As I said, the Republican prosecutor who indicted Edwards would have had all of Young's bank records years ago, long before he indicted Edwards. The Obama DOJ now prosecuting the case should have known long before the trial began.

Lots of questions for Holder and for Holding.

If this testimony holds up, George Holding (the GOP holdover federal prosecutor who indicted Edwards, now candidate for Congress) will have a lot explaining to do.

it is a Republican who gets in trouble ... doncha kno?

Not holding out a lot of hope.

And maybe take a look at the financing behind the movie deal Young has through Rahm's brother.

Even if it takes the rest of his life.

deserves whatever happens to them.

but money that went to Young was money to hide the affair. He even went as far as to temporarily claim paternity on a child whose mother he probably wouldn't have touched with a ten-foot pole, sexually speaking. It was probably more of a case of cash than loyalty that caused him to do this, but all the same, it was for the purpose of keeping the lid on this while Johnny falsely sold himself to America as a worthy candidate for the Presidency.

It doesn't make a whit of difference how much Young appropriated for his troubles, it still went for the very same purpose as her 'allowance', her car, and her hotel expenses. I admit, he does have problems with the timeline on the pregnancy, since the child was born at the end of February 2008, that indicates that the pregnancy started in June, 2007, making the book's date of May, 2007 nearly impossible, especially for anyone other than her to know, or even suspect. Yep, he got some dates wrong, but we all know that she got pregnant, he falsely claimed paternity, and it was Johnny's baby. His faulty recollection either in his book or on the stand doesn't change any of those facts.

From looking at fragments of testimony that made it into the news stories so far, the defense is well along in proving their case against Young for having defrauded Mellon and Baron of well over $1 million which Young used primarily to build his new house. I really, really wish that this Federal trial were being televised. While I am fairly confident that I understand the case in general, all the unreported or misreported details and with the trial barely begun, all I know is that the case against Edwards is being destroyed, that the alternative narrative (fraud by Young) is being confirmed in critical areas by defense exhibits and Young's own testimony.

Young admitted today that all the Mellon money and most of the Baron money (the supposed hush money) went into Young's personal accounts and used almost entirely to build the Young's dream house near Chapel Hill. While we don't know what really happened, if the Edwards' scenario presented at opening will prove true, or if the prosecutors have evidence to the contrary, at the moment I would bet with the Edwards defense team.

I posted a lot about this case on DU2 from its very beginning. I and the majority of DUers at the time favored Edwards primarily because we preferred positions and proposals on key issues, we liked Elizabeth a lot, and we were excited to have two effective advocates for populist progressive ideas. While I knew from analyses of news coverage and non-coverage, particularly by gatekeepers like AP or Google, that Edwards was about as likely of becoming President as were Kucinich or Ron Paul, I thought he and Elizabeth were key to passing real HCR because they had the support of 2-3% of otherwise Republican voters. John self destructed, taking Elizabeth and many supporters of their polices with him.

The piling on and scorn my Republicans and by many DUers has cost all of us dearly. Many Edwards supporters were banned, left, or mostly shut up. We and the Clinton supporters worked our fannies off to get Obama and other Dems elected. Now finally John Edwards is getting his day in court. On Monday the opening statement by defense seemed to surprised everyone else, prosecutors included, by stating that not only was Edwards not guilty, but that they would prove that the money had gone to Young and that Edwards was not involved and did not know about it until later. That is not the kind of statement one makes in court unless you believe you can prove it. After Thursdays cross of Young, it looks like they can.

From other things I know about, some posted on DU, a few that I suspect but can't quite prove, and from the trial so far, I expect a couple of even bigger surprises in the next few days. Stay tuned.

that Young funnelled a large amount of this money towards himself, and probably even the vast majority of it, it's also beyond dispute that Rielle was getting generous amounts of hush money. Whether the Mellon and Baron money went to pay her to hide out in a hotel along the campaign trail, or for Young to cop to fathering her baby, it was all for the purpose of keeping up the facade that John Edwards was a decent person who was just being unfairly smeared by a tabloid.

Wait until they get her on the stand, it will be devestating to see just how much of an idiot John Edwards was to even spend a few minutes in the room with such a space cadet, let alone start an affair with her and sleep with her without protection. When you're willing to surround yourself with crooks and golddiggers (including Young), it's bound to happen.

I remember when the name Rielle Hunter was first connected to Edwards. People everywhere were searching every where for anything about her. There was almost nothing online or in public records, and it was all recent. Some DUers were certain that Edwards had scrubbed her information from the net and elsewhere. Finally a couple of people who had known all along clued the rest of us in.

Rielle Hunter AKA Lisa Hunter AKA Lisa Druck

LISA DRUCK!!! I yelled. NOT HER!! Anybody but her. How could he forget those four words: Gary Hart, Fatal Attraction

I recognized her name instantly, had first seen about years prior following her father being the SI Cover because he had hired a Mafia hit man to kill Lisa's horse for the insurance money -- a very large policy. This became a far-reaching scandal involving a lot of owners going to jail; her father died before the indictments were handed down.

Jay had modeled his "fictional" character on Lisa so closely he described her father killing her horse. Suddenly not "fiction". And other writers had included her as a minor character in things like American Psycho.

As I said, I have a lot about her and all this on DU2.

I still have no clue why John Edwards would take that kind of risk, even if drunk. There were rumors before Edwards' paternity was confirmed that at least two other men were worried that they might be the father. A story I posted in GD claims one of them was part of the series "24".

Yesterday, the attorneys for Hunter were requesting that some thing or things be kept sealed by the Court, but the judge denied their request. This could get really interesting.

They knew his weaknesses and wanted to get him out of the way quickly. He establishes about 90% of the storyline, there's enough physical evidence to back up most of it. Other prosecution witnesses will flesh out the skeleton.

One crazy family!! Edwards was even more careless than I thought. Then again, he may not have know who she really was.

of the poor decision making skills he would have brought to the Presidency. Choosing her for a lover and Young for the guy to cover it up should make us all happy that he dropped out of the race when he did.

There's a connection from Gary Hart to Rielle Hunter?

Sorry for the confusion. I did not mean to imply a connection between them, had never entered my mind to even consider until seeing your post. Now you've made me curious.

The Gary Hart scandal is often used to remind candidates of what can happen; the movie "Fatal Attraction" is a warning to all men, particularly married ones.

?

The other name associated with Hunter is "Alison Poole", the literary character modeled on her in "The Story of My Life". That character briefly appears is several other novels by other writers (e.g. American Psycho).

The fact is that Young knew he was doing things that could get him disbarred or even indicted. It does not take much to suspect - as you say - that he was offered cash as well as being loyal to Edwards. Not to mention, they were housing Hunter at one point.

The question is whether they can prove that Edwards knew of the money - and I assume he had to wonder how an unemployed Young and Rielle could have afforded the places they were.

All they're fighting over is which prostitute got what share of the money.

While I'm still grossly disappointed in Edwards' behavior in the entire incident, it's looking more and more like he is being railroaded as it relates to these criminal charges.

I suppose AY would argue that he was paid in kind for his troubles--and who authorized that?

Not to defend Young, but I see he and Edwards as exactly the same kind of unscrupulous opportunist in a corrupt, winner-take all system. Both so greedy and so stupid. No better argument for campaign finance reform than this.

This is a battle "to the death" here. Greek tragedy style.

I almost feel like taking a shower after reading all the shenanigans that went on to cover Edward's affair and the existence of his child.

Can you imagine when it realizes the circumstances of it's conception?

A kook for a mother and a weasel for a father.