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Subscribe to RSSCheri Young, the wife of the government's star witness in the John Edwards corruption trial, will return to the stand Tuesday. On Monday, Young talked about how far her family had gone to cover up Edwards' extramarital affair. NBC's Lisa Myers reports.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The wife of the star prosecution witness broke down on the stand Monday morning while recounting how former Sen. John Edwards wanted her husband to falsely claim paternity for the child of his mistress, Rielle Hunter.
Cheri Young testified that when her husband, former Edwards aide Andrew Young, told her about Edwards' request, her first thought was "how in the world could Mr. Edwards ask one more thing of me of us?"
Full trial coverage on msnbc.com
"Of course, I said absolutely not," Young testified, saying she screamed and cursed at her husband.
Cheri Young took the witness stand after her husband spent last week describing how nearly $1 million in money from supporters of Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign was funneled to support Hunter and the Youngs after rumors of the Edwards-Hunter affair surfaced. She is also key to the prosecution's campaign finance case because she was asked to countersign checks from one of the donors, which were routed through her decorator.
Young recounted a four-way call among her, her husband, Hunter and Edwards in which "Mr. Edwards was trying to get everyone on board."
"'This is it; this is our time; we're going great; we've gotten this far,'" Young quoted Edwards as having said. She said she "didn't want the responsibility of knowing that because I didn't go along with this ... that the campaign would explode and it would be my fault."
"So I ultimately agreed to go along with the lie," she said, sobbing.
Young said Edwards seemed determined that his own wife, Elizabeth — who later died of cancer — must not learn about the affair with Hunter, a videographer for the presidential campaign.
"He didn't want her to find out at that point because she was going to die soon," Young said.
Before leaving court early because of a migraine headache, Young made it clear that she resented Edwards and Hunter, who moved in with the Youngs after The National Enquirer began trying to photograph her at her New Jersey home.
"She took a big spin and said, 'I'm here!'" said Young, who said it was intimidating to have "a presidential candidate's pregnant mistress coming to my house that night, last minute."
Some of the donors' money helped pay for Hunter's "spiritual adviser," Young testified, adding that Hunter once called the adviser when the wrong sauce arrived on her Reuben sandwich.
On another occasion, she said, Hunter rejected a hotel room because it didn't have "good energy."
After the Enquirer published pictures of Hunter and confronted Edwards about the affair, Young said, her immediate reaction was "Oh, my God. ... Well, i wanted to say 'I told you so,' but I didn't."
Steven Friedland, a professor at the Elon University School of Law in Elon, N.C., said Young succeeded in "personalizing this whole situation for the Youngs and showing that it's not really about the Youngs."
Instead, Friedland said, she showed that "it was about John Edwards" and how the Youngs "sacrificed for him and his presidential aspirations."
Michael Austin and Stacey Klein of NBC News and M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com contributed to this report. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.
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Well pshaw. Cheri should have told Andrew long ago, look: you do what you think you need to do but don't drag me into it. Why did she choose to go with him on this odyssey, sometimes with her kids? She should have just stayed home. And what kind of greed would push a husband to put his family in this kind of jeopardy? Well, essentially, the answer is a man who was so blinded by his own ambition and sense of self-importance that he could not say no to a man who's ego was even bigger than his. I am amazed by the lack of moral center in these players. And Andrew the son of a minister.
Doesn't say much about religion does it!! Some of my best flings have been with woman who profess to be very religious!! LOL
puzzled, just what gives you the right to declare what Cheri Young should have done? It's her life, her marriage, and her family.
Like him or not him, Andrew Young had invested years of unquestioned loyalty becoming an indispensable" go-fer" and fund raiser for Edwards. He joined the Edwards' team initially because he believed in him and what Edwards espoused. He eventually risked his fortune, marriage, and career on Edwards' success. It's so easy, too easy to "cast stones", as someone wrote, at Young. But don't get side-tracked: Andrew Young wasn't running for President, and he's not on trial: John Edwards was, and is.
Like I said, move the center of this trial to others, i.e., the Youngs, and John Edwards will be almost blameless. Next we'll have the people who made the payoffs getting blamed for not reporting their part in this payola and voila, we have a st. john. The Youngs are guilty of naivete, they hadn't looked beyond their yard. A good lesson: for every action is a reaction, or, there's always a consequence that follows sequence.
Edwards is such a piece of garbage, but a good Dem. "I need You'all to stick together wid me." I'll bet all the folks that gave money to the Democratic Edwards campaign are feeling really good right now.
probably feel like all the folks that donated to Newt before they learned he was scum...now for those of you that continue to support Newt I don't know what to say.
Democrats run for president and then get caught cheating.... Republicans get caught cheating then run for President.
The Youngs should have kicked that low life (both of them to the curb) This is how good people get taken advantage of. Edwards really did not care about his dying wife, if he did he would not have committed adultry. What a goon, self entitled, to rich to fail kind of guy. The Youngs should have came clean as soon as they saw this happening, the truth eventually comes out and people with good intentions still get thrown under the bus.
Moral to the story: watch out who you hang with...
Hoosier, I agree with you that Edwards and Hunter are punks of the first order. But I don't think the Youngs are "good people." Andrew Young was working for Edwards for a reason.
They liked that million dollar house and all the perks they got for being Edwards flunkies. These were not God fearing people and they went along with this until the money train ran out of steam. They knew the whole story and Edwards didn't hold a gun to their heads to make them let trash no nothing mistress move in with them. As I said in my other post, Mrs. Young was supposed to be a good friend to Mrs. Edwards. I protect my friends and would never stab them in the back for a house and a few dollars.
Belle, I agree, they are all scumbags. What idiots. Edwards knew what he was doing and so did the Youngs.That trash that Edwards was running with deserved everything she got from Elizabeth Edwards.
It's too bad Elizabeth couldn't have lived longer so she could have kicked some more butt.
What a disgrace. Are they going to put 101 year old Bunny Mellon on the stand to explain just exactly what she was sending the money for?
Thank goodness it all fell apart before anyone of that crew could get themselves in the White House.
I believe the saying is, "Stop shouldn't on yourself."
*yawn* we all saw this on the documentary, which exposed the Youngs as doing it all for big bucks. They are nothing but huge HYPOCRITES.
@!$%#s.
Moongoddess: Yup, hypocritcal they may be; they got in deeper and deeper as time went on, and their lives became more and more entwined with Edwards. Not excusing them for some very bad decisions they made, things they covered up, and people who were terribly hurt as a result. BUT it's JOHN EDWARDS who was and is at the center of all this hypocrisy and hubris.
is this a civil suit about something? why is it in the news anymore?? John Edwards long ago got discredited.
Moongoddess, I don't know what documentary you watched, but this is a criminal trial. The man broke the law by using campaign money to hide the affair. Yes, many people talk about the affair as if that's what he's on trial for. It is not - the man broke the law and could go to jail. Clinton should've been thrown in jail too, not because of some idiocy with Monica Lewinsky, but because he broke the law by lying under oath. I couldn't care less what politicians do in their private lives, but they need to be accountable and prosecuted just like the rest of us would be. What amazes me is that so many of them think it will never come to light. These are supposed to be intelligent people.
Well, where did the money come from in the first place? John Edwards wants to be president, John Edwards had a big something to hide, next thing you know Andrew Young is saying he's the father. Andrew Young is no saint either, but the bottom line is campaign funds were used to hide the affair. Whether the money went to support Rielle Hunter or the Youngs is irrelevant.
Cry all you want now, Cheri.
You helped create -- and benefited from -- this mess.
Seriously? No one created this mess but Edwards and Hunter. Everyone else is just getting dragged along as baggage. Its too bad they can't put Edwards and his whore both in jail...they certainly deserve it for all the lives they ruined.
No kidding!! The Youngs were paid handsomely for their crimes, breach of campaign laws and ethics. As well, they fignagled an immunity from prosecution deal, and still walk away with the 1.5 million house built with campaign funds. Now she whines??!! Cries!!??
As my dear old grandpaw would often say "...if you lie down with dogs, don't be surprised when you get up with fleas..."
Its very Sad too see Mr. Edwards using his staff like a bunch of puppets, as his wife was fighting for her life, I am a Dem. and just disgusted at the fact some-one would do this to some-one else let alone run a campain that is all based on lies... Very Sad for there Children..He gets what he has coming to him... a Jail cell!!!!!
Michelle...people get used all the time, I'm not saying it's right but really bottom line, "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." You cannot BE used unless you allow yourself to be used by making a choice. The Young's made the wrong choice, knew it was the wrong choice and did it anyway. Now they want to play the victim, I just cannot waste my sympathy on this couple.
Its all confirming what we aleady know.
Both Mrs Edwards and Mrs Young married dirtballs.
Doesn't say much for their character either, does it???
Yup.
If you go back and read all the discovery transcripts that were in one of the Washington newspapers about a year ago, both the Youngs were culprits in this cover up and had no problem with all this while they were living in luxury. Also Mrs. Young was supposed to be a good friend to Elizabeth Edwards. Shame, shame on her.
Mrs. Edwards, upstanding and innocent. Mrs. Young, involved with the mess, informed, aware. Mrs. Young is a dirtball too.
You really can't help but feel sorry of the guy. He really is getting railroaded on this whole mess, and why??? I hope he is found innocent soon, and is able to live out his days in peace.
I can't really say I feel sorry for him. It's more like anger at the U.S. Attorney for spending tax dollars on this stuff and the DOJ not putting the kabosh on it. This is a political trial. A very expensive political trial.
Do you actually get it that he BROKE THE LAW? THIS is why he's in court and not because it's a political trial. You may think it's wasting taxpayer money, but the fact is the election process is already in a bad enough state without letting Edwards get away with this. And every time you let someone get away with this, you set a precedent for the next John Edwards. The man was running for president - why do you set the bar so low for someone who you expect to be the leader of the free world? Or believe in someone who was so stupid as to believe this wouldn't come out? I wouldn't want this guy running a lemonade stand for me - you can't trust him as far as you can throw him. We all do things sometimes that don't reflect well, and that we'd rather other people know about. Then don't run for office, and if you do, then grow a spine, step up to the plate & say I screwed up. That's the guy I'd vote for. Ya feel sorry for this guy? Good, you can be his bestest friend.
No, I don't feel sorry for anyone who cheats on their dying wife, no matter the circumstances or party affiliation, now then diverting campaign funds to pay to hide away his mistriss and their child, all while smiling away at the cameras telling the American people how great he is. I wasn't aware that being a cheating a-hole is now a partisan political issue. Edwards is a dirtbag, plain and simple, just like Tiger, and Arnold.
Well color me SURPRISED! If all the above tried to follow the GOOD BOOK just a little none of this would have ever happened! Funny, Grandpa use to tell me "Don't lay your meat where you make your bread and you wont get your buns burnt" and Granny always said "Blood is thicker than water but not as thick as money", here is living proof that some folks will destroy anything even their family all for a quick buck or was it a quick----? Either way, one of these days they will have to answer for their actions and it looks like that day is just around the corner. But being a political figure I am sure he will get off (he got off once that is part of what caused this mess). Innocent child doesn't have much of a family to lean on growing up. With a mother and father like these two.
all of them are total dirt bags. what is it about politicians that makes them think they are Gods?
Just shows that money and power are corrupting to about anyone including women. Morals, honesty, decency, pride, honor all went out the window with all four of them didn't it? Sad...damn sad.
I have no sympathy for Mrs. Young. She did not refuse the gifts that came with her part of the cover-up. If she had not taken advantage of the money, I would have a smidgeon of respect for her but she is no better than Edwards and Hunter. If her morals had been high to begin with, Edwards never would have asked her to help. He knew she could be influenced by the reward of renovating her house and that's exactly what she did.
They are all slimey.
Remember all the comparisons between this guy and JFK back in the day? Now I get it.
All elitist feel and act above the law. Glad the lying, thief-slimeball didn't become POTUS.
Why be so upset about Edwards he is just doing what government elitists do.
Guard your crotch with one hand ...your wallet with the other.
We really have lost our way. We are after Edwards because he is vulnerable, he lost, but we let the warmonger in chief drag us into a bogus war repleat with casualties on both sides, take over a country and run it like the three stooges would, and run up a five trillion bill in the process. All this and chickenhalks Bush, Chenny, and Rumhead get a by while Edwards gets tried for making a beautiful child with his mistress. I really want to puke. Edwards is a carnal idiot but a man of the people in his beliefs about fairness between classes. The rest of the world want Bush's head on a stake and are wondering what all the flap is about a little side action by a VP candidate. People: sending armies into other peoples countries without provocation is a cardinal sin. Making babies without sanction of sociaty is trivial in the eyes of God and any civilized body.
I believe it's called "diverting the topic" to take the country's eyes off dire constant illegal wars and occupation.
Drag a person's personal foibles into the conversation and overlook the fact the vulnerable of this country in particular could have had a protector.
Ever notice those who voted consistently for social consideration for the middle class and poor are GONE? If you care you would have noticed every single one who vanished in not just your own state but all those others IN THE WAY of the BIGGER AGENDA. We are a Corporate ruled country boys and girls. They don't care about you or the million + dead innocents as of 2004, wonder what that number is now 8 years later?
Do you care to know or is gossip just a helluva lot more delicious.
I am not Elizabeth Edwards..but it was the media that staged her public humiliation in her last days on earth.
And the media is doing this too. Bah! Hopeless!
You do not get prosecuted for being a sleaze. If that were the case, the jails would be filled with an even bigger big slice of the population than is already there. You get prosecuted for BREAKING THE LAW. I agree that Bush and Cheney did a lot more damage and should've also been prosecuted, but it doesn't change the fact that John Edwards broke the law. It is not about him sleeping with someone other than his wife. Public opinion is one thing, but public opinion is not trying him. The justice system is trying him because John Edwards should be held to the same legal standards as everyone else is. Regarding people judging him? When you go into public life, you KNOW this is part of the package, right or wrong. And to hold this guy out as some sort of martyr because people are attacking his personal life, then I would suggest he not run for office. This guy went way beyond just having an affair -- he did it while his wife was dying, lied to her, broke the law by using campaign money to hide it all, & has continuously lied & not taken responsibility for anything he's done. We dodged a bullet with this guy not becoming president.
I knew it was going to wind up being Bushs fault. You Bush Bashers need to get out more and dont believe all the propaganda--Edwards is on trial for breaking the law, period. You werent in Iraq and dont know squat except what you want to believe. WMBs were there and then they werent, at least where we were allowed to look---but you got the campaigner in chief you voted for so get off Bush.
GOD BLESS THE USA, OUR TROOPS AND GEORGE W. BUSH and my Soldier Son and all the military
I'm sorry but I have no sympathy for this woman. Who in their right mind would let their husband admit to an affair that he wasn't actually having? There isn't enough money on this planet ... and at the very least, consider your children ...I can't believe those poor kids got moved out to the West Coast and caught up in the shuffle like they did. What a sordid, sad tale all around. How do these people sleep at night?
They are POLITICIANS which is the equvilent to a LIAR!!
Did you re-read your post. She didnt let her husband have an affair!! The thing that I felt the worst about in this situation was that her husband was so egotistical that he had an affair when he knew his wife was dying. What kind of person does that. He couldnt even wait until she was dead - only a real low life would do such a thing. So I do feel sorry for her. She had enough on her plate fighting the cancer and then out of the clear blue she discovers this has been going on and a child is involved. I think she stayed with her husband because he was all she had at the time and she needed him to get through all that she was going through. She didnt want to die alone and she wanted to feel confident that he would at least be a good father to the children. What she didnt know was that one day he would be put in jail if they are successful with this court case and he wont be there to see his kids grow up. This is what gets to me about this whole thing. I dont care about the money or whatever - I care about his poor deceased wife and his wonderful children.
Just another democrat-they're all a bunch of low rents!
Do we really have to start listing all the Republican low lifes!!! We can at least agree that there are low lifes on BOTH sides.
The whole kaboodle of them is crooked. But still I think Edwards is the worst and desparately needed to be taken down.!
Probably a conclusion the prosecutor also had to come to when he offered the Youngs immunity.
No immunity should have been granted to anyone!!
The only conclusion the prosecuter reached was that he could ride this horse into Congress. Which is trying to do right now.
Boring Boring
Fact is all the players are a bunch of gov whores!!
I totally agree. Hunter, especially, but as far as I'm concerned, "Johnny", as he was lovingly referred to by Hunter, is worse. And, make no mistake, the Youngs also bear some responsibility in trying to cover for that slime ball.
Her husband wipes away a tear, she starts crying. I think John Edwards cried more than one time. Is anyone buying any of this?
okay now i want everyone to treat him like tiger woods was treated dont you think thats only the right thing to do folks. anything less would be wrong