PARIS — A French court decided on Wednesday to release half of the 2 million euros ($2.35 million) in state funding to Marine Le Pen’s far-right party that had been withheld during an ongoing investigation into alleged misuse of EU funds. Judges had initially decided this summer to withhold 2 million euros, nearly half of the 4.5 million euros the National Rally — formerly known as the National Front — was allocated for 2018. “This is a first victory,” Le Pen lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut said after the hearing. Earlier this year, a top European Union court ruled that Le Pen had to return 300,000 euros to the European Parliament. The case dates back to Le Pen’s time representing the National Front in the EU parliament from 2009-2017.

Source: National Post September 26, 2018 08:04 UTC