2017 Macron e-mail leaks

[3] Originally posted on a filesharing site called PasteBin, the e-mails had little to no effect on the final vote as they were dumped just hours before a 44-hour media blackout that is legally required by French electoral law.

"[5][6] Numerama, an online publication focusing on digital life, described the leaked material as "utterly mundane", consisting of "the contents of a hard drive and several emails of co-workers and En Marche political officials.

[11] Le Pen's anti-immigration, anti-NATO, and anti-European Union stances attracted her the widespread support of far-right politicians and activists as far as the United States, like Donald Trump, and raised questions about possible appeasement of Russia.

[12] Russia-funded media outlets such as Russia Today and Sputnik News consistently portrayed Le Pen in a positive light[according to whom?

[16] These trolls used spamming of Internet memes and misinformation as tactics to assail Macron; accusing him of being a "globalist puppet" and a supporter of Islamic immigration.

[23][24] The e-mails, totaling 21,075, along with other data was quickly posted to the anonymous message board, 4chan, where it was shared by alt-right activists, notably Jack Posobiec, on Twitter [25] who had them translated by the Québécois wing of right-wing outlet The Rebel Media.

[27][25] The leaked e-mails were claimed to show evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Macron and his campaign including the committing of tax evasion and election fraud.

"[29] In response to the attack, Emmanuel Macron said it was "democratic destabilisation, like that seen during the last presidential campaign in the United States" and said the hackers had mixed falsified documents with genuine ones, "in order to sow doubt and disinformation.

"[30] Vice President of the National Front Florian Philippot and Le Pen adviser said in a tweet, "Will #MacronLeaks teach us something that investigative journalism has deliberately killed?

[34] Shortly after the alt-right media boosted the leak, chief of Macron's campaign Mounir Mahjoubi stated that they have been watching GRU hacking attempts since February, and let them steal a carefully prepared cache of trivial and forged documents.

[38] However, on 1 June 2017, Guillaume Poupard, the head of France's premier cybersecurity agency said in an interview with the Associated Press the hack, "was so generic and simple that it could have been practically anyone".