Saturday, November 28, 2009

Opinion

John Edwards Hush Money? He Couldn't Beat Cheney, Now His 15 Minutes Are Up

May 04, 2009 11:54 AM ET | Bonnie Erbe | Permanent Link | Print

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog:

Apparently we are not done with John Edwards, as the former U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate told the media this weekend he's under investigation by federal authorities trying to divine whether:

...campaign funds were used to hush up an affair he was having with a videographer hired by his campaign. Edwards told the Raleigh News & Observer that he has "made available to the United States both the people and the information necessary to help [investigators] get the issue resolved efficiently and in a timely manner." He would not discuss the issue with the newspaper...Campaign records show Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, was paid $114,000 by a political action committee close to Edwards to film and document his campaign stops. The videos were shown on his campaign Web site.

The investigation is being led by U.S. Attorney George Holding, who is based in Raleigh. A federal grand jury could be convened to weigh the evidence. Holding would not comment on the Edwards to the News & Observer.

I don't know about you, but I'm totally bored with John Edwards. He was a terrible vice presidential candidate, and got much more than his 15 minutes of fame, for what reason I'm still not sure. Any former litigator who couldn't beat Dick Cheney in a vice presidential debate doesn't deserve media attention.

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Tags: John Edwards | Dick Cheney

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About Bonnie Erbe

Bonnie Erbe is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report and hosts PBS's weekly news analysis program, To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbe. She also writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column for Scripps Howard News Service.

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