GREENSBORO, NC – A top campaign aide to John Edwards today insisted that the disgraced pol had no legal duty to disclose money received to cover up the pol’s extra marital affair.
Lora Haggard, chief financial officer for Edwards’ 2008 presidential bid, highlighted the defense’s primary belief, that donations from supporters Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and Fred Baron didn’t need to be on Federal Election Commission reports.
“I did not believe them to be contributions to the campaign,” Haggard told jurors. “Because they were not contributions to the campaign to urge the public to vote for John Edwards.”
She emphasized that money from Mellon and Baron was always understood to be a personal handout and not donations.
“I would have been violating the rule that states no campaign funds can be used for personal use,” Haggard said.
Edwards is charged with six felony counts, accusing him of improperly using donations to keep mistress Rielle Hunter under wraps.
Edwards, himself, was “never” shown any of the campaign-finance paperwork, according to Haggard.
“I never saw him involved in the process, he was always on the road,” she said.
The FEC has previously ruled that the money was not a campaign donation. But federal prosecutors have said that ruling is irrelevant to their case against Edwards.
With David K. Li in New York and Post Wire Services