Liquidity Mirage.

Provisional execution.

News Items is the first thing I read every morning. — Katie Couric.

---

---

1. Breaking News:

A French court found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty on Monday of misappropriating EU funds and the sentencing expected shortly could see her barred from the 2027 presidential race, upending politics in France.

Le Pen, head of the far-right National Rally (RN), is the front-runner in opinion polls ahead of the 2027 vote.

Prosecutors had asked that Le Pen face an immediate five-year ban from public office if found guilty, regardless of any appeal process, using a so-called "provisional execution" measure. Judges can adopt, modify or ignore the prosecutors' request.

An automatic five-year ban would hammer Le Pen, 56, a three-time presidential contender who has said 2027 will be her final run for top office. She would retain her parliamentary seat until the end of her mandate.

Issuing the guilty verdict, judge Benedicte de Perthuis said Le Pen had been at the centre of a system put in place by the party to use EU funds to pay France-based party staff. (Source: reuters.com)

---

2. Eurointelligence (earlier this morning, before the verdict):

Events usually happen in a context that gives them meaning. What will happen to Marine Le Pen today, when the court in Paris announces its verdict on the assistant affair, and in particular whether they decide to ban Le Pen from office even before appeals, will have political consequences. Even political adversaries of Le Pen are worried what it means for the country if the main contender for the presidential elections in 2027 is eliminated.

Eliminating the main presidential candidate through the courts is a big thing. In particular over this case, which is about EU funds being misappropriated to pay for party staff and not EU assistants. And in particular in these times, where Donald Trump shows that the judiciary is not sacrosanct in democracies and is ready to ignore it.

What will her supporters do? Will they mobilize for her as Trump’s supporters did for him? Or will they shrug their shoulders and move on? No one knows.

This verdict comes in a time where trust in the judiciary and democracy is at an all-time low. It will depend on whether or not the verdict is seen as proportional or not to what happened. It is here, where the actual law and people's sense of justice may be the furthest apart. (Source: eurointelligence.com)

---

3. President Trump yesterday morning refused to rule out the idea of seeking a constitutionally prohibited third term in office, telling NBC News’ Kristen Welker in a phone call that “there are methods” for doing so. “You have to start by saying, I have the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years,” Trump said. “We’re in the high 70s in many polls, in the real polls, and you see that. And, and you know, we’re very popular. And you know, a lot of people would like me to do that. But, I mean, I basically tell them, we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.” (Sources: politico.com, news.gallup.com. FYI: According to The Gallup Organization, Mr. Trump’s approval rating now stands at 43%, the lowest of any Republican at this stage of their presidencies in the history of Gallup polling.)