John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina and presidential candidate, was indicted Friday morning by a grand jury in Raleigh on charges that he violated campaign finance law during his 2008 presidential campaign.
The grand jury, which has been investigating the case for two years, indicted Mr. Edwards on six counts — four involving illegal payments, one involving conspiracy and one involving false statements.
At issue are financial contributions that prosecutors say Mr. Edwards received in excess of federal limits, did not report properly and then misused for the political purpose of hiding his extramarital affair to save his candidacy. Mr. Edwards has maintained that he used the money to hide the affair, but for private purposes — to conceal it from his wife.
Mr. Edwards had a chance to reach a plea agreement and avoid the indictment, but he has chosen not to do so and will fight the charges, his lawyers said.
The decision to fight could lead to a long, messy, public trial and possible jail sentence for Mr. Edwards, or it could lead to his acquittal.
The decision to risk a trial reflects confidence by some on the Edwards legal team that the government’s case would not hold up in court.
“The government’s theory is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law,” Greg Craig, one of Mr. Edwards’s lawyers, said in a statement last week.
The decision also reflects the strong feeling by Mr. Edwards that no matter how much he has disgraced himself — by lying to his wife and to the country about an extramarital affair, which wrecked his marriage and ended his political career — _ he does not want to be seen as a felon or lose his law license.
“John Edwards has done wrong in his life — and he knows it better than anyone,” Mr. Craig said in his statement, “but he did not break the law.”
The grand jury, which has been investigating the case for two years, indicted Mr. Edwards on six counts — four involving illegal payments, one involving conspiracy and one involving false statements.
At issue are financial contributions that prosecutors say Mr. Edwards received in excess of federal limits, did not report properly and then misused for the political purpose of hiding his extramarital affair to save his candidacy. Mr. Edwards has maintained that he used the money to hide the affair, but for private purposes — to conceal it from his wife.
Mr. Edwards had a chance to reach a plea agreement and avoid the indictment, but he has chosen not to do so and will fight the charges, his lawyers said.
The decision to fight could lead to a long, messy, public trial and possible jail sentence for Mr. Edwards, or it could lead to his acquittal.
“The government’s theory is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law,” Greg Craig, one of Mr. Edwards’s lawyers, said in a statement last week.
The decision also reflects the strong feeling by Mr. Edwards that no matter how much he has disgraced himself — by lying to his wife and to the country about an extramarital affair, which wrecked his marriage and ended his political career — _ he does not want to be seen as a felon or lose his law license.
“John Edwards has done wrong in his life — and he knows it better than anyone,” Mr. Craig said in his statement, “but he did not break the law.”
No comments:
Post a Comment