[Malveaux:] New developments in the John Edwards scandal. The Justice Department now is set to indict the former presidential candidate on charges that he violated campaign finance laws while trying to cover up an extramarital affair. Well, our CNN's Joe Johns, he's joining us live from Washington. Joe, obviously this has been it's a long and messy saga. What is the very latest now? What can we expect?
[Joe Johns, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Suzanne, this is a leak from somebody who is close to the investigation. And the upshot of it is, people are telling CNN, that they'd like to see a felony plea arrangement with John Edwards over allegations that he broke campaign finance laws. The question, of course, is whether John Edwards would want to go for that, because sources are telling CNN that he'd very much like to start a public service law firm, and if he were to plead to a felony, he'd have to give up his law license. So that's something that he has to contemplate over the days and weeks, or however long it takes to try to get to some kind of agreement.
[Malveaux:] And Joe, just remind our viewers how we actually go here, to this point.
[Johns:] Yes. This has been a very ugly story, Suzanne. And certainly people who have followed presidential politics have been watching it very closely. Frankly, it's just been going on for years. John Edwards the politician. Remember him?
[John Edwards , Vice Presidential Candidate:] We have much work to do, because the truth is, we still live in a country where there are two different Americas.
[Johns:] But as it turned out, "Mr. Two Americas" here had two very different faces himself, and one of them wasn't very pretty. People close to him said it was the face of betrayal, betrayal of the people closest to him his late wife, Elizabeth, his supporters, his staffers, his contributors. Granted, Edwards was a promising politician at first, a successful Democratic senator from the South. Telegenic guy, rich trial lawyer, but a spokesman for the poor. Smart, but homegrown. Talked such a good game, he got picked up as John Kerry's running mate in 2004.
[Sen. John Kerry , Presidential Candidate:] I have chosen a man who understands and defends the values of America.
[Johns:] But it didn't work out, so next election cycle, Edwards jumped into the race for the White House once again. And by early 2008
[Edwards:] It's time for me to step aside.
[Johns:] he was out, but not before getting entangled in a messy relationship with a woman named Rielle Hunter. She eventually gave birth to Edward's child. Edwards at first denied having the affair, and then denied being the father. But last year, he finally admitted it. The story reached a sleazy low point when a videotape surfaced that is reported to show Edwards and Hunter having sex. The tape wound up in the hands of former Edwards staffer Andrew Young, who turned it over to a court after Rielle Hunter filed a lawsuit. It took eight months before Edwards' wife Elizabeth, suffering from terminal cancer, learned the extent of the affair. And before she died last year, she went public with her feelings in a book and numerous TV appearances.
[Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards' Wife:] I wrote in this, "Maybe it was that 30-year investment I had in my marriage. Maybe it was that I could not separate the flawed man before me from the boy with whom I fell in love in 1975. It does not matter now."
[Johns:] The death of Elizabeth Edwards might have been the end of the story, except for the fact that there has yet to be a full public accounting. Edwards raised $43.9 million in campaign money in his bid for the White House. Where some of it came from and where it went has been carefully scrutinized. Rielle Hunter worked for the campaign and got paid as a videographer. Questions have been raised whether any of the federal campaign funds donated to support Edwards might have been used improperly, misreported, not reported at all, or used to keep the affair quiet. Andrew Young said he was persuaded to claim Rielle Hunter's child was his own, and that he went to great lengths as Edwards' aide to help conceal the affair.
[Andrew Young, Fmr. Edwards Staffer:] This was John Edwards' idea from the beginning.
[Johns:] Which brings us back to the golden boy, a once rising politician with so much promise. Something like this could never have been part of the plan. So, any prosecutor will tell you the most favorable deal comes before any indictment. And Suzanne, what I think we're seeing here is kind of a negotiation, if you will. Prosecutors, essentially saying, here's what we have, here's where we're going. You can either plead or we'll see you in court.
[Malveaux:] Do we have any idea which way he may go, if he may actually take a deal?
[Johns:] Really not. I mean, I said at the top there is that concern that he has apparently about starting some type of a public interest law firm. If he were to plead to a felony, he'd have to give up his law license. And that's this guy's livelihood. You know, he was a very successful trial lawyer before he entered politics, and would probably very much like to get back to that life, although the question is whether that's in the cards for him.
[Malveaux:] Sure. Joe, keep us posted. Thank you.
[Johns:] You bet.
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