Jordan Bardella allegedly participated in the preparation of false documents about his work as a European parliamentary assistant, according to an article in Release published on Monday, the president of the RN immediately denying it and denouncing an “attempt at destabilization” in the run-up to a trial of several party executives.
The article is taken from the investigative book Winning machineto be published on September 13 on the RN’s strategy for conquering power, by journalist Tristan Berteloot.
According to the latter, Jordan Bardella, who was for several months in 2015 parliamentary assistant to Jean-François Jalkh, former RN MEP, participated a posteriori in the development of fictitious and backdated documents (press reviews, agenda) supposed to testify to tasks on behalf of the elected official that he had not actually carried out.
Release cites in particular as support a message from an intern working for the Belgian lawyer Ghislain Dubois, who allegedly stated during an exchange on a messaging service with former members of the party that he had “created false files for assistants who have never worked for the European Parliament”. Contacted, Mr Dubois was not immediately available to respond.
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Jordan Bardella worked “without any infraction or irregularity, either with regard to the regulations of the European Parliament or French law,” the RN retorted in a press release on Monday.
The RN president claimed that the accusations were false.
The magistrates suspect the far-right party of having set up a “system of embezzlement” of the envelopes (21,000 euros per month) allocated by the European Union to each deputy to pay parliamentary assistants. The latter are said to have worked in reality all or part for the FN, allowing it substantial savings on salaries.
The European Parliament estimated the damage in 2018 at 6.8 million euros.
Among the defendants are Marine Le Pen, Louis Aliot, now vice-president of the RN, the former number 2 of the party Bruno Gollnisch, and the deputy and spokesperson of the RN Julien Odoul. Jordan Bardella had not been implicated by the investigation that began in March 2015.
