Edwards Cover Up Continues
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 16th, 2008 4:39 am by HL
Edwards Cover Up Continues
A front page New York Times piece investigates an elaborate attempt by John Edwards to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter, “one that is continuing even after he admitted last week that he had an affair with Ms. Hunter but denied that he fathered her child.”
“The revelations of ties among the lawyers” involved in the effort to protect Edwards “emerged through public records and interviews with people close to Mr. Edwards and Ms. Hunter, which suggested that their affair went on longer than Mr. Edwards admitted and that the effort to conceal it by Mr. Edwards’s inner circle was much more extensive than has been reported.”
The paper says the Edwards “went to unusual lengths” to make a final $14,000 payment Ms. Hunter. As the AP notes, the payment to Hunter “is significant because its source was Edwards’ OneAmerica political action committee, whose expenditures are governed by U.S. election laws. Willfully converting money from a political action committee for personal use would have been a federal criminal violation.”
Several people close to Edwards have told Political Wire that Edwards’ insistence that the affair was over before he announced his candidacy — which photos now call into question — is important to protect him from campaign finance violations.