French magistrate says US officials sought to sway Le Pen conviction

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves the Paris courthouse, 20 January 2026. © Benoit Tessier/Reuters

United States officials asked a French magistrate to intervene over Marine Le Pen's ban on holding office as part of the far-right leader's conviction for embezzlement last year, according to the general secretary of France's human rights commission.

Magali Lafourcade, the general secretary of France's National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH), an independent advisory body, confirmed on Wednesday that she brought a conversation with two US advisors to the attention of the French foreign ministry.