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Subscribe to RSSAlthough several former aides testified that John Edwards lied to them about his affair Edwards' defense lawyer established that he wasn't willing to sign an affidavit denying paternity. NBC's Lisa Myers reports.
Updated at 7:10 p.m. ET: Prosecutors in John Edwards' campaign finance trial were thrown for a loop Thursday when a former aide testified that Edwards refused to lie under oath about his affair with Rielle Hunter.
Mark Kornblau, national press spokesman for on Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign, said he initially publicly denied reports of Edwards's affair in 2007 because he believed the story to be untrue.
Things changed in December of that year, when a tabloid newspaper editor said he would stop publishing stories about the affair if Edwards would sign an affidavit swearing under oath that he wasn't the father of Hunter's daughter, Kornblau testified.
Edwards refused, Kornblau said.
"Mr. Edwards would not sign an affidavit?" asked Edwards' chief defense lawyer, Abbe Lowell.
"He would not," Kornblau said.
The disclosure appeared to surprise prosecutor David Harbach, who asked Kornblau, "Is there a reason you didn't tell the government about the affidavit?"
"Because you never asked," Kornblau responded.
The surprise revelation came on the ninth day of Edwards' trial in U.S. District Court in Greensboro, N.C., where he is charged with six felony counts of accepting about $1 million in illegal and unreported campaign donations from two wealthy supporters.
The disclosure goes to the real issue of the case prosecutors are bringing, which seeks to persuade jurors that the donations — which were intended to support Hunter and keep her quiet about the affair — were in fact illegal contributions to the Edwards campaign.
"It's important because it shows that John Edwards was unwilling to break the law to help his candidacy for presidency of the United States," said Kieran Shanahan, a legal analyst for NBC station WNCN of Raleigh, N.C.
Edwards' legal team has acknowledged to the jurors that Edwards was a bad husband and a poor father. Its case rests on the contention that Edwards' behavior — while boorish — didn't violate any actual law, said Hampton Dellinger, a legal analyst for NBC News and msnbc.com.
"The government is not very far along in terms of surmounting that hurdle," said Dellinger, an expert in election law. "There has not been a single witness nor piece of documentary evidence that suggests that John Edwards knew or should have known that the money to his mistress constituted a federal election law crime."
And that was only the second major revelation Thursday.
Another former aide, John Davis, testified that Edwards scheduled a conference call in late 2007 to announce his withdrawal from the campaign, but his wife canceled the call even though she knew of the affair. Edwards ultimately dropped out of the race weeks later.
Davis said Edwards scheduled the call after a fight with his late wife, Elizabeth, in late 2007. But soon after, Elizabeth Edwards called a staff member to cancel the call, Davis said. Other witnesses have testified that John Edwards told Elizabeth Edwards about his infidelity in 2006.
John Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina and the Democrats' nominee for vice president in 2004, remained in the race for several more weeks, eventually withdrawing on Jan. 30, 2008.
Davis told jurors that Fred Baron, finance chairman for the Edwards campaign, was also well aware of the affair with Hunter, testifying that he was present when Baron discussed Hunter by name before The National Enquirer published her identity in late 2007.
"The press wasn't going to find Ms. Hunter because of the way he was moving her around," Davis said, quoting Baron.
Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has faced public and private challenges throughout his life and career.
As Edwards silently sat across from them on the campaign's plane, Davis said he asked Baron to stop talking, because "I didn't want to be aware of this."
Hunter was fired as a videographer on the campaign after Elizabeth Edwards spotted her at a campaign event, but she continued to visit Edwards on the road, Davis said, recounting that one night he ended up in the same elevator as Hunter was heading up to the candidate's hotel room. Later that night, Davis testified, she told him that she and Edwards were in love.
Davis said that when he asked Edwards about Hunter, Edwards told him that Hunter was "crazy" and that "we should make sure she didn't talk to him."
Davis also indicated that Edwards knew he was the father of Hunter's daughter as early as September 2007, saying he overheard Edwards ask her: "Can people tell? Are you showing?"
Edwards publicly denied paternity for Hunter's daughter for more than two years afterward, finally acknowledging that "I am the father" in January 2010, as the chief witness against him, former campaign aide Andrew Young, was preparing to publish a tell-all book.
By Lisa Myers and Stacey Klein of NBC News and M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.
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It always seems to come down to sex, doesn't it?
... If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise ... Kipling
A little bit too much of both going on with him...
Maybe, but one always follows the money.
I dont know if he broke the law,Im not a lawyer. Hes a scumbag though. I may have hated Bush and thought he was a terrible president,but we sure dodged the bullet by keeping Edwards away from the White House. The distraction to a Kerry Presidency caused by this would have been worse than anything Bush did or didnt do as president. Of course, for all we know,when this broke,potentially were Kerry president,he might have asked for his resignation,however,its certainly also possible that Edwards,self serving egotistical jerk he is,might have simply refused to resign.
I'm sure his ex-wife would be able to blow his whole defense out of the water if she was here. What he did to her is despicable and what he tried to pull over the American peoples eyes is just as despicable. Being President should mean something and it should only be a person deserving and honorable enough, not a cheat and liar!
Good thing we're going after a (sex) scumbag and making him face TWENTY YEARS in prison. We could be going after others who knowingly take sizable illegal campaign contributions and beat 'em down with a $10,000 fine. Yup, selling your office ain't nearly as severe as (shhh) S E X! Why the fudge are we such a repressed society?
I'm with you Confussed. We need another great presidential candidate with a REAL moral compass.
Somebody like Bill Clinton.
There are no politicians with a great moral compass, least of all, a Republican. It never ceases to amaze me how all those family values candidates wind up having the most soridid affairs.
I guess timing is everything... If Edwards had just waited 2 more years, a super-pac could have covered all this up for him, and it would have been totally legal!
Oh well, maybe next scandal... Thanks SCOTUS, bang up job!
He would not lie under oath, which is against the law? But he did use campaign funds illegally, so since he wouldn't lie under oath, his lawyer thinks he is a man of integrety? OK.
Sarge, one of two things have to happen. You have to start writing a post so that people can understand what you are saying or you have to look a little and find out that Edwards is a Democrat.
In response to; "It always comes down to sex?"
For MEN anyways!
Stories like this are why politicians are so universally dispised.
I still don't think Edwards committed any crime. The government has a pretty high hurdle to overcome.
Having your chief witnesses being people who profited from the activities is also very problematic.
Skiddy, the legal question is whether they WERE technically campaign donations. The donors were told that they were not - that they were for Edwards' "personal use." If they were campaign donations, they would have exceeded the amount an individual could contribute - AT THAT TIME. Now individuals can fund these Super-PACs and give far, far more than this relative pittance. Was it all very tawdry? Yes. Was it illegal? That's the reason there's a trial.
And they always get caught!
I deduce that you are a good looking female. The better looking they are, the more illogical they are.
Honey, since you only know about the ones that get caught, it makes it very difficult to determine how many don't get caught. The ones that don't get caught, are not revealed to you. So you can't know if they all get caught... Sigh. I bet you are amazed at how every lost thing you look for is always found in the last place you look. :)
No. Actually they don't get caught frequently enough.
Die a good death John Edwards. You are a very bad person and you deserve what's coming.
Stoopid, that's one of the finest comments I've ever read.
What a mess:
Guilty of being a major league sleazeball but innocent of repeatedly lying to voters about his "private" affairs while asking for more and more election contributions........well the truth would have hampered those contributions you think?..............and...........all politicians "stretch the truth" (lie) anyway
i, for one, don't think we should put up with "lying" or truth stretching politicians any longer. these people are actually stealing from all of us and we just bend over and take it. before anyone starts, my comments are directed at ALL politicians.
Yeah but why is it that only the ones who lie about sex get chased after? Not so much on the ones who lie to get us in a war.
People just don't know when to give up. John Edwards should have stepped down from his campaign, not taken anymore donations(?), filed for divorce, and proceeded forward with his 'girlfriend'. At least that would have been a bit more honest than all of this. Of course as far as the 'adultry' went, that is just plain WRONG, while his wife was suffering with cancer. He is indeed a sleazeball.
So, where did he think the money was coming from, the tooth fairy? If he wasn't writing checks to cover her lavish lifestyle, then who did he think was paying for it? Oh, come on now.
All this fuss about a man's affair and his election funding, Yet the main culprit behind a outing a CIA officer and architects of a false war resulting in a loss of thousands of American lives and billions of dollars are free.
For now.
Sorry, but Scooter Libby went to prison for outing Valerie Plame - who happened to be a CIA Clerk. Big Deal. Stop posting lies or stop being ignorant -you are not very logical nor very bright.
Actually Plame was originally outed by R Armitridge , a former Clinton staffer !
A month after sentencing, Bush commuted Scooter Libby's prison sentence, so he did not go to prison for outing Plame. In addition, way to downgrade Plame's role in the CIA to just a clerk. A clerk that did clandestine work and that part of her job is listed as classified. So maybe you should stop being ignorant Milo... you are not very logical nor very bright!
You're right! Before Bush started the war his administration should of done their own investigation and not rely on the intelligence information from the Clinton administration. I could post dozens of speeches where Clinton, Pelosi, Reid and John Kerry talk about WMD's in Iraq and the need to get rid of Sadam.
They may well have talked about it, but they certainly didn't start the war. Bush, who started the war, was responsible for the loss of thousands of lives and an unthinkable amount of money.
America may have dodged a bullet by not getting Edwards for president.
Such a sad mess for the children to have to live with.
Ain't no 'may' about it!
AMEN
Nail this liar to the fullest extent of the law for being a scum bag who stole from people for his useless political aspirations and private entertainment.
To prison is the only way for him.
You mean nail him just because he is a lawyer?
Andrew Young was a fool to try and cover for this disgusting piece of humanity. Young with his wife's permission was going to claim the baby as his, talk about throwing yourself on the sword for your boss. Edwards with his Choir Boy looks thought he could get away with anything including being a whore master. That's bad enough but he used decent peoples money to keep his mistress in the lap of luxury. What did he do for Elizabeth and his children except humiliate them. I hope justice lifts her blindfold and they throw the book at him. Minimum 15-20 years..Make this an example you can't keep stealing from American people and get away with it. They will find his stealing is nothing new, review all previous campaigns...
MarilynMD: I agree with your opinion, except for what you wrote about Young "going to" claim to be the child's father. Not only was Andrew Young "GOING TO claim Edwards' baby as his," HE DID! That's what the Edwards' camp reported to the media. Young, his wife, and their children then went into hiding from the reporters, as did Rielle Hunter. Because of all the rumors flying around, reports and photos in "The National Enquirer", and his wife's growing suspicions, John Edwards later lied to his wife, Elizabeth, "confessing" that he had a "one-night" stand with Hunter, but that it was over, and she had subsequently become the mistress of Andrew Young. The "confession" was reported by the media, and Young, his wife, and children went into hiding. Many former friends and co-workers shunned Young because they believed, then, that he was the father. Elizabeth Edwards left sarcastic, cruel voice mails on the Youngs' cell phones, and turned campaign workers against Young because she believed her husband's story.
So John Edwards AND Elizabeth Edwards were willing to perpetuate the lie..... all the way to the WH.
Both of 'em....
{{{{{shudder}}}}}
@VermontGirl....No one has said this before and I totally agree with you. She (Elizabeth) was willing to do whatever to get her husband to the White House and she a First Lady. Not a complete victim!
What a piece of work...sad for the children.
I wish all women who catch their husbands cheating would just dump them...lying dogs need to lay with dogs...not women. Once a cheater always a cheater...divorce is always an option if you want to play.
Is lying and cheating so fun he couldn't control his impulses...not the kind of man I want as my president. No morals whatsoever.
John Edwards . . . meet Karma.
We all know he was a two-face,bum,no morals..So lets forget him.The media must be just like him,if they constantly,write about him.
Edwards refused to lie under oath about his affair. Well, perhaps he is a bit more ethical than President Clinton.
A total scum bag. To think his wife had CANCER and was fighting for her life. You cannot get any lower than that. Oh wait, yes you can, the whore "Reille" who also didn't give a damn about Elizabeth. The both of you need to burn in hell. "And so many people think that the Republicans are losers.
Ms. Edwards was only too willing to keep the Senator's dirty laundry hidden in the bottom of the closet. Both of them were so arrogant and ambitious to make it to the White House, that they would have made valiant efforts to keep any 'mistake' hidden and quiet.
After Ms. Edwards said she had forgiven him for his betrayal, she published a book and hit every talk show that would have her, where she proceeded to rake him over the coals again. She never forgave him...she found a way to continue to humiliate him over and over again, and she did it in a dishonest manner.
Maybe they both deserved eachother.
"mcb-2773914" Maybe they did deserve each. But you have to admit, he was sooooooo wrong for what he did in the first place.
That John Edwards family are a helluva nice group of people. I do remember back when they built that mansion in an area where "undesirable white trash" lived. The Edwards tried to force the poor trash out of the Edwards' neighborhood. Yep, nice people.
ummmm, how do we know that isn't a lie?
Oh he'll run for prez and these idiot Republicans will elect him and rejoice that he did not have the girl get an abortion!! They certainly wont let the fact that he is a lying, cheating, despicable human being stop them. Look how far Newt Gingrich got!! Just saying.....
Ahhh - John Edwards is a Democrat, just like the Clintons, Barney Frank, & the Kennedys...
But you are correct the DEMOCRATS will kept electing them - They certainly wont let the fact that he is a lying, cheating, despicable human being stop them.
Urban and AC - For the life of me I cannot imagine why either one of you "fight" for one party or the other. What politician is not a lying, cheating, scumbag? If they are not cheating on their wives, they are cheating the American people or both, if they are not lying to their wives, they are lying to the American people or both. They all only want money and power for themselves and they jerk our chains to "make us believe they are the good guys!" Both political parties are filled with no morals whatsoever. But, people argue and debate which scum is worse than the other! Very sad, yet funny!
First of all, he didn't refuse to "lie under oath"! He refused to sign a paper admitting he is the father of Hunter's baby. "The National Enquirer" told John Edwards that they would stop do articles about him and the whole sordid affair IF Edwards' would sign the confession. Despite the fact that it would get The National Enquirer off his back, he refused to sign the PAPER! Ask any lawyer about "plausible innocence"....Edwards refused to sign the confession, NOT BECAUSE OF BEING "ETHICAL", but because if he did, he could not longer maintain "plausible innocence." Please get your facts straight!!! HE DIDN'T REFUSE TO LIE "UNDER OATH"!!! Also, URBAN COWBOY, according to you if he "runs for prez, the Republicans will elect him," he's a Democrat, honey. GEESH!
You are exactly right, Turnip. I cant help but wonder why this obvious point is so overlooked by both the writer of the article and all the wingnut commentators (of both stripes), who obviously just have their partisan axes to grind, and refuse to open eyes or ears.
Sorry...my bad for incorrect party affiliation. Its just usually the repubs that do this kind of "Family Values" thing. ALLPEOPLERIGHTS- I do not side with any party. I am in favor of trashing the whole system with a violent and bloody revolution and starting afresh and NO TWO PARTY RULE. I'm prefer to see CEOs and Politicians with 2 bullets in the back of the head.
Yep, always comes down to sex. Those women love slick willies
Mi Amigos, don't fret over John Edwards. In the U.S. a person is entitled to all the justice he can buy. John is a wealthy man.
I guess I am missing something about this MSNBC sweetheart. "Refused to lie under oath." Would any of you do otherwise?
He will walk. With his money and connections, he will walk.
Shame on those who enabled this man's behavior and did not call him out sooner. He could have been our Vice President in 2004, and that wench would have ended up in Vice President's residence.
Tom, Just think how it would have been if Edwards would have been Clinton's VP. They could have nicknamed the White House the Wh--e House.
John Howell- As a politician and elected representative he SHOULD be held to higher standard but, unfortunately , you are correct. he will walk.
Where have all the statesmen gone?
At this point in time none of us would even recognize a statesman if he came along. The American people have been so deceived, we can't tell what is going on any more. These politicians are destroying our country. Pretending they are smart, well educated, and want to help the American people. It is called jerking our chains while they make their fortunes.
"Sin A Tor" Horn Dog refused to lie under oath to a tabloid? Hey~ would he have pinky promised? Cuz that is a binding deal! Ok, ok, ok...so let me get this whole deal in focus. The FBI & IRS had 56 agents on the case for 4 years over a suspected 1 million dollar schmooze. The bandito that actually got the cheese, the nasty rat fink Mr. Young and his Kra Kra KRAZY accounting wife (Mrs. Rat Fink), were given total immunity from prosecution by the federal lads for their testimony? SO... our government spent tons of $ (way the hell more than $1mil) to go after the guy that never really got the goods. SINator Horn Dog's defense team (aka: high paid mouthpieces) are now making the prosecutors look like a high school debate team (no offense to any high school debate teams). Wow... I really don't think I would want these guys (The Government boys) managing my health care or... it is looking like anything else for that matter... They can make my house payments if they like... I mean they do that kinda thing don't they? Or, better yet, give Bank of America more of our tax money cuz... they are too big too fail, B of A is also to big to waive my ATM fee when I use another bank to withdraw cash... Hmmmm, go figure! I am writing in Charlie Sheen's name in November!!!
2kewell, WHAT are you talking about??? Young didn't get all the money...and Edwards got what he wanted: a cover-up of his lack of morals and brains.
"turniptruck" - John Edwards does have a brain, but its not on his shoulders.
Another lib going down the toilet and msnbc feels sorry for him.
how do you figure that msnbc feels sorry for him? you make no sense at all...
I don't think anyone feels sorry for him. We definitely feel sorry for his kids. Did he break the law - maybe not. Is he (and his former girlfriend) a slime ball? Definitely.
I do feel sorry for Edwards. He had so much going for him, and he threw it all away. How can anyone so bright, so dedicated to bringing change that is much needed be capable of making such a bad decision? I feel sorry for anyone who loses his future by making a moronic error in judgement.
mcb - Quit fooling yourself - he is and was only dedicated to himself.
Exactly, AllPeeps! This stupid partisan bickering is our biggest problem, and likely fatal disease. Bad people wear either blue or red shirts indiscriminately. For every John Edwards, there is a Dick Cheney. Same with incompetece. For every Jimmy Carter there is a Dubya. We need to return to the middle, from which the country was built, an the great political dream of our founders flourished.