Screenshot of Jean-Luc Mélenchon Facebook page Police raid Paris home of Jean-Luc Mélenchon The left-wing populist says on Facebook that Macron’s new government is behind the early morning raids.

Police raided the Paris home of French left-wing populist politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon early Tuesday as part of two separate investigations into the alleged misuse of funds by his France Unbowed party.

Mélenchon said police also raided the home of the party's secretary-general and the homes of the party's previous assistants at the European Parliament as well as the headquarters of the party.

France's anti-corruption office (OCLCIFF) is investigating France Unbowed for allegedly paying assistants with money from the European Parliament while they worked for the party's national office, and also for irregularities in the finances of his unsuccessful 2017 presidential campaign.

Mélenchon broadcast a series of Facebook Live videos to more than a million followers denouncing the raids as politically motivated. "The new government has been born in shame, in the shame of raiding the premises of one of the main opposition parties," he said.

Directly addressing President Emmanuel Macron — who Tuesday unveiled his new Cabinet — Mélenchon said: "When you search through my computer, you know very well that you are doing something dishonest, rotten and twisted."

France Unbowed said in a statement that the Paris prosecutor's office was acting "under the direct orders of the justice ministry," but the ministry denied this, stating it was the Paris prosecutor's office that had decided to open both investigations.

Mélenchon, MP for Bouches-du-Rhône, told his Facebook followers that at least eight police officers, some armed, arrived at his house at 7 a.m. and took away computers, mobile phones and USB memory sticks. "They've even searched through my sketch book, friends. Now they know how many paint brushes I have to do my paintings in Indian ink."

Mélenchon said his party would publish its full accounts online.

“I’m surprised that Mr. Macron is not also the subject of a raid,” he said, addressing the media Tuesday afternoon. He called for senior figures in La République en Marche, including newly-appointed interior minister Christophe Castaner, to also face raids.

The investigation into alleged misuse of EU funds was launched in July 2017 after Sophie Montel, a now-independent MEP who previously represented the National Front, lodged a report with the EU's anti-fraud agency. The same investigation has also looked at the National Front, now renamed National Rally.

The second investigation — into the alleged misuse of presidential campaign funds — was opened in May this year after a report by the national commission for campaign financing (CNCCFP).

Mélenchon won just under a fifth of the votes in the first round of the presidential election last year, but failed to make it through to the runoff. His party currently has 17 MPs in the French parliament.