Serious illness delays Edwards trial
A cardiologist for former presidential candidate John Edwards says he has a lifethreatening medical condition that will require surgery next month, a federal judge disclosed Friday as she postponed Edwards’ campaign corruption trial for at least two months.
Saying the 58-year-old Edwards has “a serious condition,” U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles delayed the trial until at least March 26. The judge said she had read two letters from Edwards’ cardiologist but did not disclose details about the former senator’s condition.
Eagles quoted the cardiologist as saying that Edwards’ condition is treatable, with a good chance of recovery.
“Clearly the ends of justice are served by continuance, given the seriousness of his medical condition,” Eagles said. The trial had been set to begin Jan. 30.
Edwards is a one-term U.S. senator who ran as a vice presidential candidate with Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts on the 2004 Democratic ticket and twice ran for president. He is charged with six felony and misdemeanor counts.
Prosecutors say Edwards violated campaign finance laws while attempting to cover up an illicit affair with a campaign videographer who later gave birth to his daughter. He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted on all counts.
A federal indictment in June alleged that Edwards accepted more than $900,000 in illegal contributions from Bunny Mellon, a philanthropist in Virginia, and the late Fred Baron, a Texas lawyer. The indictment said the payments were campaign contributions used by Edwards to pay living expenses for Rielle Hunter while trying to keep their affair secret.
Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth Edwards, had terminal cancer at the time. She died in December 2010.
Edwards’ lawyers have argued that the payments were private gifts to Hunter and her entourage, not campaign contributions, and thus did not violate campaign finance laws.