Prosecutors confirmed on Tuesday that they have initiated a preliminary investigation into supposedly illicit financing of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen’s 2022 presidential election. Le Pen’s populist party won the European elections in France, and the greatest share of the popular vote in the subsequent snap national elections called by President Emmanuel Macron.
Reports indicate that other candidates in the 2022 presidential election are also under investigation but, unlike Le Pen, they have not been named. The judicial probe focuses on allegations of misappropriation of funds, fraud, and forgery.
Last year, French prosecutors threatened Le Pen with a possible one million euro fine and up to ten years in prison over allegations of misusing European Union (EU) funds. Previously, prosecutors pursued her for disseminating violent messages, after she posted images of Islamic State atrocities. This ended in an acquittal—with the courts recognizing she was clearly criticizing rather than glorifying the jihadist group.
The lawfare campaign against Le Pen is similar to the one against former President Donald J. Trump in the United States. Joe Biden’s Justice Department and state-level Democrat prosecutors have launched multiple cases against Trump, but after numerousadverserulings for prosecutors, it is likely that only one dubious conviction in Manhattan will be in place at the time of the November election.
Prosecutors confirmed on Tuesday that they have initiated a preliminary investigation into supposedly illicit financing of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen’s 2022 presidential election. Le Pen's populist party won the European elections in France, and the greatest share of the popular vote in the subsequent snap national elections called by President Emmanuel Macron.
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Former Labour leader and prime minister Sir Tony Blair has called on Sir Keir Starmer’s new Labour government to take an additional £50 billion ($63.9 billion) in tax from the public.
Blair, a mentor to Prime Minister Starmer, says the hikes may be necessary in a report by his institute.
Starmer’s Chancellor (Treasury Secretary), Rachel Reeves, has already signaled a review of public finances, claiming the situation is worse than she expected—and sparking fears the new administration is laying the groundwork for tax rises.
Blair’s report emphasizes the importance of harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity. It argues that without a substantial growth boost, Britain will have to increase the tax burden by tens of billions of pounds by 2029 just to stabilize debt levels.
In his first days in office, Prime Minister Starmer has already axed the Conservatives’ Rwanda migrant deportation plan, canceling the deportations of thousands of illegal aliens.
The Rwandan government will not refund hundreds of millions of pounds given to them to prepare housing for the deportees and cover other costs associated with the scheme.
Starmer is also considering releasing as many as 40,000 prisoners early in order to ease overcrowding, endangering the public.
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Former Labour leader and prime minister Sir Tony Blair has called on Sir Keir Starmer's new Labour government to take an additional £50 billion ($63.9 billion) in tax from the public.
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Suella Braverman, former Home Secretary (Homeland Security Secretary) of the United Kingdom, has attacked her party, the Conservatives (Tories), for governing as liberals and embracing the Progress Pride flag during their 14 years in government.
“Far, far too many Tory politicians agreed, and still agree, that the Progress flag must be flown; to be kind, to be inclusive. It shows how liberal and progressive we are—and that’s what many Conservatives want us to be,” she told the National Conservatism conference in Washington, D.C.
Braverman blames the Conservatives’ dominant liberal faction, which is far to the left of the party’s ordinary members, for the electoral success of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, which won over many former Brexit and Conservative voters who feel the party betrayed them, particularly on immigration.
Braverman penned a scathing letter to then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he removed her from his Cabinet last year, accusing him of repeatedly failing to deliver on immigration pledges and questioning his sincerity.
“Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time. You need to change course urgently,” she said. Her warnings were not heeded, and the party suffered its biggest-ever general election losses on July 4.
Braverman is expected to mount a bid for the party’s leadership, running as a right-wing candidate.
The Progress flag says to me is one monstrous thing: That I was a member of a government that presided over the mutilation of children in our hospitals and from our schools.
— National Conservatism (@NatConTalk) July 8, 2024
Jack Montgomery contributed to this report.
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Suella Braverman, former Home Secretary (Homeland Security Secretary) of the United Kingdom, has attacked her party, the Conservatives (Tories), for governing as liberals and embracing the Progress Pride flag during their 14 years in government.
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France’s New Popular Front (NFP) is pushing an extreme tax hike after winning snap legislative elections. The far-left bloc wants to impose a 90 percent tax rate on annual income over €400,000 (~$430,000).
This radical proposal sets the stage for a clash with President Emmanuel Macron. Despite his Ensemble bloc falling to second place in the National Assembly and third by share of the popular vote, Macron wants to install a prime minister of his choosing.
Macron called the snap elections in response to Marine Le Pen‘s National Rally winning the European elections. The National Rally won again in the first round, but the NFP and the Macronists formed an electoral pact to push Le Pen’s party into third place in the second round despite the fact that they won the popular vote by a wide margin.
The NFP, an alliance of Jean-Luc Melenchon’s France Unbowed Party with the Socialists, Communists, Greens, and others, is now the largest force in the National Assembly. Alongside the 90 percent tax rate, their government program includes lowering the retirement age, increased by Macron, from 64 to 60, capping prices on certain goods, raising the minimum wage by 14 percent, and pledging at least €150 billion in spending over three years.
Macron’s prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has tendered his resignation, but the president is keeping him in place until at least the end of the Paris Olympics, irking the NFP.
Reports suggest that Macron hopes to form a “rainbow coalition” comprised of the Macronist bloc and NFP parties other than Melenchon’s France Unbowed, which would foster incredible tensions, considering that Melenchon is the NFP’s leading figure.
Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, argues conflicts between the far-left and Macronists could result in fresh elections being called once a mandatory cooling period expires.
France’s New Popular Front (NFP) is pushing an extreme tax hike after winning snap legislative elections. The far-left bloc wants to impose a 90 percent tax rate on annual income over €400,000 (~$430,000).
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A Pennsylvania talk radio station has severed ties with host Andrea Lawful-Sanders following revelations that the Joe Biden campaign provided questions for his post-debate interview. Sara M. Lomax, President and CEO of WURD Radio, confirmed Lawful-Sanders’ departure, stating the interview was arranged independently without the station’s knowledge or consent.
Lawful-Sanders admitted to CNN that Biden’s team had supplied several questions. She selected four to pose during the interview, which aired on July 4. Despite Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt claiming hosts were free to ask any questions they chose, the incident raised concerns over journalistic independence at WURD Radio.
Lomax announced areview of their policies in light of the incident and highlighted WURD’s status as the only black-owned and operated talk radio station in Pennsylvania.
The controversy stemmed from Biden‘s interview aimed at addressing concerns over his debateperformance against Donald Trump. Biden’s team had facilitated similar interviews with other swing state radio stations, focusing on issues relevant to black voters.
The incident comes as Biden’s cognitive decline has become more and more of an issue to Democrats and their allies in the media as many call for Biden to step aside in the race.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hung up on a radio interviewer in March being asked whether Biden showed signs of dementia.
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A Pennsylvania talk radio station has severed ties with host Andrea Lawful-Sanders following revelations that the Joe Biden campaign provided questions for his post-debate interview. Sara M. Lomax, President and CEO of WURD Radio, confirmed Lawful-Sanders' departure, stating the interview was arranged independently without the station's knowledge or consent.
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Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, is predicting there could be a fresh snap election in France sooner rather than later. Speaking to War Room host Ben Harnwell, Kassam emphasized the huge differences between the far-left New Popular Front (NFP), which placed first, and the globalist-progressive Ensemble bloc, centered on President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party.
“This might actually be the saving grace… This coalition is going to be so shaky; they’re going to be at each other’s throats all the time, and they’re never going to be able to compromise with each other on a vast array of issues,” Kassam said.
“Jean-Luc Melenchon, the anti-NATO leader of the France Unbowed party, is the NFP’s leading figure. NFP does not have enough legislators to govern alone, however, and the Macronists are intensely distrustful of Melenchon. They may try to peel off other NFP parties, such as the Socialists, Communists, and Ecologists, to form a government without him.
“It doesn’t just come down to one or two things. It’s not just about the economy; it’s not just about immigration; it’s not just about ecology and the environment,” Kassam explained. “There are vast swathes of policy positions that all these separate parties that have pulled together this kind of unholy alliance of the left vehemently and violently disagree with one another on,” he stressed.
“It makes you wonder, can there even really be any form of government here? And if there can’t, well, maybe we’ll see another election. That is not beyond the realm of possibility at this point… We see this happen across Europe all the time—’We can’t get anything done, we have to go back to the people, we have to ask them to give somebody a mandate to govern,'” he added.
Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, is predicting there could be a fresh snap election in France sooner rather than later. Speaking to War Room host Ben Harnwell, Kassam emphasized the huge differences between the far-left New Popular Front (NFP), which placed first, and the globalist-progressive Ensemble bloc, centered on President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party.
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Despite mounting pressure from donors and congressional Democrats to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, 81-year-old Democratic incumbent Joe Biden remains defiant. On Monday, a meeting between Biden and congressional Democrats led by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) was abruptly canceled. Instead, Democrats on Capitol Hill received a lengthy letter from the 2024 nominee stating he will not leave the race.
“Now that you have returned from the July 4th recess, I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump,” the letter from the Biden White House reads. He continues: “We had a Democratic nomination process and the voters have spoken clearly and decisively. I received over 14 million votes, 87 [percent] of the votes cast across the entire nominating process. I have nearly 3,900 delegates, making me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin.”
Biden’s letter strikes a domineering tone. In it, he reminds Congressional Democrats, donors, and television talking heads that he—and he alone—is the Democratic nominee and that they cannot force him from the race.
Democratic resistance to a second Biden run for the White House has grown in the week-and-a-half since his disastrous presidential debate against former President Donald J. Trump. Party leaders have pointed to Biden’s plummeting poll numbers and growing concern among voters regarding the 81-year-old Democrat’s physical and cognitive health.
Despite the significant setback to his campaign and attempts by his own party to get him to leave the race, Biden has repeatedly insisted over the last week that he will not leave and intends to see his campaign through to the election in November.
READ:
This morning, I sent a letter to my fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill. In it, I shared my thoughts about this moment in our campaign.
It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ABtAaJrr0n
Despite mounting pressure from donors and congressional Democrats to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, 81-year-old Democratic incumbent Joe Biden remains defiant. On Monday, a meeting between Biden and congressional Democrats led by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) was abruptly canceled. Instead, Democrats on Capitol Hill received a lengthy letter from the 2024 nominee stating he will not leave the race.
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The extreme left has won the French legislative elections after striking an anti-populist pact with President Emmanuel Macron’s globalist Ensemble bloc. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) placed first in the election’s first round, with the far-left New Popular Front (NFP) coalition in second and the Macronists a distant third. The pact, which saw NFP candidates stand aside for Ensemble where they had the better chance of defeating RN, and vice versa, saw the far left rise to first place and the Macronists rise to second, with Le Pen’s party in third.
Jordan Bardella, the RN president who would have become Prime Minister had the populists won the election, called the “unnatural” left-globalist pact a “dishonorable alliance” that has “thrown France to Jean-Luc Melenchon’s extreme left,” referring to the leader of the France Unbowed party that the NPF centers on. Le Pen herself says the election shows the “tide is rising,” with more RN lawmakers in the National Assembly than ever. “Our victory has only been delayed,” she insists.
Meanwhile, the French far left, which rioted after RN won the election’s first round, rioted again, despite winning.
Selon les journalistes du «Figaro» présents place de la République ce dimanche, de très violents affrontements ont lieu. La police a effectué des premières charges contre les manifestants. Du mobilier urbain a notamment pris feu, et des projectiles ont été lancés sur les CRS. pic.twitter.com/JNhkUvPSey
President Emmanuel Macron called the legislative election on short notice after RN won the European elections in France. He likely believed the populists lacked the resources to fight another election so soon and could be robbed of their momentum.
While Macron’s eleventh-hour alliance with the extreme left has successfully blocked a populist government, it may prove as damaging to him as to Le Pen. His handpicked prime minister, Gabriel Attal, is already tendering his resignation, though he will remain in post as a so-called caretaker for now.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, whose coalition partners include the French Communist Party, wants economic policies far to the left of Macron’s, including tens of billions of dollars in tax hikes, over a hundred billion dollars in additional spending, and reversing Macron’s increase of the state pension age from 62 to 64.
More concerningly for the European establishment, he is a staunch ally of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a critic of the European Union (EU), and favors leaving NATO. He also opposes arming Ukraine. In 2014, he supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea as a “protective measure against an adventurous putschist power.”
“The Russian nation cannot allow the North Americans and NATO to settle on their doorstep,” he added.
These differences guarantee a huge fight between the far left and the Macronists over the coming weeks, as neither have an outright majority in the National Assembly.
Macron’s presidential term does not expire until 2027 and he claims he will not resign. However, Le Pen believes his position is now “untenable.”
France, snap national parliament election, second round:
The extreme left has won the French legislative elections after striking an anti-populist pact with President Emmanuel Macron's globalist Ensemble bloc. Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) placed first in the election's first round, with the far-left New Popular Front (NFP) coalition in second and the Macronists a distant third. The pact, which saw NFP candidates stand aside for Ensemble where they had the better chance of defeating RN, and vice versa, saw the far left rise to first place and the Macronists rise to second, with Le Pen's party in third.
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An exit poll released as voting ends in the British election projects a historic breakthrough for Nigel Farage’s Reform Party. The populists are projected to win 13 seats in the House of Commons.
The Labour Party led by Sir Keir Starmer is projected to have won a historic landslide, as predicted, earning an estimated 410 seats to 131 for the Conservatives, who have led Britain for 14 years.
British pollster John Curtice notes the Conservatives seem to have “fallen far in seats they previously held,” while “Reform has advanced most in areas people voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.”
“It looks as though Reform may win more seats than many polls suggested,” he observes, adding that “how many seats Reform will win is highly uncertain,” with models suggesting “there are many places where they have some—but a relatively low—chance of winning.”
However, Farage himself is said to have a 99 percent chance of winning the Clacton-on-Sea constituency (electoral district) he is contesting.
British exit polls, based on surveys of voters who have cast their ballots, are typically highly accurate, with no significant errors since 1992.
This story is developing…
Chris Tomlinson contributed to this report.
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An exit poll released as voting ends in the British election projects a historic breakthrough for Nigel Farage's Reform Party. The populists are projected to win 13 seats in the House of Commons.
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Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof delivered his inaugural address to parliament on Wednesday, expressing a commitment to curbing immigration. Schoof, who ascended to the prime minister’s office after months of negotiations between populist and center-right political parties to form a government, stated: “The biggest of those concerns is asylum and migration. That is the crux of the matter, no matter how you look at it.”
Schoof, 67, is a former chief of Dutch intelligence and counterterrorism. His appointment occurred amidst the formation of a new coalition government following the collapse of the previous governing coalition on July 7 of last year. The anti-mass migration Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, secured the largest number of seats in the country’s November 2023 election. However, it took 223 days to establish a four-party coalition, as opposition from other coalition partners prevented Wilders from obtaining the premiership.
The governing coalition includes Wilders‘ Party for Freedom (PVV), former Prime Minister Mark Rutte‘s center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, the populist Farmer Citizen Movement, and the New Social Contract party. Its guiding document, ‘Hope, Courage, and Pride,’ outlines stringent asylum measures, abolishes family reunification (chain immigration) for refugees, and aims to decrease the number of international students in the Netherlands.
“Migration puts too much pressure on social services and social cohesion. The asylum and migration figures are high and so is the pressure on society,” Schoof told lawmakers.
Conversely, opposition leader Frans Timmermans—of the social democrat-green alliance—harshly criticized the new government, labeling the Party for Freedom-inspired policies “racist.” He also announced plans to submit a motion of no-confidence against two cabinet members from Wilders‘ party.
In response, Wilders denied any allegations of “Nazi racist theories” among his party colleagues.
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Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof delivered his inaugural address to parliament on Wednesday, expressing a commitment to curbing immigration. Schoof, who ascended to the prime minister's office after months of negotiations between populist and center-right political parties to form a government, stated: "The biggest of those concerns is asylum and migration. That is the crux of the matter, no matter how you look at it."
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