A Story of John Edwards and Rielle Hunter That Will Likely Never Be Written Update 5-31-12

Photo Courtesy of Washington Post

Q: Does Legal Pub have some relationship with John Edwards?

A: No.

Q: Then why has Legal Pub avoided doing a story on the affair?

A: One will be written; however, it appears to be more of a personal issue then a legal issue.

Q: When?

A: Perhaps soon. But again, you may not like what it is written. Again, it appears more of a personal issue then a legal issue. So if a story would be written, it would go something like this:

It is hard to avoid reading something about John Edwards' political action committee allegedly paying Rielle Hunter a lot of money. ($100,000!) But what is the big deal? Political action committees pay independent contractors to make campaign videos all the time? Granted, what complicates this case is that Rielle Hunter is attractive and is alleged to be John Edward's girl friend. (For those taking notes, admittedly, girlfriends are generally taboo for married politicians.) But that alone does not mean anything illegal occurred. Fine, another source of controversy may be that Rielle was paid an additional $14,000 after she stopped working for the campaign. But there is an explanation. The $14,000 was in exchange for 100 hours of unused campaign videotape. The $14,000 payment was apparently made in April of 2007. But again, this may be just compensation. The $14,000 was paid a few months before the third complication. Specifically, sometime after the $14,000 payment, Edwards' chief fundraiser (Fred Baron) began sending money to Rielle. While this may invoke scrutiny, this in and of itself is not illegal if campaign funds were not used. If it is legitimate compensation, then it may still possibly be appropriate; however, the analysis becomes more complicated. The fourth complication is that Rielle Hunter was pregnant during the time Baron made payments to Rielle. Again, while this makes for interesting press, the baby is apparently not John Edward's child. So why is this public business?

So what shame does Edwards deserve? Edwards has already publicly acknowledged he had an affair in 2006 with Rielle. Obviously, the public humiliation and the effect on his family is real punishment. While morality may be an issue, no laws were broken. Edwards denied any knowledge of the payments by Fred Baron to Rielle. (If the $14,000 payment to Rielle came from Edwards' OneAmerica political action committee fund, those expenditures would be governed by U.S. election laws. Knowingly converting money from a political action committee for personal use could be wrong but to date there is no such evidence. Furthermore, the $14,000 paid to Rielle Hunter could be legitimate compensation for the 100 hours of videotape excerpts that were not part of four short Web videos she had produced in 2006. One can not jump to the conclusion that the political action committee was paying Rielle to be quiet about the affair. The compensation may have been totally appropriate and legal.)
On August 8, 2008, Edwards publicly explained that he ended the affair and confessed to his wife Elizabeth in 2006. While Hunter appeared at campaign events in the final days of December, that does not mean that the affair continued. Rielle was reportedly present at his formal campaign announcement in New Orleans. Edwards and Hunter spent time together in 2006, traveling the world and the country but that does not necessarily mean that the affair continued.

Senator Edwards apparently has no plans to publicly discuss the affair. Understandably, he needs to work on repairing his family. Edwards denies that Hunter was paid to cover up the affair. There is no reason not to take Edwards at his word. Edwards did not know Baron sent money to her. The father of the baby is apparently not Edwards. Another Edwards staffer claimed to be the father of Hunter's daughter who was born in February 2008. A child does not choose its parents and there is no reason for the child to be the subject of public scrutiny.
Baron has explained that no campaign funds were used to make any illegal payments. Hunter apparently was not working for the campaign when Baron started giving her money. John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards were apparently not aware that Baron was sending the funds. Condone Senator Edward's morals if you like, but don't accuse him of crimes that have not been committed.

Senator Edwards, while your conduct is disappointing, you deserve fair treatment. There is no evidence that you committed any legal offense. Your adultery is best left for you, your wife, your family and for God to judge outside the presence of public scrutiny. Good luck. You are likely going to need it.

Q: I see. My advice to you is don't bother writing the article. It is not what people want to hear.

A: Oh, I see...

Update 5-14-2012:   How about this instead? Rielle Hunter's employment not only cost Senator Edwards the Vice Presidential candidacy, he is now on trial with a possibility of serving jail time.  How could this all come to pass?  Well, despite Hunter's lack of film making experience, she secured a $250,000 contract to make a series of behind-the-scenes documentaries from the campaign trail. While Edwards' aides criticized her work as unprofessional, the job gave Hunter a reason to travel with the candidate while his wife was home in North Carolina fighting breast cancer. When Elizabeth Edwards learned of the affair, Hunter lost her job. But Edwards and his mistress continued to meet on the campaign trail. In the summer of 2007, Rielle became pregnant. 
As Hunter's belly grew, so did the maliciousness of the tabloid reporters.   Hunter tried to hide in North Carolina by moving in with one of Edwards' most loyal aides, Andrew Young.  Within weeks, the Youngs set up Hunter in a $2,700-a-month rental home not far from the Edwards estate. As Edward's child became a reality so did charges for improper use of campaign funds.  Now, Edwards is involved in the trial of the century.
Update 5-31-2012:  John Edwards has been found not guilty on count 3 in the trial on whether the 2008 presidential candidate violated campaign finance laws. The judge has declared a mistrial on the remaining five counts. This means Edwards was found not guilty on the charge involving the contributions from Mellon.