He was once John Kerry’s vice-presidential nominee. He was once a leading contender for the Democratic nod for President of the United States. He was once the darling of the Democrats and a rising star within his party. But today, John Edwards faces multiple criminal charges, being disbarred from ever again practicing law, and a possible prison term.
On Friday, Edwards was indicted for giving hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions to his mistress, Rielle Hunter. Not only was this illegal, but it was immoral since Edwards was still married to Elizabeth Edwards, who was battling cancer at the time and has since passed away.
John Edwards hired Rielle Hunter to be his “videographer” despite the fact she had no experience or knowledge whatsoever of videos or photography. But having Hunter always around for “photo-ops” made it easy to establish and maintain a romantic affair with her. Their playtime produced a pregnancy, which started the trail of funds to Hunter and the new daughter she and Edwards had created.
Edwards was able to get some of his closest campaign contributors to give him money that would go directly to Rielle Hunter to support her and the new baby. Federal prosecutors maintain these funds were essentially donations to his campaign, and therefore should have been counted by the campaign. Since they were not, prosecutors have accused Edwards of filing false campaign reports with the FEC, a criminal offense. “Those reports failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from donors to Edwards’ mistress,” reads the last line of the indictment. All the other counts against Edwards accuse him of conspiring to receive, and actually receiving campaign contributions as personal gifts under the table.
But John Edwards has plead innocence, claiming all the money he received to funnel to Hunter, were gifts given to him from people who just happened to also contribute to his campaign, so the 2 issues are separate. Edwards said he used the money to keep the affair a secret from his gravely ill wife as sort of a “protection” for her feelings. Whether or not this will stand up in a court of law and prevent Edwards from a conviction is yet to be seen.
The truth is , I never liked Edwards. Never.I always thought there was something a bit *slimy* about the man and I wouldn't have voted for him had he won the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008.