Joan Frank\'s Blog Site

Criticism On “Steve Simpson: John Edwards Is Not a Criminal”

@ Kwame,

having now agreed that you hyperbolized the frequency of adultery, let’s now take on the other part of your argument.

Edwards is not being prosecuted for infidelity, he is being prosecuted for using campaign money and personal finance for a non-campaign purpose. If he had used the money to build his children a new playhouse in the yard, or to buy his wife lovely gifts, his alleged crime would have been no different. The fact that it was used for a mistress while his wife at home suffered with cancer merely makes him an un-sympathetic figure and makes for good media fodder; at least as I understand it, it has no impact on whether he is guilty of a violation of campaign finance laws.