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In case you missed it, John Edwards, the former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate from North Carolina, ranks No. 1 on this year’s list of the Most-Hated People in America, compiled by the New York Post. At the No. 1 spot, he is ranked ahead of such figures as Jerry Sandusky, Casey Anthony and O.J. Simpson.
Full list below.
A significant piece of Republican George Holding's campaign biography is his role as a U.S. attorney prosecuting the case against John Edwards. The Raleigh congressional candidate left his role before the case went to trial -- but what does he think about the case given Thursday's verdict?
Holding's not talking.
His campaign strategist, Carter Wrenn, said Holding wouldn't comment about the case. "I don't think it's quite appropriate," Wrenn said Friday, referring questions to the current federal prosecutors.
But Holding's campaign did defend the cost of the prosecution in the May primary race. His GOP opponent Paul Coble called the Edwards prosecution political.
Click below from more newspaper front pages about the John Edwards trial.
The scandal of John Edwards hiding his pregnant mistress while running for president brought a common refrain of “What was he thinking?” And on Thursday, the trial that grew out of that tawdry scenario ended with a jury largely unable to agree on an answer. The jurors announced after nine days of deliberations that they were hopelessly divided on five of the six charges against Edwards, but in unanimous agreement that he was not guilty on one count.
Get full coverage here: columnist Rob Christensen describes the parable of John Edwards; how the Edwards case may affect campaign finance law; courtroom observers say prosecution's case was doomed from the start; in his statement after the trial Edwards says "I don't think God's through with me"; a timeline of Edwards' rise and fall; more reaction from political sphere; and a photo gallery from outside the courtroom. Also: three jurors tell NBC's Today show they thought Edwards was guilty.
Many more political headlines -- including General Assembly action -- below.
A jury has found John Edwards not guilty on one of six counts in his trial on charges of campaign finance violations today, and was deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial, on the other five counts.
As the wait for a verdict in the John Edwards trial becomes longer and longer, a new element of intrigue has become intertwined with the anticipation of a decision.
Some wonder: Is there a problem with the jury? Judge Catherine Eagles had three closed-door sessions with lawyers on Wednesday but offered little detail in public about what was discussed.
Outside the Edwards trial prominent Raleigh lawyer Kieran Shanahan is get plenty of TV time from reporters seeking legal analysis. But columnist Barry Saunders says the whole thing is a waste: The Edwards trial show, fascinating though it sometimes is, is still not worth the hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions, of taxpayer dollars being spent to put it on.
More political headlines below.
The jury enters Day 8 of deliberations in the John Edwards trial. The judge will add 30 minutes to the day to help speed the process. But how long is too long as speculation grows about a possible deadlock?
More political headlines:
--The state House unveiled a $20.3 billion budget Tuesday that includes $50 million to address housing for mentally ill and elderly residents and $250 one-time bonuses for state employees and teachers. The budget won approval from the main budget committee Tuesday over the objections of some Democrats that the GOP-authored budget should have given more money to local schools and state universities.
In an undercover “sting” video that has caused a stir since debuting online last week, a national group led by conservative activist James O’Keefe cites the cases of three Wake County voters in an effort to show that it’s easy to commit voter fraud here.
The three examples used by Project Veritas, though, turned out to be wrong, according to elections officials and reporting by the News & Observer. And one family is upset that the name of their patriarch, who died in April, is being dragged into a political escapade.
--In the John Edwards trial, Judge Catherine Eagles has told the jury since the start of the trial not to talk about the case with anyone else and to limit their discussion to inside the private jury deliberation room. While that direction seems simple enough, the 45 pages of instructions that Eagles handed to the jury on Friday as they set off to finally discuss the case are not as cut and dried.
The attention shifts toward the legislative session starting next week and away from the election as Gov. Bev Perdue releases here budget proposal this morning. Perdue will ask legislators to spend an additional $562 million on K-12 schools and increase the state sales tax in the $20.9 billion budget.
Republican lawmakers on Wednesday made it clear they weren’t interested, setting up a rematch of last year’s budget battles between the Democratic governor and the GOP-led legislature. Get more details here.
But before Jones Street consumes the news, here's more from Tuesday's election:
--Angry and frustrated, organizers of the opposition campaign vowed to use the momentum to continue to push for legal protection. Activists in Durham and Wilson kicked off a seven-day protest across the state by sending gay couples to apply for marriage licenses. All the while, amendment opponents are refusing to accept that the 61-39 percent loss reflects how people in North Carolina feel about the issue.
--More amendment news: President Barack Obama shifts his stance on gay marriage, a day after the vote. North Carolina is ridiculed in social networking and online sites for its vote. A move to uproot the Democratic convention from Charlotte because of the amendment won't happen. And columnist Barry Saunders asks who the amendment backers will target next.
The early take from Day 10 in the John Edwards trial: The interior decorator who acted as the conduit for philanthropist Rachel "Bunny" Mellon to funnel $750,000 to Andrew Young, a political aide for John Edwards, said Friday that he also passed along notes from Young to an FBI agent investigating John Edwards.
Bryan Huffman said Friday morning that he forwarded to the FBI emails from Young soliciting questions that he could ask the former Democratic presidential candidate as part of a civil lawsuit filed in state court. Read the full story here.
