Top Paris judge warns US against meddling ahead of Le Pen appeal trial

PARIS — A senior French judge warned Tuesday against “unacceptable” foreign interference after the U.S. reportedly considered sanctioning members of France’s judiciary.

“If such facts were true or were to materialize, they would constitute unacceptable and intolerable interference in our country’s internal affairs,” Peimane Ghaleh-Marzban, president of the Paris court that handled a contentious case involving far-right chief Marine Le Pen, said in an inaugural speech to new magistrates, according to AFP.

His comments come after German news outlet Der Spiegel reported that the U.S. State Department considered imposing sanctions on the judges who sentenced Le Pen to a five-year election ban last spring over embezzlement of EU funds, preventing her from running in the presidential election planned for 2027.

Le Pen, who denies all charges, will face an appeal trial from next week, with a decision expected ahead of the summer.

U.S. President Donald Trump had slammed the earlier verdict as “another example of European leftists using lawfare to silence free speech” and added “free Marine Le Pen” in a post on Truth Social.

The Trump administration recently pledged to support “patriotic European parties” that seek to fight Europe’s “civilizational erasure” in its controversial National Security Strategy.

The U.S. in recent months sanctioned 11 judges from the International Criminal Court, including a French magistrate who green-lighted an ICC arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza.

The U.S. Embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.