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Subscribe to RSSJohn Edwards' lawyer maneuvered to shred the credibility of the prosecution's star witness, Andrew Young. NBC's Lisa Myers reports.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Lawyers in the John Edwards trial wrangled with the judge over whether to allow testimony about a sex tape of the former presidential candidate and allegations of an affair involving Andrew Young, the ex-aide who ended a week on the stand Friday, and a witness.
Edwards is accused of directing a conspiracy to use about $1 million in campaign donors' payments to help hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the White House in 2008. He denies knowing about the money and has pleaded not guilty.
Young testified this week that he deposited the payments from an elderly heiress and a wealthy Texas lawyer who served as Edwards' campaign finance chairman into personal accounts controlled by him and his wife. The money was used to help build a $1.5 million North Carolina home; Young, who is testifying under an immunity agreement, said Friday that he didn't pay income taxes on the money, considering it a "gift."
Prosecutors objected Friday when a lawyer for Edwards asked Young whether had threatened to release a "private video" to expose Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles instructed Edwards lawyer Abbe Lowell to continue his cross-examination of Young without mentioning the tape.
After conferring with the judge, Lowell said he would wait to potentially discuss the tape when the defense presents its case.
Hunter sued Young in state court two years ago over ownership of the sex tape and other personal items in Young's possession. That civil suit was settled earlier this year with an agreement to destroy all copies of the tape, although there are suggestions in court documents that federal investigators may still have a copy.
Defense attorneys had no intention of showing the tape to the jury but wanted to mention it in the context of the allegation that Young threatened to out Edwards' affair with Hunter in an August 2008 conversation on a dead-end road near Edwards' Chapel Hill estate.
Young was the first witness called by prosecutors and earlier this week testified about the conversation. Young had said Edwards was acting nervous and that "at one point I feared for my life," he testified Friday.
Confronted with copies of his amended tax returns for 2007 and 2008, Young acknowledged that he had used about $1 million of $1.2 million in the payments from Rachel "Bunny" Mellon and lawyer Fred Baron for himself.
He said that he didn't pay taxes on the money because he believed the income to be "gifts," not taxable income.
The distinction is at the heart of the defense strategy that the secret payments were "gifts from friends" intended to hide Edwards' affair from his cancer-stricken wife, not campaign contributions intended to influence the outcome of the election.
Hunter is expected to testify later in the trial, also with an immunity agreement.
Young also acknowledged contacting three witnesses listed for the defense before the trial occurred, telling Lowell he had called two men and a woman.
Eagles told the defense it could mention that Young had called the witnesses in opening statements, but she barred Edwards' lawyers from characterizing the contact as "witness tampering" or mentioning that Young had had a "one-night stand" with one of the witnesses.
On Friday, Lowell asked Young what he had asked the woman when he called.
"It was for a personal issue, sir," Young replied.
Asked how the woman described her potential testimony, Young replied that she said she would tell the truth. That prompted Lowell to ask Young if he responded by telling her that the truth would "mess up everything."
Young said he couldn't recall whether he said that.
Young's wife, Cheri, took the stand late Friday and will return Monday.
Lowell on Friday quoted a passage from Young's 2010 tell-all book about the Edwards' scandal, in which Young acknowledged being paid "hundreds of thousands of dollars" through publishing and movie deals.
Young wrote that he was concerned that "anyone looking in from the outside would consider what I did and conclude that I must have been a cold-blooded schemer who was motivated by ego or greed or the desire for power."
"Mr. Young, isn't that exactly what you are?" Lowell asked.
"No, sir," Young replied.
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Guess he learned the hard way not to document your indiscretions. Kinda glad he didn't become President, that kind of thing can be dangerous.
Yes, he was the liberal poster boy and top democratic Presidential contender until he got caught. I have to wonder if the country would be better off today if John boy had kept his pants on, his reputation in tact and was the democratic nominee in 2008 instead of Obama!
Interesting question.... would John Edwards have done a better job than Obama? I'd have to emphatically yes! Edwards is just as liberal as Obama, but I don't think he would have gone on a crazy spending spree like Obama. And he would have negotiated much better with the Republicans in Congress and as a result the 2010 elections wouldn't have been as much of a Republican landslide as they were. I don't think he would have abused the position nearly as much as the Obamas have done... with the luxurious vacations, White House Concerts and $600,000 a pop date nights. However he probably would have hired more hair stylists than Barry. Overall the country would still be in the toilet, but just not so bad...
Remember this one? Sheriff finds a man drowned in a pond wrapped in chains and says isn't that just like a ______, steal more than he can carry!
Oh yea. Former presidents have had their affairs right in the White House with the blessings and cooperation of the secret service. We have become a society that expects every sordid detail of public officials and celebreties lives to be front page news. It's time for us to get our kicks from other means. People's private lives are nobody else's business.
So its ok to use campaign funds and break the law because it was his private life?
Rub of the Green- I'm not sure where you got your fact from , but I'd avoid that source in the future. John Edwards not one of the top two contenders at any time during the 2008 Democratic primary. In fact, he suspended his campaign around Jan 30, 2008. These allegation didn't hit the mainstream media untill the summer of 2008,
Seems that image or style over substance is what the media fuels as the right candidate these days but there was ample evidence to give people pause about Edwards before the scandal erupted. His aggressive lawsuits against hospitals, doctors, health care professionals and insurance companies for very high awards was a clue. As a malpractice attorney, he was a contributor to the high cost of health care and insurance. His message about making it affordable didn't resonate with many and sounded disingenuous. The "two Americas" spiel on poverty was absurd given Edwards' wealth and his 28,000 sq ft sprawling house and estate. The blue jeans and the home boy rhetoric and the constant preening in front of mirrors just didn't fit. President Obama had no record to speak of when he ran for President but Edwards most certainly did.
Should prostitution be legalized in U S? Survey says
Edwards as a Democratic vice presidential candidate??? My oh my. I guess we can call the Democrats the party of the dirty boy and liars. Edwards has one thing going for him in this case. Obama's screw ups in the media helps keep the lime light off of him....sometimes.
It seems the media is trying to downplay this story! Can you imagine the public firestorm if Edwards was a Republican! Yikes!
That's because the Republicans claim to be the party of conservative/traditional family values, so of course any sex scandals among their members will automatically make them look like hypocrites. Not that Edwards is any better, considering his poor sick wife, and that he supposedly got on Clinton for his affair.
I just wanna see the sex tape to see if she was a good a lay... and worth sacrificing a whole career and family.
John Edwards is an a$$hoel.
And she is no better...
You are a desperate person...get a life.
Lori,
You obviously didn't pickup the sarcasm of my post. No I am not a desperate person. Dumb and meaningless response..
I notice in all your previous posts... all you do is criticize posters and call them names. Is that your reason for being here? Nothing else to contribute? Just name calling?
Pretty much what I was thinking too. What a scum bag. Wife dying from cancer and he's boinking with Reille. She is just as culpable.
Edwards as a Democratic vice presidential candidate??? My oh my. I guess we can call the Democrats the party of the dirty boy and liars. Edwards has one thing going for him in this case. Obama's screw ups in the media helps keep the lime light off of him....sometimes.
Wow. So this guy Young admits to having used at least $1 million of the 1.2 million in payments for HIMSELF? And he didn't report this $1 million dollars as income on his tax returns? And he admits the payments were made by check from Ms. Mellon to her decorator who then signed the checks over to Andrew Young and his wife who deposited them or cashed them personally and used the money to build their 1.5 million home?
If this is the government's star witness its pathetic. There is NO CASE here against John Edwards or his campaign. The Government charged him with campaign funding and reporting violations - where are these campaign funds? Seems the payments were private payments made directly to and used directly by Andrew Young and his wife. Also seems Young was blackmailing Edwards and/or Hunter and threatening to release a tape. Why the government gave him immunity and spent all these years, money, resources and now a trial against John Edwards is mind-boggling.
If the government has even a shred of proof of some crime actually being committed by Edwards and/or with his actual knowledge hopefully they will have some evidence and witnesses of such. So far not seeing it.
Not for Edwards' campaign or to cover-up the affair on behalf of the campaign?
Young is a worm and a crook! He made a deal with the prosecutor for immunity knowing he committed criminal acts such as using campaign funds for his house. He has no credibility and will say anything to save his own sleazy hide! I'm no Edwards' fan, but Young and his wife are the criminals here.
This is just tawdry--all of them. Anyone running for president shouldn't have even gotten in this kind of mess with pregnant mistresses, beards, and old women doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars. But too many elected officials finesse the system and make their cheating & thieving legal. John Edwards is like the Bernie Madoff of elective politics. Great leadership, John.
Government officials (prosecutors) don't care if they waste tax payer money. It's not their money and they don't add up the costs. That's the same as wasteful spending, which ought to be a crime. Politics has a lot to do with it. "Hey, I'm the guy who brought down John edwards. vote for me for governor."
These people are so sleazy it is just hard to believe that Mr. Edwards thought he could be president. I will always wonder what Elizabeth knew...it must have almost destoyed her, before the cancer.
I don't believe Mr.Young or Mr. Edwards will tell the truth, but I hold Mr. Edwards more accountable as he was running for an office, we now know he never should have aspired to.
Shame on all of them involved with this.
Hence his initials (J.E.), John Edwards is "Just Evil"!!
One of the worst things for a cancer patient is stress. Can you imagine the hell Elizabeth Edwards went through at the hands of these devils, led by her so called husband and his mistress? God rest her soul and let God judge the rest. They broke the law and need to be punished here on earth, but their worst judgement will be when they leave this world.
Let's see, he is fornicating with another woman while his wife is dying in torment with cancer. While this is happening, he makes a sex tape so he can watch himself perform and to feel like a he-man. He steals money and then even more to cover up his mess.
Friends, just once I would like to see real justice done. The firing squad is way to kind, instead, I'd recommend putting him in the general population and tattoo a giant target on his butt and let Bubba and his pals do what they do best to him - each and every single day until he kicks off, dying of Aids or worse.
AND he's guilty of perhaps the worst crime of all: he's a politician. Lying, stealing rotten scumball. NOTHING is too bad for this guy. NOTHING.
ummmmmmmmmmmmm who is more scummy taking money that doesn't belong to you is stealing and that is just what young did....can't understand how he got immunity for HIS crimes...edwards is just as scummy however he destroyed his family because he wanted to play house with his mistress and in the process put his WIFE under a helluva lot of unnecessary stress and heart ache.
Geez gooddoctor. Over-react much?
Most politicians and their aids are crooks!!
But the honest ones aren't elected. Not anymore. When i was growing up, we sought men with character. Now he has to be sexy and attractive to women who have no sense. John Edwards was much like the rest of the liberals. If it's not moral, it's acceptable. But if it's moral, people are trying to force them into a religious way of thinking. The fact that these people are ripping us off, attempting to bankrupt America and don't care about anything except their own creature comforts, means nothing to the liberal crowd. Is it too much to seek someone honest to lead this nation? Is it too much to find a man or a woman who isn't trying to squash the elderly because that's where they think the money is? How many of you thinks you're going to be able to skip growing old? How do you think you'll accept your retirement being ripped off or your right to live past when the actuaries predict you ought to being dictated by a political group...liberal/dem/communist/socialist...under the guise of taking care of the rest of you? How long do you think you will accept the fact that the poor who live on welfare can afford new cars and name brand clothes on your dollar, while they yell that it isn't enough and you're greedy? Do you have any idea how many middle class people cannot afford a dentist because they pay so many taxes, but those taxes are used to allow people who haven't worked a day in their lives to have pristine teeth?
John Edwards is just ONE of the lot of them. Start paying attention. I'm old and all of a sudden their hands are in my pocket ripping off medicare and passing laws that I cannot simply remain on my husband's employee medical insurance...I MUST go on Medicare so I can have the end of my life dictated. I might cost too much to take care of because I'm a baby boomer, but I own my home and I have a retirement savings, for the purposes of NOT being a burden. But the liberal/Communist/Socialists of our country want what I worked and saved for. I'm greedy for having provided for my old age...they want to dictate where my money will go. This generation of children is coming out of school and remaining with their parents, awaiting their parents retirement, instead of making a job for themselves to pay their own student loans. They too are awaiting our deaths so they can get their hands on what we worked for. This greed and laziness is taught in our schools.
Pay close attention to who the liberals wanted in office. Look at the President, who is defending the Secret Service for having prostitutes awaiting his entourage overseas. Why would those people think they could do such a thing, if they didn't have permssion to begin with. It feels like the whole world has become insane and America is falling apart...all because we don't want morality in our lives. It's too hard to live and work and save like our fathers and forefathers did.
Edwards as a Democratic vice presidential candidate??? My oh my. I guess we can call the Democrats the party of the dirty boy and liars. Edwards has one thing going for him in this case. Obama's screw ups in the media helps keep the lime light off of him....sometimes.
I believe campaign funds fraud happens all the time. In this case the politician got caught.
What campain funds fraud? This scandal was and is about SEX, beginning to end. It happends all the time, in this case the one on the left get caught. About the headline, BTW: I didn't need to see the tape, I've seen enought elephants to know how they does that. Mostly: VERY PAINFUL, and extermely fast.
I won't complain about his political performance though, it won't help us. I know you know this.
Johnny Edwards is the epitome of all the things we despise about lawyers and politicians. All Edwards and his sleazy associates ever cared about is what they could gain for themselves or what they could get way with and screw everyone else. To all the fools who voted for him or contributed to his campaign, well, the joke was on you.
I don't care to see the sex tape, however I would like to read a properly titled article. Epic fail, MSNBC.com editor!
If Young used the money thinking it was a gift for personal use why is Edward on trial? I was a Edward fan in the beginning before he cheated on his wife but now I think he is just a fool that destroyed his family for a cheap lay.
Lawyers out of control LOL. Now, not only they out of control in D.C., they are out of control in our court systems heh heh. Can't wait till they start suing each other one of these days LOL. As far as I'm concerned and in my opinion, they are destroying this country, but then, that's my opinion. To funny heh heh
As far as lawyers suing each other, that happens so often it isn't news any more. if not for being paid to represent someone, some of these guys would sue each other just to keep in practice.
John Edwards truly is a slimeball for cheating on his wife; however, all cheaters try to hide their cheating. I guess that makes him normal (sarcasm intended). The real criminal, though, appears to be Andrew Young. I cannot understand the government wasting money on a trial like this after hearing Young's testimony this week - I can only imagine how much worse this will get if this is the best the prosecution has to offer...Young admits to spending the cash on himself and admits to witness tampering (even if the judge doesn't want the defense to refer to it as such). If the best he can do is say that he can't recall whether he said something to a defense witness, then how can a jury believe anything he says? It is amazing to me that such horrible, worthless human beings could actually manage to achieve economic success - and disappointing!
Pretty boy John is a disgusting POS. I don't think his hands are clean in all of this... I believe there is a lot more testimony to hear and evidence to present in this case. At least I hope there is! I just wish John's wife was here to witness all of this humiliation he is going through... may she rest in peace. She was a classy lady.
I do believe Young along with Edwards!!! are both equally slime balls. Edwards did wrong by his wife and family, and caused her additional stress, when she should have been stress free, from all that BS. She was a darling woman, wife , mother, friend, who cared!!! Edwards will get his reward before his life is over!! by a bigger power. I will leave the legal part to the legal system, as I am ignorant to the law!!! God Bless Edward's children!!!
Total waste of taxpayer time and money. Republican prosecuter brought charges,then resigned to run for the Senate in North Carolina. Political prosecution at taxpayer expense.....Plus,they will never get a conviction. Lame chief witness and case.
This wouldmake a great movie scrit-except it all true.And the only thing one cando is say-look how the the mighty have fallen.
Edwards' behavior is really disappointing. Given the grief and sorrow his behavior must have caused his wife in her last days, his actions seem disgusting... but this guy Young is a DOUCHE BAG.
I will say that the more I see and hear on this, the more I wonder how much Edwards' wife knew and approved of, at least unofficially. She had been physically incapable of much other than talking, and maybe, holding hands,for some time, and Johnny boy WAS a horny goat at best. I know he made a lot of noise about protecting her from all the publicity and possible shame involved, but that was a made for tv moment, not something I could take quite at face value.
Edwards is a creep. No question about it. And I admired him at one point so it shows what I know. However, Hunter may be even worse. He took 1 mil of the 1.2 million "gift" and used it for himself; and Edwards is the only one on trial? I have real issues with the justification for giving him immunity. He is at least as guilty of crime as Edwards, probably more so. I'm not sure Edwards did anything illegal although it was certainly reprehensible.
I don't know which of them makes my skin crawl more but only one is being prosecuted while the other profits by it. That's wrong.
This particular sex tape is guaranteed to induce nausea and vomiting and may have some clinical usefulness.
I wonder if he'll make a tape when he becomes "Bubba's" boyfriend?