John Edwards set to be indicted

The Justice Department is set to indict former presidential candidate John Edwards on charges that he violated campaign finance laws trying to cover up an extramarital affair during the last presidential campaign, according to multiple reports.

A source close to the investigation told ABC News that Edwards is aware of the Justice Department's plans and could try to arrange a plea deal to avoid a trial.

The former North Carolina senator had an affair with Rielle Hunter that began after she was hired to produce promotional videos for his campaign. The two had a daughter together.

The investigation focuses on two wealthy donors, Rachel "Bunny" Mellon and Fred Baron, who the government alleges donated more than $1 million in funds to aid the cover-up of the affair. The government will argue that amounted to illegal campaign contributions.

According to WRAL, questions also exist about millions of dollars' worth of donations from Mellon toward a nonprofit called The Alliance for a New America, which supported Edwards' campaign. Some of those funds apparently went toward fees to a consultancy agency that no longer exists.

Before his death from cancer in 2008, Baron admitted to providing support to Hunter, but denied that Edwards knew of the arrangement. But Andrew Young, a former Edwards aide who initially claimed paternity of Hunter's child, has said that Edwards was involved in the attempted cover-up.

(Via CBS News)

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