“As always, judicial procedures announce the election calendar. We have nothing to reproach ourselves for.” That was Jordan Bardella’s answer on 30 June 2026, after European investigators searched properties in four countries in a probe tied to his party’s old group in the European Parliament.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office coordinated the searches across France, Spain, Italy and Belgium. The target is the former Identity and Democracy faction, which counted the National Rally and Italy’s League among its members until it was dissolved after the 2024 European elections. Prosecutors are looking at how the group spent roughly €4.3 million in Parliament money between 2019 and 2024. One French outlet put the figure at €4.33 million.
Contractors, not party headquarters
Le Tribunal du Net reported that the searches hit the offices and homes of service providers, not National Rally headquarters. It said the prosecutors acted after a financial affairs report from the European Parliament. People au Quotidien named Paul-Alexandre Martin, described as the party’s main contractor, as one focus, with investigators checking whether the services billed were actually delivered.
The prosecutors’ office confirmed the work in a statement, saying it was carrying out “investigative measures in France and other European countries as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of EU funds by a former political group.”
Bardella, 30, the party president and an emerging presidential contender, called it harassment. “Searches have been underway at the offices and private homes of communications service providers who have worked with us,” he said, labelling the action a “new harassment operation by the European Parliament.” Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a party deputy, told BFMTV it was “political manipulation.”
A second case and a tight calendar
The same day, Le Canard enchaine reported that a judicial investigation naming Bardella personally was coming. It concerns a parliamentary assistant job he held between February and June 2015 and whether the paperwork behind it was genuine. People au Quotidien said the anti-corruption group Anticor started that proceeding, and that the post was under MEP Jean-Francois Jalkh.
Both cases are at an early stage, and everyone involved is presumed innocent.
The timing is awkward for the party. A Paris appeals court was due to rule within days on whether Marine Le Pen can be barred from office. She is the party’s three-time presidential candidate and faces a five-year ban after a conviction over fake parliamentary assistant jobs. If the appeal upholds the ban, Bardella is expected to carry the party into the 2027 race.
Sources
- 'Is This Democracy?' French Presidential Hopeful Jordan Bardella Explodes After Shocking Multi-Nation Police Raids
- Jordan Bardella vise par des perquisitions pour 4,33 millions d'euros detournes
- Perquisitions, information judiciaire… ce qui attend Jordan Bardella et le RN
