Following JD Vance’s statements at the 2025 Munich Security Conference denouncing the violations of freedom of speech in European countries, and in particular the decision by the Romanian Constitutional Court to cancel the first round of the presidential elections in that country, the US has decided to move officially in this direction.
The policy adopted is clearly announced in the US National Security Strategy published in November 2025: “The United States will encourage its political allies in Europe to promote this renewed spirit, and the growing influence of European patriotic parties is truly a great source of optimism.”
This strategy is now being carried out directly in France. On January 21, judge Magali Lafourcade, president of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) declared having been approached by two State Department emissaries a couple of months back. Those two emissaries, Samuel D. Samson and Christopher J. Anderson, interrogated her on the recent court case against Marine Le Pen in which she was condemned to 5 years ineligibility for “misappropriation of public funds.”
Even though it is totally normal in her position to exchange on such issues with counterparts of others countries, said Lafourcade, in this case, the American envoys “seemed to be pursuing a troubling objective”: “assembling elements which could, in view of Le Pen’s appeal coming up in January, develop the case for of a ‘political court case’ against the head of the National Rally, thus contributing to a disinformation campaign among the French audience.”
“It was only later that I discovered that Samuel Samson had declared publicly that the United States needed civilizational allies in Europe and that the case against Le Pen was unjust.” Can these statements lead to concrete action, wonders the weekly “Marianne” in an article published on January 18th, on Lafourcade’s statements? They report that at the end of last year, Der Spiegel revealed “that the Trump administration would have considered sanctions against the French judges that condemned Le Pen during the first trial..” It would not be the first time that Washington moves in that direction, reports the magazine. For having issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu at the International Court of Justice, Magistrate Nicolas Guillou was banned from one day to the next from the use of digital equipment and has had to survive by paying everything in cash.
While meddling into French politics has been a constant with the US, this is the first time that they announce it so publicly and blatantly. And while Europe is in bad need for freedom of speech, it is doubtful that Trump’s friends, always in the look for enemies, would want to extend that Freedom of speech to parties other than their friends. CBI)
