Story highlights
NEW: Jurors end their third day of deliberations and ask to see two more exhibits
Edwards is charged with falsifying documents, taking illegal contributions, conspiracy
Prosecutors say he broke the law by taking big donations to hide his mistress
The jury in former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards’ corruption trial ended its third day of deliberations Tuesday, asking to take another look at two more exhibits in the case.
The eight-man, four-woman jury began weighing the former North Carolina senator’s fate Friday after four weeks of testimony. On Monday afternoon, jurors asked to review exhibits related to two of the six counts against Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee. Tuesday, they asked to see two more exhibits.
He is charged with accepting illegal campaign contributions, falsifying documents and conspiracy to receive and conceal the contributions. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.
Prosecutors said Edwards “knowingly and willingly” accepted almost $1 million from two wealthy donors to hide former mistress Rielle Hunter and her pregnancy, then concealed the donations by filing false and misleading campaign disclosure reports.
Defense attorneys argued that Edwards was guilty of nothing but being a bad husband to his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 2010. They also argued that former Edwards aide Andrew Young used the money for his own gain and to pay for Hunter’s medical expenses to hide the affair from Edwards’ wife.
Neither Edwards nor Hunter testified during the trial. The affair occurred as Edwards was gearing up for a second White House bid in 2008, and he knew his political ambitions depended on keeping his affair with Hunter a secret, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon told jurors in closing arguments.
“There is no question it would destroy the campaign of John Edwards,” Higdon said.
Prosecutors argued that Edwards knowingly violated campaign finance laws by accepting the large contributions from Rachel Mellon and Fred Baron that went to support Hunter. Edwards “knew these rules well,” Higdon said, and should have known that the contributions violated campaign finance laws.
Edwards accepted $725,000 from Mellon and more than $200,000 from Baron, prosecutors said. The money was used to pay for Hunter’s living and medical expenses, travel and other costs to keep her out of sight while Edwards made his 2008 White House run, prosecutors say.
Defense attorneys argued that the donations cannot be considered campaign contributions.
Prosecutors said Edwards manipulated Young and others to help keep his affair out of public view. Young testified that he allowed Hunter to move in with him and his wife at Edwards’ request after newspapers began looking into a possible affair within the Edwards campaign. Young initially claimed to be the father of Hunter’s baby girl and testified that Mellon was already funding Hunter’s living expenses when he called Baron to complain about the situation.
Baron offered to help out, telling Young to write up Hunter’s expenses so that Baron could reimburse them, the aide testified.
Neither Baron nor Mellon appeared to know that the other was reimbursing Young for the same expenses, raising questions about whether and how much Young may have profited from the situation. Young acknowledged during the trial that he had used some donations for his own personal benefit, including paying for the construction of a home.
Another former Edwards aide, speechwriter Wendy Button, testified that Edwards knew Baron was supporting Hunter and her child in 2009. And defense lawyer Abbe Lowell urged jurors to focus on Young’s role in the case, saying he was a biased and unreliable witness with a financial and legal interest in the outcome.
“There is nothing he won’t lie about, nothing,” Lowell said.
Young, the author of a tell-all book about the Edwards scandal, testified under an agreement with the government in hopes that he will not be prosecuted. Prosecutors agreed that Young made several mistakes over the years, including keeping some of the money, failing to confront Edwards earlier about his behavior and falsely claiming paternity for Edwards’ child with Hunter.
But David Harbach of the U.S. Justice Department’s public integrity section told jurors in a rebuttal argument that Lowell was merely trying to distract jurors from focusing on the charges against Edwards.
“The defense is overplaying their hand,” Harbach said.
CNN’s Adam Reiss, Ted Metzger, Raelyn Johnson, Joe Johns and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.
