GREENSBORO – Former US presidential candidate John Edwards returned to a courtroom yesterday, a familiar setting for a man who made millions as a trial lawyer but now faces possible prison time if convicted of federal campaign finance violations.
The Democratic former US senator and two-time White House hopeful arrived for jury selection in his criminal trial, which began yesterday morning in Greensboro, North Carolina. He stood and gave a brief smile when introduced to about 100 potential jurors.
Mr Edwards (58) is accused of secretly obtaining more than $900,000 (€682,000) in illegal campaign funds from two wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress during his failed bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
The federal government says Mr Edwards solicited the money to conceal the extramarital affair and child he had with a campaign videographer to protect his public image as a devoted family man.
Mr Edwards was indicted on six counts in June 2011 and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, taking illegal campaign contributions and making false statements.
Each count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“This is not a case about whether Mr Edwards was a good husband or a good politician,” US district judge Catherine Eagles told prospective jurors, asking them to focus only on the law.
The one-term North Carolina senator has admitted publicly to moral wrongs but is adamant that he did not break the law. Mr Edwards, who also ran for president in 2004 before becoming John Kerry’s vice-presidential running mate the same year, saw his political star fall after revelations that he had cheated on his cancer-stricken wife with a campaign worker named Rielle Hunter.
He initially denied the affair and, according to the indictment, asked a campaign aide to falsely claim paternity of the daughter Ms Hunter gave birth to in February 2008.
Mr Edwards’s rotating cast of defence lawyers since his indictment has argued in pretrial hearings and court documents that the government is pursuing an “unprecedented” use of federal election laws. They said that even if Mr Edwards had known about the donor money used to pay for Ms Hunter’s rent, living expenses, medical care and travel, the gifts were from one third party to another and were not contributions subject to campaign finance laws.
Defence lawyers have also said the payments were intended to conceal the affair from Mr Edwards’s wife, Elizabeth, and their children, and were not aimed at influencing the election. “The distinction between a wrong and a crime is at the heart of this case,” the defence said in a court filing.
John and Elizabeth Edwards separated in 2010 after Mr Edwards admitted he was the father of Ms Hunter’s child. Ms Edwards died of cancer later that year.
The trial was delayed for several months because of a medical condition cited by Mr Edwards. Testimony is due to start on April 23rd, and the trial is expected to end in late May or early June. – (Reuters)
