John Edwards has been indicted for misusing campaign funds to set up his mistress and lovechild in luxury while paying off a campaign aid to claim paternity of the baby. This means that he’s been formally charged and can either work out a plea deal with the prosecution or go to trail. (Kaiser explained all this to me much more clearly than I could ever understand on my own, so credit to her for that explanation!) The L.A. Times reports that Edwards has been refusing to plead guilty and has refused several plea deals so far. Here’s the story from People:
A federal grand jury has charged John Edwards with breaking campaign finance laws by using political funds to cover up his affair and out-of-wedlock child with Rielle Hunter while he was running for president in 2008.
He was indicted Friday in North Carolina on six counts, including conspiracy, four counts of illegal campaign contributions and one count of false statements. Edwards is expected to make a court appearance Friday afternoon in Winston Salem Middle District Courthouse.
At issue is money that was paid to Hunter and onetime Edwards aide Andrew Young to keep Edwards’s affair and love child a secret. Young even at one point claimed paternity of the girl, Quinn, though Edwards later admitted he was the father.
Investigators claim the funds paid to Hunter and Young from outside political groups and Edwards donors should be considered campaign donations since they aided Edwards’s presidential bid.
Edwards, 57, is said to want to put the episode behind him, one way or another. A source close to the former senator told PEOPLE in January: “John’s optimistic nothing is going to come of it, but even if not, he’s like, ‘Let’s get there, already.’ ”
The revelations of the affair and love child destroyed what was once viewed as a promising political career.
I’m glad this is moving forward and that Edwards will have to answer for getting a campaign donor to fund his coverup. He’s allegedly still hitting up that same elderly benefactor for money to help with his defense, according to the Enquirer.
The National Enquirer scooped everyone for months on the John Edwards secret lovechild scandal, and they have more insider details on how Edwards is faring now. They say that his space cadet mistress, Rielle Hunter, has all but abandoned him and told him that she doesn’t want to help him with this case at all. She dumped his ass and he’s trying to cut her off from the money. It’s all too predictable and sad, considering that his cancer stricken wife didn’t get to see Edwards get his ass handed to him before she died. Here’s a segment from the Enquirer article:
“When John found out that he was close to being indicted, he begged Rielle to cover for him,” the close source divulged.
“He didn’t flat out ask her to lie, but he was hoping she would say and do whatever it takes to keep him from going to jail. He even begged Rielle to marry him right away in front of a justice of the peace.
“But Rielle thought that John’s marriage proposal was just another way to protect himself. She thought if she was his wife, she wouldn’t have to testify against him in a criminal trial.
“After screaming that he was ‘pathetic’ and a ‘coward,’ Rielle told John she was through taking chances for him. He cried to her, ‘I don’t want to go to jail!’ But she didn’t care. She went ahead and dumped him – and their relationship is pretty much over. There’s no repairing it now…
After Rielle stabbed him in the back, Edwards once again turned to his elderly benefactor… for a private meeting on May 26, say insiders…
“John is so angry at Rielle… that he’s cut her off financially on everything but her legal bills for the case and her $6,000 a month child support,” the close source revealed.
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, June 13, 2011]
I doubt Edwards will end up going to jail, but at least Rielle put her foot down and he’s facing some consequences for lying and scamming. Stories last year had him drunkenly trolling for women in college bars. Rielle was right when she called him pathetic.
Good. I lovewhen these assholes have to answer for what they’ve done. Not that he’ll go to jail buy still it’s something. How I would love 6G a month in child support.
I wish she would go down in the sinking ship of this crap. She is disgusting and likely so proud of her 6k child support. No more killing horses, defrauding businesses, and sleeping with anyone with cash in their wallet.
They’re both pathetic.
She wanted him; she got him; she knew what she was doing and she knew what she was getting into. How stupid of her to think she would be “different.”
I’m sure Elizabeth is laughing her angelic ass off in Heaven!
I’m glad the courts pursued this, though with his gigantic ego, I’m not surprised he’s refusing to take a plea.
I thought he’d ditched Rielle ages ago and she was just delusional thinking it would still happen. Who knows.
I feel really, really sorry for his kids. Does he have custody of them or do they live with the older sister (I hope)?
I wish this sort of social, legal, and political justice would come to anyone and everyone who lies and deceives people. Maybe then the world would be a better place. Hope he’s convicted, does time, and gets pregnant by his cell mate… or at least catches something that itches really bad.
They are both pathetic but he definitely takes the booby prize.
Love karma at work.
Oh Rita…LOL. And I seriously doubted a smile was going to come to this face today!
I love that she dumped him. She should have known he was a weasel when he tried to deny the baby…
Somewhere is heaven Elizabeth Edwards is laughing…:)
Rielle is just as disgusting as he is. They are both pigs and karma’s a beyotch.
Yes indeed, Karma is SUCH a bitch. Hopefully Rielle’s is on it’s way.
Karma is a beeyotch Celebitchy fans! 🙂
Enuff said!
he’s such a creep.
Reminds me of that part of Shawshank Redemption where the warden opens his bible to find the cut out of the pick ax and the note that says:
“His judgement cometh, and that right soon.”
Not a religious person at all, but I always liked that saying – it’s such a nice way to say “karma is a bitch.”
Does she even work? 6K a month is a lot, esp from someone that has two other minor children to support. I wish I earned 6K a month (after tax), and I’m a lawyer 10 years out of law school.
so disappointed in him
what does this skank do for a living besides screw married men? ugh – they deserve each other.
@esblondie: nice “shawshank” reference -i love that movie.
I heard he was out and about one night in Chapel Hill a few months ago and got wasted, had some young girl drive him home and they got pulled over. She had too much wine but the officer let them go…
such a dick
ITA @Blue I really wish she caught a bit of the karma train. It seems like she’s getting away with the big chunk of child support change. But maybe a social stigma will follow her around for a lifetime. Who knows. Glad he’s getting what he deserved though.
His chin looks like a va-jay-jay!
just marrying someone doesn’t mean you don’t have to testify against them. The marriage rule is only in effect AFTER you are married to them. Any crimes that occured before marriage she would have to testify. And in some cases you can still be forced to testify regardless if you are married or not at the time of a crime. I don’t think he asked her to marry, keep having sex, sure. But marriage was never and will never be on the table for her or him.
Please. She’d never dump him unless staying with him would be detrimental to her personally.
Local news is saying that Edwards had many chances to except a deal but he doesn’t want to plead guilty to a felony because he would lose his liscense to practice law. And even if all these things were done to cover-up this douchebags tracks, he doesn’t feel as if he has done anything wrong.
And the only reason Reille dumped him (if she did) is because Edwards is dead politically so she is trollin’ for something better
They’re both trash.
I think if John decided to openly acknowledge reille as his girlfriend she would take him back in a heartbeat. All she ever wanted was the attention that comes with being with him.
Frankly, they all deserved each other. Husband, wife and mistress. I always thought there was something creepy about the Edwards’, long before the story broke.
Well, hullo celebrity justice, where have you been? Care to have an all expenses paid trip to California? (Don’t worry, we won’t tell the federal grand jury.)
echo that Edwards is a creep !!
Oh, Rielle, if that ain’t the pathetic pot calling the kettle black.
I would say that somewhere, Elizabeth Edwards is smiling, but I know she probably would find little joy in all of this, as I’m sure it’s horribly embarassing for her children to see their father all over the news being indicted. He deserves it, but still, it sucks for those kids. They’ve suffered so much already.
Excellent! But you’re right that it would’ve been sweeter if it had happened while his wife was still alive.
Incidentally, I have ZERO sympathy for Rielle, who’s been reaping financial rewards all these years for having sex with a married man while his wife was dying of cancer. Both of them are complete sleazebags.
I feel sorry for their kid. For all of his kids, in fact.
if only somehow reille could be indicted for some crime. both of them are disgusting. but it urks the hell out of me that this trollop knowingly went after a dying woman’s husband. no shame at all and then atop of it intentionally got pregnant. who does that? it breaks my heart that elizabeth had to deal with that before she left this world.
Im not buying the fact she dumped him. If she was going to dump him, she would have done it long ago. She’d marry him to this day in a heart beat if he asked.
Why? The money.
And I dont buy hes trolling for money now either from former benefactors. He has tons of money. Tons of it. He can afford his own defense.
He needed their money then to hide the money trail. He doesnt have to hide the money trail of his defense, does he?
I think the Enquirer is off on a couple of points in this story.
Wow… I must be the only person who kind of likes Rielle!
I really liked the interview she did with GQ….
guess that’s just me…
Karma is a bitch!
NOT beleiving the part about her ‘dumping’ him..
she is too hungry to show th world that he DOES want her..
2 slimeballs and she is just too desperate to have him.
He’s one of the most disgusting guys in politics I’ve seen in a long time.
What was he thinking running for president with a secret like that?
It made him blackmailable and of course the Republicans had found out. Had he gotten the nomination, they would have made dog food of him in the elections.
Sigh…I love a good karma story…like reading paperback romance novel.
Rielle looks like a Dollar Store Suzanne Summers.
John Edwards, who is clearly a douchebag, lives in a massive home in Chapel Hill. He’s loaded. The only reason he took money from others to pay Rielle was to keep the relationship covered up because Elizabeth would have found out. He doesn’t need to ask for defense money because he has his own and it’s highly unlikely that this will ever go to trial. He’ll take a plea and get a slap on the wrist.
The story about her dumping him because he asked her to marry him is BS, at least from the standpoint of her having to testify. Spousal immunity only applies to events after the marriage. She would still have to testify, although how likely is it that she knew where the money came from anyway?
Poor Elizabeth. You know she worried about those poor kids having to go through all this. I feel awful for them.
I doubt Reille dumped him because he wanted her to lie. And she’d NEVER turn down a marriage proposal from him. She probably said she’d lie if he’d at least acknowledge her in public and they could be an open dating couple. He said no, and that’s what made her mad at him.
You have to hand it to Rielle — bitch ain’t stupid!
@ djork ITA! I never bought the whole Elizabeth the saint/martyr thing they pushed. I always thought she was dirty. Like Hillary Clinton dirty. And John E. is such a narcissist, I agree that he probably doesnt feel guilty at all. He probably feels like such a victim. “Look what they’re doing to me!” god, sick. and RH.. god, what trash. Go the F*ck Away! Poor kids.
And I hope he does JAIL TIME! m@therf*cker.
He’s just getting what he deserves. He’s ended up with someone so like himself (lacking morals, & concerned for no one but themselves) that it’s biting him right in the ass. Somehow it looks as though he mistakenly thought this woman gave a damn about him (as opposed to his money)… How amusing to see him grasping at straws (& whores) to keep him out of jail.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bastard. I’m sure if there’s any eternal justice, Elizabeth is aware of the turned tables. >=3
Surprised that his older daughter accompanies him to court, showing “support”. She’s a lawyer too, I think. Elizabeth left her all her money to the kids, none to John, with the big sister as trustee for the little ones.
Yes, John has lots of is own money. Somewhow, he’s got Bunny Mellon still trying to help him. She’s literally 100 years old. Maybe a bit gullible? What does her family think of her ongoing help to John?
yeah, I’ve heard from people in North Carolina who run in “richer circles” that’s he’s loaded, no need for cover up or defense money. I find Rielle more repulsive than John, maybe I just expect that for a man/politician. However, being a woman, I cannot understand how this woman could be part of this, knowing his wife’s illness and destruction of a family. She is a fame whore and he’s just a disappointment.
Both of them are shit heads but John had the audacity to do this while standing up and asking the country to elect him. He could have in a worst case scenario handed the election to the Republicans and given us Sarah Palin as a V.P. For that I can never forgive him.
He’s cut her off from everything “EXCEPT 6 GRAND PER MONTH”!? 6 GRAND!? Per MONTH?! What the heck …WOW. I’m against deadbeat parents but that amount is crayyyyzaaaay.
@ AngelMay – Bitch is TOO stupid – Crazy AND stupid.
I absolutely love that photo of him at the top. That says it all. “ho crap I am so busted”
Maybe men get into politics for noble reasons. What many discover, especially the handsome ones, is that power is a drug. And what do men want more than anything? Sex. Frequent sex with a variety of young partners. Power leads to sex. Women throw themselves at powerful men. Men of weak character will realize that the more power they gain, the more they have access to women (Arnold, Kennedy, Edwards, even Martin Luther King, Jr. to name a few). Politicians will always philander. Always have. Always will. Whether they’re Tweeting their wieners to college girls or picking them up in bars, young girls are the ultimate reward of wealth and power for men of weak character. And power corrupts. Edwards’ story is nothing new, nor anything particularly unique. It’s a disappointment, but not really a surprise.
I am absolutely disgusted that this crazy skank gets 6 GRAND a month in child support!!! I apparently went into the wrong job field! Instead of going to school for years, enlisting in the Nat’l Guard to help pay for it, then working my ass off in a real job, what I apparently should’ve done is troll after a married rich man and intentionally get knocked up, then sell my story to every trashy mag that’ll pay to take sh*tty pics of me. IF my ex-husband decides to pay child support I get $312 a month. And we were married–to EACH OTHER. Sorry, I’m just so pissed at how these women get rewarded for being immoral trashy whores. Yeah, it’s not all the woman’s fault, yada yada yada. But it’s pretty obvious that some of these baby mamas including Rielle Hunter are searching out wealthy men to knock them up and hit pay dirt. Pro-creating is not a business investment! Sorry, I don’t usually use this kind of language, but it just sickens me. *sigh* Ok, I’m done.
His Silky Pony nickname from 2008 after his 3-minute hair-combing video will NOT work well for him in prison.
He went from being a presidential hopeful to trolling for women in college bars? Talk about being reduced from a rooster to a feather duster.
The only one I feel sorry for is their daughter Quinn and Edwards’ children by Elizabeth. All others got what they deserved.
What goes around, comes around. They deserve each other, what a coward he is!!
People need to set their biases and dislikes aside and try to look at the case objectively. The case against Edwards is very, very weak and the government is basing it on a novel theory. The money provided to Edwards’ girlfriend was never campaign funds. The money never went through the campaign. There is a mountain of expert opinion that says this is not a violation of campaign law – not even a civil violation let alone a criminal one. The government’s argument is a very long stretch. I doubt they’ll be a conviction and even if there is I would think it would get overturned on appeal. You cannot just change the rules in midstream and make previously understood acceptable conduct all of a sudden criminal.
As for Edwards, I’m not condoning his behavior but some of you are just so beyond the pale. He cheated. It was wrong. It hurt people. People are human and they do wrong. It doesn’t make someone a monster – even good people “sin.” But at some point it needs to be put in the past – especially when there are children affected by it. I suspect some degree of transference is going on here.
Edwards was not a dirty lawyer or politician. He was a very skilled and respected lawyer in an area of law that is very difficult to make a success of. He earned that money. By the way, to the person who made the gratuitous and baseless swipe at Hillary Clinton, she was not “dirty” either. Spare us the right wing and sexist agenda.
Spousal privilege against testifying is different in each jurisdiction and it usually covers both marital communications and actually testifying in court. But the basis of almost all spousal privilege laws is that you cannot force a spouse to testify against one another – it doesn’t matter what subjects or dates the testmony covers. The only exceptions I am aware of are some states that have carved out an exception in spousal abuse cases.
As much as the behavior of JE and RH troubles me, and I feel for all the children involved, I have to hand it to Katherine M. for her even-keeled, articulate, level-headed response: thank you.
John Edwards = sinking ship
Rielle Hunter = rat
Having read “The Politician” I have little sympathy for John, Elizabeth or Rielle. They all had motives and none of them were altruistic.
It’s pathetic that someone with a platform to represent the downtrodden and truly needy turned out to be such a narsacist. His children are the victims and I would guess losing their mother and discovering their father is a fraud is a painful journey. Shame on him!!!
@ Katherine M.
” By the way, to the person who made the gratuitous and baseless swipe at Hillary Clinton, she was not “dirty” either. Spare us the right wing and sexist agenda.”
I said that. And, as a female, Liberal, DEMOCRATE, I stand by my opinion 100%!!!
“Baseless”?! Are you kidding me? There is a long list of silenced, railroaded people behind Hillary if you care to read up on her history. But, of course, the PR machines are always on full alert and twice as good as any Hollywood has.
Dont be blind. She is a dirty player in Washington, and everyone knows it.
Wow, a judge has ruled that parts of his testimony will be made public. He’s decided it’s all Rielle’s fault:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388360/John-Edwards-rages-mistress-Rielle-Hunter-destroying-sex-tape.html
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