Former Senator and Presidential candidate John Edwards will face criminal indictment today for allegedly violating campaign finance laws unless a last-minute deal is reached, ABC News reports.
Justice Department officials green lighted a federal prosecution of Edwards last month. Edwards’ attorney, former White House counsel Greg Craig, arrived in North Carolina on Thursday night to consult with Edwards.
As the Associated Press reports, Justice Department officials:
…decided that the hundreds of thousands of dollars that two Edwards donors gave to help keep his mistress, in hiding were contributions that should have been reported publicly by his campaign fund because they aided his bid for the Democratic White House nomination. Edwards’ lawyers have argued that the funds were gifts from old friends intended to keep the affair a secret from his wife, Elizabeth, who died of cancer in December.
