Appeals Court Upholds Verdict: Le Pen Banned from Running for Office

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PARIS — Far-right boss Marine Le Pen will finally find out today if she can run for the French presidency.

A three-judge panel will deliver its verdict at 1:30 p.m. on Le Pen’s appeal against an embezzlement conviction and five-year ban on running for public office, which knocked her out of next year’s race to replace President Emmanuel Macron.

Should the court uphold the judgment, it would be a huge personal blow to the 57-year-old far-right leader. Le Pen has run for president three times already, but her party, the National Rally, has never been in a better position to win. If Le Pen can’t run, all eyes turn to the National Rally’s “Plan B”: Party President Jordan Bardella.

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