French far-right leader Marine Le Pen struck a conciliatory tone in court as she seeks to overturn an embezzlement conviction in a case that will determine whether one of the country’s most popular politicians will be able to run in next year’s presidential election.
Le Pen said late on Tuesday that “if any fault was indeed committed” she and her party were never aware they might be crossing a line. The change in strategy comes as she tries to throw out a five-year election ban that first-instance judges said in March should apply immediately owing to the risk of a repeat offense given her previous denials.
“We had no sense that we were committing any offense when we hired our assistants,” Le Pen said after a judge summarized the case on Tuesday. Le Pen and several other National Rally members are accused of having hired aides during her time at the European Parliament using EU funds through “fake” contracts to fill the party’s coffers.