 runs, and stealing 65 bases while showcasing the range to play one of the game's most demanding defensive positions.

Yet it's not just the tangible on-field things that won the organization over. Griffin has long carried himself with the maturity of someone far older. He married his high school sweetheart, Dendy, over the winter. And she was the first one he told after Indianapolis manager Eric Patterson called Griffin to his hotel room in Columbus early Thursday to tell him he was heading to The Show.

The next 24 hours were a blur. From the short drive from Columbus to Pittsburgh to the scramble for the Mississippi native's family to make it to the ballpark that's tucked hard against the Allegheny River in time for Friday's first pitch.

Finally, just after noon, Griffin was able to relax. He trotted out to shortstop and took grounders, his frame and arm making him look very much the part of the role he's been preparing for since he was 5.

Griffin's skillset has drawn comparisons to the likes of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., heady territory for someone less than two years removed from his high school graduation. Still, he's not getting ahead of himself.

“Today is the first day of carving out a legacy that I want to build,” he said. "And I’m ready to do that and try to be right up there with those top guys.”

Griffin is the latest in a string of high-profile arrivals in Pittsburgh, from reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes to rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler to catcher Henry Davis.

The future that's been talked about since general manager Ben Cherington was hired in late 2019 is finally arriving. And perhaps it's telling of how far the club has come that Griffin is joining a roster that has undergone a significant upgrade in recent months with the additions of All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, All-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn and veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.

“This team is loaded,” Griffin said. “I get to come in here and just be a piece of this puzzle.”

Perhaps a very big piece. For a very long time. The Pirates and Griffin have engaged in talks about a contract extension that would lock him up for most of the next decade.

Griffin demurred when asked about it on Friday, though he made his intentions very clear.

“All I’m going to say is, I want to be a Pirate for a long time,” he said. "This is a special place and I’m thankful to be here.”

Perhaps most importantly because it means he can shed the “top prospect” label and stop focusing so much on his individual development and instead turn his attention to helping the Pirates make a playoff push for the first time since the mid-2010s.

“Now it’s time to take all the skills that I’ve learned,” he said, "all the adjustments I’ve made. It’s time to go put them on the field and go win some games.”

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Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin celebrates after hitting an RBI double, his first Major League career hit and run, during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin (6) is introduced for his major league debut before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin sprints for home to score a run during the second inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin hits an RBI double, his first Major League career hit and run, during the second inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Pittsburgh, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin, right, follows manager Don Kelly, center, and owner Bob Nutting into a meeting with reporters before making his Major League Baseball debut in the Pirates' home-opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin meets with reporters before making his Major League Baseball debut in the Pirates' home-opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin meets with reporters before making his Major League Baseball debut in the Pirates' home-opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)