John Edward Charges Appear Likely Friday

[General Mung Beans]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/06 ... ml?_r=1&hp

John Edwards Charged in Felony Indictment
Peter Newcomb/Reuters

John Edwards speaks during an annual conference in St Louis in this July 27, 2007 file photo.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 2, 2011
Updated: June 3, 2011 at 10:14 AM ET

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RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted two-time presidential candidate John Edwards over massive sums of money spent to keep his mistress in hiding during the peak of his 2008 campaign for the White House.

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. The indictment was returned in the Middle District of North Carolina Friday.

An Edwards spokeswoman said she wasn't aware of the filing and declined immediate comment.

The indictment is the culmination of a federal investigation that lasted more than two years and scoured through virtually every corner of Edwards' political career.

[Guardsman Bass]

I read the accounts of his campaign in both Game Change and the book by John Edward's former man-servant lackey aide, Andrew Young. It's a rather sad but amusing story - we can only be grateful that Edwards never made it on to the Democratic ticket (or god forbid, actually won the nomination if Obama hadn't run).

[Guardsman Bass]

He was pretty much screwed once Obama became a major contender. Obama stole his niche (the "more progressive outsider" to Hillary Clinton), and was both better organized and more charismatic to boot.

That said, if he hadn't been fucking around with Rielle Hunter, he might have gotten a position in Obama (or Hillary's) government. Game Change said he was angling for Attorney General after it became clear that he wasn't going to get the VP slot.

[Gandalf]

I thought you weren't supposed to arrest prominent politicians because it would be inherently politicised?

[CaptainChewbacca]

I thought you weren't supposed to arrest prominent politicians because it would be inherently politicised?

No, if a politician commits an apolitical crime, they get punished. The danger is in punishing politicians for 'international crimes' which may or may not have been committed during their administrations because it could politicize or even paralyze international relations.

[Simon_Jester]

Chewbacca, I'm not sure I follow. Under what circumstances does one not seek to pursue criminal charges against a politician or former politician? Could you go into a little more depth on that?

[Gandalf]

I thought you weren't supposed to arrest prominent politicians because it would be inherently politicised?

No, if a politician commits an apolitical crime, they get punished.

What exactly is a "political (or apolitical) crime"?

The danger is in punishing politicians for 'international crimes' which may or may not have been committed during their administrations because it could politicize or even paralyze international relations.

Like Nuremberg? Or is there a more specific meaning here that I've missed?

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

I thought you weren't supposed to arrest prominent politicians because it would be inherently politicised?

The last time I checked, John Edwards doesn't actually hold any public office right now. The problem will be finding an impartial jury that hasn't heard of John Edwards or his late, lamented, wife.

[Guardsman Bass]

What exactly is a "political (or apolitical) crime"?

It usually refers to crimes they committed while in office, related to their office. For example, Nixon's cover-up in the Watergate Scandal (for which he was impeached, resigned, and would have faced charges if Gerald Ford hadn't pardoned him).

In the case of John Edwards, these were crimes he committed on the campaign trail.

The problem will be finding an impartial jury that hasn't heard of John Edwards or his late, lamented, wife.

He'll probably try to reach some sort of plea bargain agreement to avoid having everything dragged out in court again (only to face more jail time than if he had made the deal).

[Edward Yee]

According to the WSJ today, there was no plea agreement as he didn't want to have to plead guilty to felony charges nor spend time in prison, and I believe they were referring to the same thing later in the OP article:

Prosecutors moved ahead with the indictment after negotiations to get Edwards to plead guilty to reduced charges proved fruitless, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Prosecutors had insisted on a plea to a felony, which would endanger Edwards' law license and his hopes of working as an attorney for the poor.

On the other hand, this should be an interesting legal study as to the definition of campaign contributions...