NYT: (John) Edwards Trial Set to Begin, Reopening a Story of a Derailed Political Career

[alp227]

John Edwards, whose personal life and political career have publicly fallen apart over the last five years, will face a federal jury on Monday in the state that sent him to the Senate and twice rallied around his quest for the presidency.

Mr. Edwards stands accused of misusing campaign money to hide both an affair with a former campaign videographer and the child they conceived as he made his run for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president.

The trial in nearby Greensboro, which Judge Catherine C. Eagles of Federal District Court expects to take six weeks, promises to continue the long story of Mr. Edwards’s derailed career and scarred personal life.

But for the government, the case goes beyond the messiness of an affair that Mr. Edwards repeatedly denied, even as his wife, Elizabeth, was suffering from the cancer that eventually took her life in 2010.

Prosecutors have been unyielding in their pursuit of a case that they say represents a clear and flagrant misuse of $925,000 that they argue was used to try to influence the outcome of the election. If he is convicted on all six counts, Mr. Edwards, 58, faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/us/as-john-edwards-trial-begins-focus-on-campaign-finances.html?pagewanted=all

[Chipper Chat]

1. Get ready for wall-2-wall coverage on Fok Snooze.

They love this domestic infidelity shitt - 'specially when it has been committed by a dirt-covered democrat.

[gateley]

2. For the sake of his kids, I hope he doesn't do time, but I'm not sure how he should be

punished otherwise. A DUer posted that being dismissed and ignored by your peers is one of the harshest punishments to be had -- so that might be enough. He'll certainly be suffering for this until the end of his life.

[RZM]

5. I don't know

He's not being put on trial for being an unfaithful prick. He's on trial for improprieties with campaign funds. People can flame away here, but if he were a Republican accused of misusing funds, it would be pretty tough to find a poster willing to say he shouldn't get time because he's suffered enough.

I do see where you're coming from, of course. But I just don't feel all that sorry for him. He's a lawyer - he should have known better. That being said, I just want nature to take its course here. If he's acquitted, fine. If not, I hope the judge gives him a fair sentence, whatever that may be.

[gateley]

7. I don't feel sorry for HIM at all --

I've never liked him and now I understand why I always felt he was dishonest and sleazy.

I just feel sorry for his kids. Any one of the things they've been through would be devastating -- losing their mom, learning their father hurt their mom... But not having him around -- having to see him in a prison environment -- the thought of them having to bear that in addition to everything else breaks my heart.

[DefenseLawyer]

8. The case is thin

Politics aside the case is a stretch. Politician has an affair and the tabloid press is all over it. Two rich people voluntarily give money to the woman in order to let her "hide out" and avoid the press and avoid the candidate's wife finding out. The money never went to the campaign, was never co-mingled with campaign funds. The premise of the government's case in that such a gift to her kept the campaign from having to spend that money and therefore should be treated like campaign donations. However, if he had used actual campaign funds (including federal matching funds) for such a purpose that would have undoubtedly violated the law.

[hamsterjill]

9. Exactly. But have you hard this explained by the press?

Even those that aren't supposed to be tabloids? I haven't. And we likely won't hear it because of the ratings boost this story will give to the networks.

I was a John Edwards fan. I'm not any more. But I do want him to get a fair trial.

[BlueDemKev]

3. I volunteered for his 2004 campaign....

I met his daughter Cate and even his elderly parents. All very nice people.

I truly felt at the time that he was the most electable and was hoping he'd be the next Bill Clinton. Well, he was in one way, but NOT the way I wanted him to be.

As disappointed as I am with John Edwards for cheating on his wife while she was battling cancer, I do hope he doesn't serve time in prison for his family's sake. They have suffered so much already.

[BOHICA12]

4. "Derailed" sounds out of one's control ....

... this career ending was as self-inflicted as a taste-testing a 12 gauge. Derailed seems to suggest repairable - Muhammad Ali's boxing career was derailed in the 60's - Edward's political career was obliterated.

[unc70]

6. This article repeats veiled threats common to this case

It dismisses the many conflicts of interest within the governments case, quoting relatives and friends of Young, prosecutors, etc. while bringing up the probable trashing of EE etc. That was the threat over a year ago when Holding kept trying to push a plea deal.

I live in Chapel Hill and would not describe the reactions here the same way. But what would I know, I'm not the NYT or AP, and it's been a couple of months since I saw JE in church (not that often I've been either).

Interesting testimony will be following all the Bunny money into the personal use by the Youngs, mostly for their own benefit, not that of Hunter or Edwards.

Will certainly be interesting. Probably the only time this particular interpretation of the law will ever be used in a trial.

[Daniel537]

10. Damn shame what happened to this guy.

He was one of the few politicians actually willing to use the word, *gulp*, poor and accurately describe the two Americans we live in today. It seems that ever since his fall from grace that's all been thrown into the gutter and now "middle class" is all that one should ever talk about.