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N.C. Judge Rejects DOJ’s Efforts to Keep CREW Out of Edwards Case

Washington, D.C. – Today, Judge Catherine C. Eagles rejected the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) attempts to keep Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) from filing an amicus brief on behalf of former Sen. John Edwards in the criminal case against him.   As a result, CREW’s brief will be part of the official court record.  Click here to read CREW’s brief.

“If DOJ is so certain of its position, why was it so intent on preventing the court from even considering CREW’s view?” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan.   “Perhaps the government is not so confident about its case after all.”   

Sen. Edwards has been charged with violating campaign finance laws by conspiring with Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and Fred Baron to evade campaign contribution limits by allowing the two to pay the expenses of Sen. Edwards’ mistress, Rielle Hunter, and their daughter during his presidential campaign.  Ms. Mellon and Mr. Baron were both long-time friends of Sen. Edwards.

CREW, which generally supports public corruption prosecutions, is siding with Sen. Edwards because of the highly unusual nature of the case.  There have been no previous prosecutions or Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforcement actions based on remotely similar facts.

Federal law prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal use, such as rent and vacations.  In other matters, the FEC has held that campaign funds cannot be spent on clothing or personal trainers.  By this logic, campaign funds cannot legally be spent on the personal expenses of a candidate’s mistress.  But DOJ is arguing that because paying Ms. Hunter’s expenses at least peripherally benefitted the Edwards campaign – allowing the candidate to maintain his image as a devoted family man -- those costs were legitimate campaign expenses.  If this remarkable position is upheld, candidates will be able use campaign funds for nearly anything.