Former US senator John Edwards’ affair and child out of wedlock derailed a political rise that put him on the Democrats’ 2004 White House ticket, but the one-time trial lawyer held his head high on Thursday after a North Carolina jury delivered his most personal victory yet.
Twelve jurors in the state Edwards represented in the US Senate from 1999 to 2005 acquitted him on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions given during his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago.
US District Judge Catherine Eagles declared a mistrial on five other counts because the jury was deadlocked about whether Edwards, 58, took money from two wealthy donors to keep voters from learning he was cheating on his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, with a campaign videographer.
Photo: AFP
The jury’s decision on the ninth day of deliberations capped a nearly six-week-long trial that included salacious testimony more befitting of a soap opera than a campaign for the country’s highest political office.
Jurors heard about tawdry affair details, furtive telephone calls and secret donor checks written under the guise of buying furniture, as former campaign workers and supporters painted an unflattering portrait of Edwards.
The trial’s outcome marked yet another dramatic turn of events for the two-time presidential hopeful who beat a Republican incumbent senator in his first political race and became the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee just six years later.
As the jury’s verdict was read, Edwards, who did not testify during the trial and faced possible fines and prison time if convicted, slumped back in his seat in relief.
Later, standing in front of the federal courthouse in Greensboro, he maintained his innocence and choked up as he spoke of his affection for the four-year-old daughter he fathered with then-mistress Rielle Hunter.
“While I do not believe I did anything illegal, or ever thought I was doing anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong, and there is no one else responsible for my sins,” he said, flanked by his parents and 30-year-old daughter, Cate, who stood by him throughout the proceedings.
“I am responsible, and if I want to find the person who should be held accountable for my sins, honestly I don’t have to go any further than the mirror. It’s me. It is me and me alone,” he added.
He went on to call his child with Hunter “my precious Quinn, who I love more than any of you could ever imagine” and said he still hoped to one day help the country’s poor children.
US Department of Justice prosecutors are unlikely to retry Edwards, but a final decision will be made in the coming days, a law enforcement source said. A department spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the jury results or what would happen next.
The government accused Edwards of orchestrating a cover-up plot that funneled more than US$900,000 from heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and trial lawyer Fred Baron to Hunter and campaign aide Andrew Young, who said he once falsely claimed paternity of Edwards’ love-child at the candidate’s request.
Jurors found Edwards not guilty of accepting illegal campaign contributions from Mellon in 2008.
However, they could not reach a unanimous decision on a similar count involving money from Mellon in 2007; two counts of accepting illegal campaign money from Baron; one count of conspiring to solicit illegal campaign funds; and one count of failing to report donor payments in excess of US$2,300 as political contributions.
The defense said all along that Edwards knew nothing of the supporters’ payments, which were meant as personal gifts to shield Elizabeth Edwards from her husband’s indiscretions, not to influence the election.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese