Reuters: U.S.: Former Senator Edwards' defense to continue grilling ex-aide

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Former Senator Edwards' defense to continue grilling ex-aide Apr 26th 2012, 11:55 Tweet Share this Email Print Former U.S. Senator John Edwards leaves the federal court house in Greensboro, North Carolina April 23, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Chris Keane By Colleen Jenkins GREENSBORO, North Carolina | Thu Apr 26, 2012 7:55am EDT GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former Senator John Edwards' defense is set to resume its attack on Thursday of the campaign aide who says his ex-boss directed him to get secret payments from donors to conceal Edwards' pregnant mistress during his 2008 presidential run. The defense on Wednesday sought to undercut the testimony of former Edwards' aide Andrew Young, the federal government's chief witness in its campaign finance case against Edwards, a two-time presidential candidate and the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2004. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell accused Young of lying about critical facts in the case, but the aide denied having been purposefully untruthful. Young has testified that he and Edwards have not spoken since a tense meeting in August 2008, when Young said he threatened to expose the former candidate's cover-up of the affair and resulting child if Edwards did not come clean. Young and his family spent months on a cross-country trek helping to shield Edwards' mistress Rielle Hunter from the media as the candidate, then a married father of three, made an unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. At Edwards' request, Young, who also was married, said he falsely claimed paternity of Hunter's child and accepted more than $900,000 from two wealthy donors to hide the affair and pregnancy from voters. Edwards, 58, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, faces possible prison time if convicted of conspiring to solicit the money, receiving more than the $2,300 allowed from any one donor, and failing to report the payments as contributions. His defense says the payments were not campaign contributions meant to influence the election, but instead were gifts from friends trying to help Edwards conceal the affair from his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth. On Wednesday, Lowell accused Young of exaggerating stories and making up details to sell his 2010 book, "The Politician," about Edwards and the affair cover-up. The defense says Young used Edwards' plight for his own financial gain, including putting some of the donor money toward a $1.5 million home in North Carolina for his family. (Reporting By Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Vicki Allen) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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