Votto
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- Oct 31, 2012
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Former presidential candidate John Edwards was accused of funneling nearly $1 million in donor contributions to support his pregnant mistress and criminally charged with a campaign finance violation. Here's how the case played out.
A grand jury indicted Donald Trump, likely over a "hush-money" payment to Stormy Daniels. A similar case unfolded in 2011 against John Edwards.
Remember John Edwards, the VP candidate with John Kerry for the Democrat Presidential candidate? He was accused of the same crime Trump is regarding Stormy Daniels. For you see, he too had a mistress he was financing using questionable funds.
- John Edwards was charged with campaign finance violations in 2011 related to his 2008 presidential run.
- He was accused by the DOJ of funneling nearly $1 million in donations to his pregnant mistress.
- Edwards was acquitted of one campaign finance violation charge — the others were dropped.
The last time a presidential candidate was criminally charged for alleged campaign finance violations, John Edwards faced up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.
So why did they drop the charges against Edwards? Cuz he is a democrat, stupid.
Legal experts regarded the case as shaky because the charges were not based on a specific federal statute, but an advisory opinion written by the FEC that argued gifts made to political candidates should be considered campaign contributions, CNN and The Washington Post reported at the time.
After nine days of deliberations, a jury acquitted Edwards of one charge of accepting an illegal donation, ABC News reported, but was hopelessly deadlocked on the other five counts, resulting in a mistrial. The Department of Justice chose not to re-try Edwards, Politico reported.
"It's not illegal to be a pig," said Brett Kappel, a Washington campaign finance expert told The Washington Post at the time the charges were brought. "Is what Edwards did slimy? Absolutely. Everyone will agree it was reprehensible. But it's not a crime."
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