French far-right leader Marine Le Pen charged with misuse of funds

PARIS -- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been charged with allegedly misusing European Parliament funds relating to the payment of parliamentary aides.

The prosecutor's office said Le Pen was handed preliminary charges on Friday of breach of trust and complicity in breach of trust concerning two of her aides when she served at the European Parliament. She was elected to the French parliament this month so gave up her seat in the European Parliament.

One of the aides in question, Catherine Griset, a top aide at Le Pen's National Front party, was herself charged in February in the case.

In May, Le Pen's "French-first" nationalism saw her beaten resoundingly in a national election by Emmanuel Macron, an unabashedly pro-European former investment banker who is now the country's youngest ever president.