The "Breck Gurl", Sen. John Edwards, is Back...and on Trial

[Tarheel]

I'm not surprised that this story is not receiving top-billing in the nationwide political news (I wonder what would happen if John Edwards were a Republican?) but it should be noted that it's being reported widely in a must-win state for the Democrats.  And it could not come at a worse time for them.  This trial is about sleazy politics at the sleaziest (Pelosi's "culture of corruption" comes to my mind) and I hope that it drags-out all the way until the Democrat Convention this Summer which is being held in Charlotte, NC this year.  Nothing like a salacious trial of a former Democrat Senator, VP Candidate, and Presidential Candidate to put the Cool Whip and cherry on top of The Pharaoh's visit to NC for the Convention (not to mention the many campaign visits that he's going to have to make).  I think the only sad thing is that the prosecution is dragging Edwards daughter in as a witness...that can't be easy for the young lady (reminded again of the sleazy affair that her father was having while her mother lay dying of cancer).

Excerpt from WSOC, TV-9 story, all emphasis is my own:

Opening arguments could start Monday afternoon in Edwards trial
Updated: 12:51 p.m. Monday, April 23, 2012
GREENSBORO, N.C. —

The former North Carolina senator who rocketed to the top of the Democratic Party as a vice-presidential nominee and presidential contender will spend the next few weeks inside a federal courtroom.

John Edwards is charged with violating campaign finance laws in a scheme to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter.

Edwards is accused of asking two wealthy supporters for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and using that money to cover up his affair with Hunter from his wife, Elizabeth Edwards.

Elizabeth Edwards died in December 2010 after battling cancer.

If he is convicted, Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison.

The final members of the jury were being selected Monday morning and opening statements are supposed to start in the afternoon.

Edwards has denied from the beginning that he used illegal campaign contributions to cover up an affair.

But Edwards’ former aide (Andrew Young), who is the prosecution's star witness, said Edwards came up with a plan to cover up a child he had with his mistress, Reille Hunter, and keep his election hopes alive.

“They’re going to go after his credibility -- why he’s saying this, why he’s doing this -- and how effective the defense is in cross-examining Young could make or break this case,” said ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams.

Young cut a deal with prosecutors and said Edwards knew about the money, where it came from and what it was being used for.

Edwards’ defense team said the donations were gifts.

Young and Hunter recently ended a two-year legal battle over ownership of a sex tape the mistress recorded with Edwards during the campaign, agreeing to a settlement that dictates that copies of the video will be destroyed.

Hunter is also expected to take the stand along with Cate Edwards, the former candidate’s oldest daughter.

Full story and videos:
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/testimony-john-edwards-trial-expected-begin-monday/nMfr9/

[GarMan]

http://www.youtube.com/v/-dm7IvEyl8U

[Tarheel]

http://www.youtube.com/v/-dm7IvEyl8U

Amazing that he didn't win the election.

 

[Saniflush]

You know I saw a blurb about this last week and meant to put something up about it but just never got around to it.  Glad to did so.

[bird35]

If he took money to cover up the affair so he could win the election he is innocent.

If he took the money to cover up the affair so he could hide it from his wife he is guilty and going to jail. 

Going to be an interesting trial. 

[Tarheel]

If he took money to cover up the affair so he could win the election he is innocent.

If he took the money to cover up the affair so he could hide it from his wife he is guilty and going to jail. 

Going to be an interesting trial.

Apparently he took the money to win the campaign but he took way too much from too few donors (over $1,000,000.00 from two wealthy donors).  Money was then transferred to his campaign operative who then funneled funds to the campaign AND Reille Hunter.  This trial just keeps getting better and better for the Breck Gurl.  The Interior Designer for Edwards testified today: I could not help but laughed at his testimony "our furniture business did not really involve furniture".  The defense argument about how the money was used seems weak to me and beside the point.  If Edwards were a Republican he'd be crucified, drawn-and-quartered, burned to ash and scattered over his mistresses bed.

Excerpts from FoxNews.com:

Interior designer takes stand at Edwards trial
By Jonathan Serrie
Published May 04, 2012
 
GREENSBORO, N.C. –  The John Edwards trial resumed Friday with prosecution testimony from an interior decorator who helped a wealthy heiress funnel more than $700,000 to an Edwards fundraiser, following days of sordid testimony about the former Democratic presidential candidate’s affair with Rielle Hunter.
 
Interior decorator Bryan Huffman told prosecutors he and his wealthy friend and heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon had no knowledge of the affair or cover-up at the time, but assumed the money was to benefit Edwards.
 
Andrew Young, a fundraiser for Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign, testified last week that he took some of the money, along with unreported cash from another donor, then used it to help hide Hunter's pregnancy from the media
 
Federal law then limited campaign contributions to $2,300.

Prosecutors argue roughly $1 million from Mellon and the other donor were intended to help Edwards' presidential aspirations and therefore represent campaign contributions.

Edwards, also a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, denies knowing about the payments and has pleaded not guilty to six counts related to campaign finance violations.
 
The defense maintains the money was simply to spare one man's family the embarrassment and anguish of finding out about the affair and that Edwards was unaware of the elaborate financial scheme to keep Hunter in hiding.

During cross-examination of Huffman, lead defense attorney Abbe Lowell grilled Huffman over apparent inconsistencies between his trial testimony and statements he made during an earlier grand jury investigation.
 
"Didn't you say that it had nothing to do with the campaign and that it would be a gift?" Lowell asked.
 
Huffman replied, "Not to my understanding."
...
Huffman endorsed multiple checks from Mellon, listing various pieces of furniture on the memo lines. However, he admitted in court that he never provided Mellon with goods or services.
 
"Our furniture business did not really involve furniture," Huffman said.
 
The prosecution asked, "Well, what was it?"
 
Huffman replied, "It was money for Senator Edwards."

After signing the checks, Huffman sent them overnight delivery to Young and his wife, Cheri, who used part of the money to pay for keeping Hunter in hiding.
...
When asked whether Mellon was aware of a $2,300 federal limit on individual campaign donations per election cycle, Huffman laughed and said, "She thought it was a little low."

...

Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/04/interior-designer-to-retake-stand-at-edwards-trial/print#ixzz1tvpzCItC

[Tarheel]

I can't add anything to this except...

 

Excerpts from AJC.com/ College Times, all emphasis is my own:

Edwards jury to start deliberating Friday

Updated: Friday, May 18, 2012 12:05

ATLANTA — A jury Friday will begin deliberating on whether John Edwards is guilty of breaking campaign finance law.

“There are some people who ought to be taken out from a courthouse, tied to an oak tree and just whipped,” said former governor and one-time supporter Roy Barnes. “I think he fits into that category.”

Barnes was among prominent Georgia Democrats who put their faith and their wallets behind Edwards’ 2008 presidential candidacy. Touted as “the next Kennedy,” Edwards was attractive and articulate. He came from humble beginnings and spoke out for the underclass and against the widening gap between the “two Americas.”

“I considered him to be a real champion for things we believed,” said Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, former Democratic state representative who donated $2,300 to the Edwards campaign. “How hypocritical, to be the champion of the common guy and you’re getting a $400 haircut and spending money on your mistress.”  Benfield was so annoyed that she tried to get her money back. (She was told by a campaign manager that the cash was gone.)
...
Edwards finally admitted the child was his early in 2010, and his wife set in motion divorce proceedings. She died late that year.

To his followers, John Edwards might as well have smuggled a bomb into a crowded pre-school.

Most were, to start with, astonished that Edwards was able to hide his secret life. “Listen, I knew this guy for years, I knew him before he was in the Senate,” said Barnes. “I traveled with him, and never did I have an inkling of that. Never. I was fooled, like the rest of the public.”
...
Atlanta psychologist Richard Blue likens that feeling to the anger inspired by a false-hearted lover. “Love pain is one of the hardest, most difficult things to get rid of,” said Blue, who also gave to the Edwards campaign.
...
Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of the six charges. Banishment from public office seems all but certain, even if jurors acquit him.
...

Source for full story:
http://www.ecollegetimes.com/student-life/edwards-jury-to-start-deliberating-friday-1.2740776

[Tarheel]

Well, the Edwards trial won't cut-into into the Democrat Party Convention time unfortunately; I'm sure that they will have a special box in the Bank of America stadium in Charlotte for Edwards, perhaps one with heavily tinted glass.

I was not expecting this particular outcome but at least Edwards was contrite at the end; excerpts from ABC News, all emphasis is my own:

John Edwards Not Guilty on 1 Count, but Admits Moral Failing; Mistrial on 5 Other Counts

By JAMES HILL, RUSSELL GOLDMAN and BETH LOYD
GREENSBORO, N.C., May 31, 2012

Edwards Admits He Sinned, but Jury Says He's Not Guilty of Campaign Finance Charge
 
A North Carolina jury found former Sen. John Edwards not guilty today on one of six counts in a campaign-finance trial, and declared itself hopelessly deadlocked on the remaining charges, leading the judge to declare a mistrial on those counts.

Edwards, a two-time presidential candidate, accused of soliciting nearly $1 million from wealthy backers to finance a cover up of his illicit affair and illegitimate child during his 2008 bid for the White House, was found not guilty on count 3 of the six-part indictment. That count pertained only to whether Edwards illegally received several hundred thousand dollars in donations from wealthy heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon to cover up the affair in 2008.
 
Following the verdict, Edwards, who remained silent throughout the trial, gave an emotional speech on the courthouse steps. He acknowledged his moral shortcomings and thanked his children, dramatically pausing when mentioning 4-year-old Frances Quinn, the child he fathered with his mistress, Rielle Hunter.
...
"No one else is responsible for my sins," he said. "I am responsible.

"If I want to find the person responsible for my sins, I don't have to go further than a mirror," he added. "It was me and me alone."
...

Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-edwards-verdict-guilty-hung-jury-counts/story?id=16378643