Results 1 to 13 of 13
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Steamboat Springs, CO

    Oh No! Duke at the John Edwards Trial

    In testimony during the John Edwards trial in Winston-Salem, the attorney for heiress Bunny Mellon emphasized that her million-dollar+ gift was personal, not political. Attorney Forget went on to say:

    After Mellon, who is now 101, lost her husband and her daughter, she had few close friends and took a liking to Edwards "as a person not because he was running for president," Forger said. "If he wanted to be president of Duke University, she would have supported that."
    Edwards has been widely quoted, even as a seated US Senator from North Carolina, saying, "I hate Duke basketball." It sounds like Bunny Mellon might as well.

    Interestingly, Edwards's campaign manager in the 2004 presidential race was a Duke grad.

    sagegrouse

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, within a couple of miles of Cameron
    I surely thought there would be more discussion on the Edwards trial; and I'm also puzzled (probably because I'm NOT a lawyer!) that the prosecution's witnesses seem to add holes to their case each day. Can one of our fine resident legal experts weigh in on things? I'd like nothing better than to see John in one of Jim Black's hand-me-down orange jumpsuits, but it sure doesn't appear to me that there is a strong case for the Edwards campaign blatantly breaking the contribution laws..at least so far. I read that tomorrow the prosecution will rest their case. Is there The Smoking Gun testimony tomorrow?


    Quote Originally Posted by sagegrouse View Post
    In testimony during the John Edwards trial in Winston-Salem, the attorney for heiress Bunny Mellon emphasized that her million-dollar+ gift was personal, not political. Attorney Forget went on to say:



    Edwards has been widely quoted, even as a seated US Senator from North Carolina, saying, "I hate Duke basketball." It sounds like Bunny Mellon might as well.

    Interestingly, Edwards's campaign manager in the 2004 presidential race was a Duke grad.

    sagegrouse

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by sagegrouse View Post
    In testimony during the John Edwards trial in Winston-Salem, the attorney for heiress Bunny Mellon emphasized that her million-dollar+ gift was personal, not political. Attorney Forget went on to say:



    Edwards has been widely quoted, even as a seated US Senator from North Carolina, saying, "I hate Duke basketball." It sounds like Bunny Mellon might as well.

    Interestingly, Edwards's campaign manager in the 2004 presidential race was a Duke grad.

    sagegrouse
    I sent John Edwards an email after his basketball remark telling what I thought of it. It wasn't particularly nice. I received what I am sure was a form letter from him saying it was all in fun, blah blah blah. I still have the letter. Too bad the signature was stamped, it might have been worth something some day.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina
    Here's hoping that John Edwards, who was one of the slimier human beings to ever walk the earth long before he cheated on his ailing wife, shares a cell one day with a very large man who LOVES Duke basketball...alas, such perfect justice is rare.

  5. #5
    I'm good friends with a member of the prosecution team, but haven't discussed the case at length with him. You'll be glad to hear that he's a big Duke fan. So maybe it is true that everything in North Carolina revolves around Duke vs UNC.
    "Something in my vicinity is Carolina blue and this offends me." - HPR

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Steamboat Springs, CO

    Edwards Prosecution Goes Forward

    The judge today refused a defense request to dismiss the charges.

    I have no use for John Edwards, but I have a hard time understanding how this was a criminal act.

    The prosecution's "theory" (note to lawyers: you really mean "hypothesis" whenever you say theory) was that gifts toalling $1 million or more from third parties to his girlfriend constituted campaign donations. Even though the donors have both said that they were intended as personal gifts. Uh, guys, guys? Do you think he may have wanted to keep this whole affair secret from his wife?

    I have have even less use for Tom Delay, and his conviction was even more of a joke. He raised $190 thousand from corporate types in Texas to send to the RNC. The RNC then sent the same amount of money to Republican candidates for the state legislature in Texas. No, according to the prosecution, this was not a violation of the campaign statutes. It was money laundering. Money laundering? You mean like putting drug profits through your drive-through liquor store in order to disguise the source and avoid taxes and other problems? In this case, scratching each other's back is apparently illegal.

    Well, it will be interesting to see what happens to Edwards (and to Delay on appeal), but the charges IMHO are a reach.

    sagegrouse

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Chicago
    Quote Originally Posted by aimo View Post
    I sent John Edwards an email after his basketball remark telling what I thought of it. It wasn't particularly nice. I received what I am sure was a form letter from him saying it was all in fun, blah blah blah. I still have the letter. Too bad the signature was stamped, it might have been worth something some day.
    A friend of mine from Duke who worked as an aide for a Democratic Senator for over 20 years told me in 2004 that Edwards was the most insincere person he had ever met. Which was saying a lot, given my friend's party affiliation and career inside the Beltway, but looks pretty damn prescient in hindsight.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by luvdahops View Post
    A friend of mine from Duke who worked as an aide for a Democratic Senator for over 20 years told me in 2004 that Edwards was the most insincere person he had ever met. Which was saying a lot, given my friend's party affiliation and career inside the Beltway, but looks pretty damn prescient in hindsight.
    Are you implying that Democrats are more insincere than Republicans?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC area
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    Are you implying that Democrats are more insincere than Republicans?
    I suspect they are equal opportunity offices. Or officials.

    -jk

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Chicago
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    Are you implying that Democrats are more insincere than Republicans?
    Not at all. Only that my friend might logically have had a bias along those lines.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by sagegrouse View Post
    The judge today refused a defense request to dismiss the charges.

    I have no use for John Edwards, but I have a hard time understanding how this was a criminal act.

    The prosecution's "theory" (note to lawyers: you really mean "hypothesis" whenever you say theory) was that gifts toalling $1 million or more from third parties to his girlfriend constituted campaign donations. Even though the donors have both said that they were intended as personal gifts. Uh, guys, guys? Do you think he may have wanted to keep this whole affair secret from his wife?
    So, I have a question . . .

    The prosecution has to prove that the money was used to hide the affair for campaign reasons. The defense is trying to show that the $ was a series of gifts that was used to hide the affair from his wife. So, why doesn't the fact that AFTER Elizabeth had her blouse-ripping episode (which was in response to the Enquirer's report), Edwards was STILL lying about the affair and trying to cover it up pretty much seal the prosecution's case?

    Please feel free to correct any false assumptions on my part. I know very little about cases like this.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Quote Originally Posted by sagegrouse View Post
    The prosecution's "theory" (note to lawyers: you really mean "hypothesis" whenever you say theory)
    We generally mean "story so far"

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Annandale, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by luvdahops View Post
    A friend of mine from Duke who worked as an aide for a Democratic Senator for over 20 years told me in 2004 that Edwards was the most insincere person he had ever met. Which was saying a lot, given my friend's party affiliation and career inside the Beltway, but looks pretty damn prescient in hindsight.
    Ironicly, for the couople of people I know who worked for Edwards, it was Elizabeth who brought them in. I wonder if her sincerity blinded her to his lack thereof.
    The Gordog

Similar Threads

  1. What's up with John Edwards?
    By Indoor66 in forum Off Topic
    Replies: 35
    Last Post: 08-09-2008, 03:28 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •