John Edwards' incredible gamble

But he's not the only one caught in lie. Edwards denied he was the father of Hunter's baby.

"There's no defending John Edwards' conduct," said former prosecutor Melanie Sloan. "It was deplorable, loathsome - pick any adjective. He wasn't just hiding it from the American people, but from his cancer-stricken, dying wife. You really can't get lower than that."

It is no surprise that Sloan, who now runs CREW (a Washington ethics watchdog group), doesn't like John Edwards. But what IS surprising is that Sloan believes the case against him should be thrown out.

"If the Justice Department believes that the money that Fred Baron and Bunny Mellon spent constitutes campaign contributions, then they need to change the law to make it clear, and we can do that," she said. "But it doesn't mean you get to prosecute somebody who has no notice that this is against the law, and then try and create a crime that way."

Federal prosecutors declined to be interviewed. But according to court documents, the Justice Department has spent vast federal resources to pursue this case: At least 56 FBI and IRS agents were employed in the nearly four-year-long investigation.

The trial was delayed for several months, in part because Edwards' lawyers had asked it to be postponed while he was treated with medication for atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat.

Edwards was reportedly offered a plea deal that would have involved a few months in a Federal prison, but he would have been allowed him to keep his law license. He turned it down.

Dellinger says it is an incredible gamble on his part: "I think that one could argue that there's a real recklessness to it, if there was any way for him to avoid jail time as part of a plea agreement. Same for the government. It's left with both sides taking a very big risk."

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[mojoyoga]

If they are moving forward with this case against John Edwards then why not bring the case against Former Sen John Ensign?

John Ensign resigned his Senate seat in 2011 and announced he would not seek re-election in 2012 after the revelation that he had an affair and got his parents to pay $96,000 to the women and her husband, Cynthia and Doug Hampton, to cover it up.

Oh, he also got the husband a job YET- surprise, surprise - the FEC dismissed the complaint and the Justice Department dropped its investigation.

[cbsnews_viewer]

I knew he was slimy the first time I saw Edwards respond to the press. Your gut knew it. He always talked with dodges, half-truths and lawyer tricks. The Democratic party had hundreds better qualified. Its hard knowing which VP choice was worse, him or Palin.

[mojoyoga]

OMG! What a TERRIBLE job of reporting this story by SUnday Morning.

Some VERY PERTINENT FACTS:

The US District Attorney who first went after John Edwards was a Bush crime family appointee who - surprise, surprise- just happens to be running for the US Senate seat in NC now.

This is typical a GOP POLITICAL stunt to remove from prestige a man who would have been the next US Attorney General and WOULD HAVE MOST DEFINATELY PROSECUTED THE WALL STREET SCUM who bankrupted our nation.

[mojoyoga]

"It began under the tenure of George Holding, a Republican appointee of President George W. Bush who stayed on as a United States attorney under the Obama administration to bring the case to trial.

Mr. Holding had long been politically hostile to Mr. Edwards, the defense lawyers say, and hoped the case would help his political ambitions. Mr. Holding retired last year, a month after securing Mr. Edward's indictments, and then announced he was running for Congress in 2012." (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/us/as-john-edwards-trial-begins-focus-on-campaign-finances.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all)

[cbsnews_viewer]

Isn't adultery inconvenient.

[formerlyluvnut]

A genuine N Carolina gem. Typical hillbilly.

[tallison46]

This is just another hugh waste of taxpayer dollars... I doubt what he has done is even a crime. I think the real crime is having 56 FBI agents who make over $60K a year spending 4 years and over $13 million in salaries alone looking into this. I'm betting there is another $5 plus million in other salaries also. Is this justice for the american citizen?

[booker59]

There's a definite yuck factor to this story, but I agree with you. Calling these payments campaign contributions because paying off a mistress avoided a political problem is a stretch. He gambled, he lost, his career is gone. As someone who helps pay the salaries you refer to, I'd like to turn discreetly away and let him live with that.

[formerlyluvnut]

John Edwards was a simple ambulance chaser schmuck lawyer who made MILLIONS after a factory blew up and he pounced on the families of the dead to represent them in lawsuits. He was, is and always will be a nobody dweeb. Only N Carolinians called him "Presidential material"; he has NO leadership qualities, let alone Presidential. He is also famous for spending more money on haircuts and hair spray than he spent on his wife and mistress.

[mojoyoga]

YOU ARE AN IDIOT! You have NO idea what went on in this family.

They lost their son, Wade, in a freak car accident. That kind of loss injures everyone in the family and eventhough Elizabeth went on to have the twins much later, the harm had been done.

He is a far better leader than most of the GOP candidates who can't/don't even pay their campaign bills- Hello Newty-Newt.

[swanman823]

Let's keep it real. It's about taking a million bucks from a 100 year old lady who thought she was helping his campaign. And the hush money DID help his campaign. It's fraud and elder abuse, pure and simple.

Come on, I'm no prude, but having an affair and fathering a child while your wife is dying of cancer and you are running for President...seriously? He should go to jail for first degree stupidity.

I wish I could be on that jury, I hope he is found guilty on all counts and does some real time, I'm sure the pretty boy will be real popular with the other inmates.

[sniperfire]

So John Edwards and Tiger Woods went out for a round of golf . . still working on the finale.

[bruce789]

I don't think you can send a man to prison for having an affair and hiding it. Reads like a falling from grace of a Bible Belt preacher. He had a rocky marriage for a number of year's apparently which I think was also hidden, wife was sick for 8 years. Democrats have this disease or targeted for it, but the alternative is more war, tax cuts for the rich, and big time deficit spending. He did a good job helping folks in New Orleans with his volunteers, had a lot of focus on the declining middle class and thinking of ways to fix that. Bold move against the usual capitulation to big contributors.

[hypnotoad72]

pete_in_az -

What next, Gingrich being a Democrat's Democrat all of a sudden... and Vitter, and the rest...

It is a western culture issue... if not a generalized corruption issue ("power corrupts"...)