U.S. Justice Department dismisses John Edwards case

The United States Justice Department announced on Wednesday they it will not attempt to retry former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on corruption charges. The decision concludes an unusual and heavily criticized campaign finance case against Edwards, who was acquitted on one count on May 31 by a jury in North Carolina that could not reach a verdict on five other counts. In a statement, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said, “We knew that this case — like all campaign finance cases — would be challenging. But it is our duty to bring hard cases when we believe that the facts and the law support charging a candidate for high office with a crime.”

Edwards was facing a possible 30 years in prison on six counts of illegal campaign contributions, conspiracy, and falsifying documents after he was accused of “knowingly and willingly” accepting large amounts of money from wealthy campaign donors Fred Baron and Rachel Melon to hide his former mistress, Rielle Hunter, and her pregnancy. Edwards’ defense team, Abbe Lowell, Allison Van Laningham, and Alan Duncan, said in a statement: “While John has repeatedly admitted to his sins, he has also consistently asserted, as we demonstrated at the trial, that he did not violate any campaign law nor even imagined that any campaign laws could apply. We are confident that the outcome of any new trial would have been the same. We are very glad that, after living under this cloud for over three years, John and his family can have their lives back and enjoy the peace they deserve.”