It must be summer, what's with all of these politicians having affairs, and children and mistresses falling out of the wood works? What's going on these days. Now it seems John Edwards, former presidential hopeful, is the latest to go down in a tale of sex, scandal, money and extramarital affairs!
A federal grand jury Friday indicted former North Carolina senator John Edwards for violating election laws by accepting nearly $1 million from supporters to cover up an extramarital affair during his 2008 presidential campaign. If convicted, Edwards faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge. He faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of accepting and receiving illegal campaign contributions and a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the charge of concealing the alleged illegal donations.
The case centers on whether money from two of his wealthy supporters used to conceal the affair and Edwards' out-of-wedlock daughter amounted to illegal campaign contributions because they helped advance his presidential ambitions.
In the 19-page indictment, federal prosecutors say Edwards accepted more than $925,000 from wealthy benefactors to conceal the affair and "protect and advance" his presidential campaign.
"Edwards knew that public revelation of the affair and pregnancy would destroy his candidacy by, among other things, undermining Edwards' presentation of himself as a family man and by forcing his campaign to divert personnel and resources away from campaign activities to respond to criticism and media scrutiny regarding the affair and pregnancy," the indictment says.
Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, worked as a campaign videographer. Their daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, was born in February 2008, several weeks after he ended his White House bid.
He initially denied having the affair, but in the summer of 2008 admitted to a relationship with Hunter. Last year, he acknowledged fathering her child, just days before the release of a tell-all book by ex-campaign aide Andrew Young.
Young, who had initially claimed paternity to protect his boss, has said Edwards solicited money from Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, the 100-year-old widow of banking heir Paul Mellon, to hide the affair. Young said Mellon sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to him, funneled through her decorator and sometimes concealed in boxes of chocolates.
"This was the arrangement the senator expected me to follow, so that he would have plausible deniability," Young wrote in his memoir, The Politician.
(USAToday)
No comments:
Post a Comment