Legal Commentary

Rielle Hunter (and Baby ) Attend N.C. Grand Jury Session

By Jeralyn

John Edwards' former lover, Rielle Hunter, spent 9 hours at the federal courthouse in Raleigh, N.C. yeterday. She brought her daughter and was escorted into the courthouse by two F.B.I. agents.

Maybe she couldn't get a babysitter, but this seems a little over-the-top.

The grand jury is investigating whether Edwards' campaign misused funds in paying Hunter for her video work. [More....]

Edwards' political action committee paid Hunter's firm $100,000 for video production in a four-month span in 2006 and then paid an additional $14,086 on April 1, 2007. At the time, the PAC had only $7,932.95 in cash on hand, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

That same day, according to the records, Edwards' presidential campaign paid the PAC $14,034 for what is listed as a "furniture purchase." The furniture money was one of five contributions to the PAC between April 1 and June 30, 2007. The other four occurred on June 30, the last day of the reporting period, including a $3,000 contribution from the wife of Edwards' finance chairman, Fred Baron.

Fred Baron is deceased. While he was alive, he insisted Edwards had no knowledge of the funds he paid Hunter:

Baron, a wealthy Dallas-based trial attorney who died of cancer last October, said last year that he quietly began sending money to Hunter to move to California. He said no campaign funds were used and that Hunter was not working for the campaign when he started giving her money.

Andrew Young, who is peddling a "tell-all" book on Edwards, and who originally claimed to be the father of Hunter's child, appeared before the grand jury last month.

The baby was born in Feb. 2008 and John Edwards says the affair ended long enough before then that he's sure he isn't the father. He offered to take a paternity test, but according to the WRAL article, Hunter has refused to allow her daughter to be tested.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 07, 2009 (boomark / email).