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The Persecution of John Edwards
Townhall.com ^ | June 9, 2011 | Steve Chapman

Posted on 06/09/2011 6:46:25 AM PDT by Kaslin

John Edwards is a vain, lying scum who cheated on his wife while she was dying of cancer. But one thing far worse than his contemptible conduct is the government's effort to put him in jail for it.

In this case, prosecutors are exploiting a vague, confusing law to criminalize conduct that has not been treated as a crime before. The only good news is that its prosecution is so ill-founded and over the top that it is likely to fail.

Federal prosecutors have a checkered record of late when it comes to high-profile public officials. Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who talked for hours on wiretaps about his sleazy schemes, was convicted on only one of 24 counts in his first trial. His brother was convicted on no counts.

After Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted in 2008 of taking gifts and lying about them, the judge cleared him because of outrageous prosecutorial misconduct.

In 2009, a former governor of Puerto Rico was acquitted on all nine corruption counts. Last year, the mayor of Ridgefield, N.J., won his case, and a former Jersey City assemblyman got his vindication soon after.

Edwards didn't have to go to trial. He turned down a plea bargain that would have let him keep his law license and serve no more than six months in prison. If convicted on all charges, however, he's likely to get upward of five years. Fighting the government, as usual in criminal cases, carries a huge downside -- which is a way to coerce the innocent to plead guilty.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: breckgirl; edwards
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1 posted on 06/09/2011 6:46:28 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
Ummmmm.......he in essence embezzled a million dollars from campaign funds and funneled it to his mistress. Vague law? I think embezzlement is more than a “vague” law

It is the PROSECUTION not persecution of the Breck Girl.

2 posted on 06/09/2011 6:49:28 AM PDT by NWFLConservative (Game On!.................Saracuda 2012)
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To: Kaslin

What seems like a real possibility to me—something I’ve not heard anyone say—is that the Obama machine is behind this prosecution of Edwards. Obama has a history of clearing the competition from the playing field (ballot).

I have no idea if Edwards had intentions of running again, but if he is embroiled in a legal battle, he can’t run against Obama in 2012.


3 posted on 06/09/2011 6:52:30 AM PDT by WXRGina
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To: NWFLConservative

98% of the politicians in this country should be in prison together, IMO.


4 posted on 06/09/2011 6:52:35 AM PDT by ExTexasRedhead
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To: NWFLConservative

This guy deserves a long stretch in the cross bar hotel, not for cheating on his dem loving wife but for what he did which was diverting money to pay off a paramour to maintain his credibility of being a family man....just not which family I guess.


5 posted on 06/09/2011 6:52:48 AM PDT by Mouton (Voting is an opiate of the electorate. Nothing changes no matter who wins..)
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To: Kaslin

Isn’t there also a charge of lying involved?


6 posted on 06/09/2011 6:53:32 AM PDT by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Bad posters drive out good. Don't post and drive!)
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To: Kaslin

So does this writer think all laws are wrong? If Edwards had robbed a bank would he be guilty then? This wasn’t his slush fund to use however he pleased. I doubt his supporters thought they were handing him money to keep his whore happy while he pretended to be the husband and father his campaign was portraying him to be.


7 posted on 06/09/2011 6:54:15 AM PDT by WhyisaTexasgirlinPA (OBL's death is President Bush's fault! ..... thanks GWB!)
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To: Kaslin
Once again the UK papers give us the news that the MSM do no:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2000878/Elizabeth-Edwards-secretly-recorded-video-testimony-helps-nail-John.html

Elizabeth Edwards’ revenge from the grave: She 'secretly recorded death-bed video testimony to help nail John'

8 posted on 06/09/2011 6:55:29 AM PDT by They'reGone2000 (They'reGone2010)
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To: Kaslin
I heard Mark Levin muse about this...he was hinting at an overzealous prosecutor. He's no fan of Edwards, but was very uncomfortable with what he considered a broad interpretation of existing law.
9 posted on 06/09/2011 6:57:03 AM PDT by Tex-Con-Man
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To: NWFLConservative
It is the PROSECUTION not persecution of the Breck Girl.

He's going to be very popular....in prison


10 posted on 06/09/2011 6:57:03 AM PDT by Vaquero ("an armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: WXRGina
Obama has a history of clearing the competition from the playing field

"Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought.
The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all!
It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose."

- - Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"

11 posted on 06/09/2011 7:02:44 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Treat me good, I'll treat you better. Treat me bad, I'll treat you worse.)
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To: NWFLConservative; Kaslin
I think Chapman is right. According to reputable experts concerning the law in question, 90% of them wouldn't have thought the donations were at that point restricted to be campaign contributions. In other words, there's a real ambiguity as to whether these were "for whatever you need, John" gifts.

If there's ambiguity and even the campaign-law experts can't agree, there's no certainty "beyond reasonable doubt" that he was guilty of a crime.

We, too --- every single one of us --- need to protected from prosecution on laws which were too vague for a reasonable person to know what was allowed and what was prohibited. And aggressive, selective prosecution exploiting equivocal legal bafflegab is unjust, even if it's an injustice against a cold-hearted lying adulterer-pustule like Edwards.

As Chapman stated in the final words of the article, "He may deserve to rot in hell. Just not in jail."

12 posted on 06/09/2011 7:03:27 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (My two cents' worth.)
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To: Kaslin

Elizabeth Edwards’ revenge from the grave: She ‘secretly recorded death-bed video testimony’

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2732003/posts

“La vengeance se mange très-bien froide” — published in English translation in 1846 as revenge is very good eaten cold.


13 posted on 06/09/2011 7:09:44 AM PDT by COUNTrecount (Barry...above his poi grade.)
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To: Kaslin
In this case, prosecutors are exploiting a vague, confusing law to criminalize conduct that has not been treated as a crime before

Trying singing that song to Tom Delay.

14 posted on 06/09/2011 7:10:05 AM PDT by Michael.SF. (When you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras.)
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To: Mouton
Oh, bah, Liz didn't tell us the truth when we needed to know it. She played along until it was clear that JE wasn't going to the WH, ever.

Having cancer does not make you a saint.

She wanted to be FLOTUS.

15 posted on 06/09/2011 7:13:33 AM PDT by Mamzelle
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To: Vaquero

Eye-gor! Fro-drich!!

One of the funniest movies ever made, no doubt about it!


16 posted on 06/09/2011 7:23:24 AM PDT by NWFLConservative (Game On!.................Saracuda 2012)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

While it’s fun to see the Breck girl get his comeuppance, I am not comfortable with this prosecution. I am a lawyer (though not an election law expert by any means) and based on what I’ve read, this interpretation of the law is a real stretch. It looks more like a political witch-hunt designed to prevent a 2012 primary challenge. Obama has a nasty habit of sweeping the deck of any challengers. We need to remember that while the affair was unseemly, what the man actually did was make arrangements to take care of HIS OWN CHILD and the child’s mother.

I was against the prosecution of Tom Delay for the same reasons. If what Delay did was a crime, most in D.C. are criminals.


17 posted on 06/09/2011 7:23:35 AM PDT by .45 Long Colt
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Yep!


18 posted on 06/09/2011 7:24:01 AM PDT by WXRGina
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To: Mamzelle
She was as much of a liberal looney tune as he was. But his betrayal of her was unconscionable, she was in Stage IV breast cancer.
19 posted on 06/09/2011 7:25:24 AM PDT by NWFLConservative (Game On!.................Saracuda 2012)
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To: Kaslin

I agree. You kinda gotta wonder what the current administration has against this guy. The prosecution is really over the top. Then again, perhaps it’s the usual excuse, i.e. distraction from what is really happening.


20 posted on 06/09/2011 7:26:33 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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