Former Democratic vice presidential nominee and two-time presidential candidate John Edwards faced counts of conspiracy and campaign law violations on Friday, June 3rd. Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, received money from two of his supporters when she became pregnant during their affair. Rachel "Bunny" Mellon of Virginia and attorney Fred Baron, who has since passed away, donated over $1 million to Hunter. At first Edwards denied that he was the father, but then he accepted over $900,00 as part of an effort to conceal his mistress and her baby in order to protect his White House bid. Prosecutors contend that the money given to Hunter by political backers should be considered campaign donations (Bohn). .
The money was used to send Hunter into hiding in 2007 and 2008, at the height of the White House campaign. $725,000 was collected from Mellon and $200,000 from Baron to pay for Hunter's living and medical expenses, for chartered airfare, luxury hotels, and a rental house in Santa Barbara, California (Breen). .
Edwards' relationship with Baron was explored in great detail during his hearing on Friday. Baron, or "Person D" as he is referred to in the case made a $1,000 case payment accompanied by a written note: "Old Chinese saying: use cash, not credit cards." Lisa Blue Baron, Baron's widow, was questioned about the relationship. "I know my late husband Fred Baron cared about the senator. John has been a long time friend of our family. I have confidence in the legal system. At this point in time Senator Edwards is innocent until proven guilty," she said. Baron no longer has contact with Edwards (Breen). .
"I just feel like so many people have been so mad and so upset with John Edwards that he doesn't need one more person to criticize him or be judgmental of him," Baron said. "I think he suffered the consequences, and it's a great life lesson about how high you can be, you have 100,000 people cheering you because they think you're great, to the other extreme, where you're possibly facing criminal charges" (Breen).
