Prosecutors rest case against Edwards

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Prosecutors rested their case against John Edwards yesterday after calling to the witness stand some of his closest friends and advisers, many of whom gave dramatic, often unflattering testimony about the former presidential candidate whose once-promising political career collapsed in a sex scandal.

Edwards is accused of being the mastermind behind a plan to use secret payments from two wealthy campaign donors to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the White House in 2008. The trial centers on whether Edwards knew what the money was being used for, and when he knew it.

While the past 14 days of testimony focused on the money trail, the trial also revisited Edwards' breathtaking fall. He had an affair with Rielle Hunter, a videographer on his campaign, as he renewed his marriage vows to his cancer-stricken wife. He fathered a child with Hunter and then a decision was made for his right-hand man to claim paternity so Edwards could keep up his lofty political ambitions. And he lied repeatedly to his wife, his advisers and the public.

As prosecutors wrapped up their case, they showed the jury records detailing the money spent to hide Hunter -- $319,500 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif. The bills, flashed up on a large screen for the jury to see, were all paid by Fred Baron, a wealthy Texas lawyer who served as Edwards' 2008 campaign finance chairman.

Baron began paying the expenses after tabloid reporters tracked down the pregnant mistress in Chapel Hill, where she had been living secretly in a house rented for her only a few miles from the Edwards family estate.

The government must prove Edwards had criminal intent, and his defense team will ask U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles today to dismiss the case, arguing they haven't proven their case.