John Edwards Indicted
The Washington Post reports:
Former vice presidential nominee John Edwards was indicted Friday on federal campaign finance charges for allegedly using campaign donations to conceal an extramarital affair while he was running for president in 2008.
The case of USA v. Johnny Reid Edwards contains six counts, including conspiracy, four counts of illegal campaign contributions and one count of false statements.
Justice Department officials declined to comment.
The indictment was returned in the Middle District of North Carolina Friday, after plea negotiations between lawyers for Edwards and the Justice Department did not produce an agreement, people familiar with the talks said.
A federal grand jury had been examining Edwards’s role in funneling money from political donors to a former campaign aide, Rielle Hunter, allegedly to cover up an extramarital affair the two had while Edwards was a campaigning for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Edwards’s Washington-based attorney, Gregory Craig, flew to North Carolina on Thursday as the indictment loomed, to consult with Edwards, a former North Carolina senator.
