Judge rules out testimony on FEC audit favorable to John Edwards'

Edwards actions were not admirable, but he didn't act nearly as badly as many other people. He stayed with his family and supported them. He wasn't sleeping around. Other politicians have knowingly been using campaign money for personal purposes, but are not being prosecuted.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/14/11701316-judge-rules-out-testimony-on-fec-audit-that-cleared-money-for-john-edwards-mistress

Updated at 5:50 p.m. ET: Jurors in the campaign finance trial of former Sen. John Edwards won't hear about a federal audit that concluded that almost $1 million used to help conceal his affair with Rielle Hunter did not amount to campaign contributions subject to federal regulation, the judge ruled Monday.

.....

Edwards' lawyers had been ready to call Scott Thomas, a former chairman of the FEC, who was to have testified about the audit of Edwards' 2008 campaign. His testimony would have been crucial to the defense, said Hampton Dellinger, a legal analyst for NBC News and msnbc.com.

That's because "it would be compelling evidence that, no matter what else you think about John Edwards, there is no reason for him to think that the coverup of the affair was an election law crime," Dellinger said before the ruling was announced.


http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2012/05/john-edwards-prosecutor-wins-gop-primary-in-nc-122878.html

By JOSH GERSTEIN |
5/9/12 12:29 AM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C.—The U.S. Attorney who obtained the indictment of former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) on campaign finance charges, George Holding, won the Republican nomination Tuesday in a Congressional race in North Carolina.

.....

After Edwards's indictment last year, many Democrats blasted Holding—a Bush appointee and former aide to the late GOP Sen. Jesse Helms—for bringing a politically-motivated prosecution. Edwards's lawyers also sought, unsuccessfully, to have the case thrown out, arguing, "A Republican U.S. attorney with political ambitions of his own has used this high-profile case to his personal benefit."

The issue also emerged late in the GOP race after Coble told a Washington legal news website, Main Justice, that there was "no question" Holding hoped to advance his political career by pursuing Edwards. Coble also hit Holding for having "willingly served" under President Barack Obama, something Holding said he did to finish ongoing investigations like the one into Edwards.