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| The jury must decide if Edwards, 58, orchestrated a cover-up to keep voters from learning of his pregnant mistress during his 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination |
"Even with all John has done - his family, legal career, running for
president, this is, of course, the most important day of his life," his
defence attorney Abbe Lowell said as the prosecution and defence delivered
their closing arguments.
The jury must decide if Edwards, 58, orchestrated a cover-up to keep voters
from learning of his pregnant mistress during his 2008 bid for the
Democratic presidential nomination.
Prosecutors say the plot resulted in more than $900,000 from two wealthy
donors being secretly funneled to Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, and his
aide Andrew Young, who during the campaign falsely admitted paternity for
the baby Edwards had fathered.
"Mr. Edwards clearly knew the law and decided to violate it to salvage his
campaign," prosecutor Robert Higdon told jurors on Thursday. "We believe
overwhelming evidence has been presented that will allow you to convict
Edwards on all counts."
The defence claims that Edwards, who maintains his innocence, did not seek or
accept the money. They say the payments were personal gifts meant to keep
the affair and Hunter's pregnancy concealed from Edwards' cancer-stricken
wife, Elizabeth.
"As many are his moral wrongs, he has not committed a legal one," Mr Lowell
said. "There is not the remotest chance that John violated federal campaign
laws, let alone felonies."
The former senator for North Carolina faces a total of six felony counts on
charges including conspiring to solicit the money, receiving more than the
$2,300 allowed from any one donor and failing to report the payments as
contributions.
Each count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000
fine.
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