John Edwards Seeks Delay in Criminal Trial for ‘Medical Issue’

Steve Exum/Getty Images(RALEIGH, N.C.) -- Attorneys for John Edwards are seeking to delay his criminal trial --  in part because the former Democratic presidential candidate has developed a medical issue that cannot be resolved before the scheduled trial date in late January.

In a document filed Thursday in federal court in North Carolina, the defense lawyers wrote that Edwards “has unexpectedly encountered a medical issue which makes the trial of this case in the January 2012 criminal term extraordinarily difficult.”  The defense was seeking a 60-day delay.

The details of the medical condition were not revealed in the public portion of the court filing but were provided to the court and the prosecutors in a sealed exhibit accompanying the defense motion. Edwards’ attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Edwards was charged in June in a six-count indictment alleging his complicity in a scheme to solicit -- from two wealthy supporters -- hundreds of thousands of dollars that were used to support and seclude Rielle Hunter, with whom Edwards had an extra-marital affair and fathered a child. The government contends the money was spent to protect Edwards’ campaign, in violation of election laws.   Edwards pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and his defense team contends that the government’s case is based on flawed interpretations of campaign finance laws.

Aside from the medical issue, the defense team argues that -- given the sheer volume of material handed over to them by the government -- they would have inadequate time to prepare if the trial were to proceed in January. According to the motion, the prosecutors have produced more than a half a million pages of documents since August.

The government immediately filed a response opposing the delay on the grounds of inadequate time to prepare -- but took no position in regards to the medical condition cited by Edwards.

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John Edwards Trial Heats Up with War of Words

Chris Hondros/Getty Images(HILLSBOROUGH, N.C.) -- John Edwards’ former mistress Rielle Hunter last week accused former aide Andrew Young of secretly passing thousands of pages of sealed civil court records -- including the depositions of Edwards and Hunter -- to the federal prosecutors involved in the criminal case against Edwards. And on Monday, Young's lawyers fired back, calling the accusations "scurrilous" and "defamatory," and asking the judge to sanction Hunter's attorneys for making "patently groundless claims."

Young's motion, filed Monday morning in state court in North Carolina, claims that Hunter's attorneys -- prior to filing their motion -- were explicitly told by federal prosecutors that any documentation that the U.S. government obtained from the civil suit was obtained "through lawful process and under the authority of the federal grand jury."

Young and his attorneys expressly deny in the court filing that they shared any sealed documents with any third party.

In February, the disgraced former senator gave a six-hour deposition in the civil suit, which Hunter filed in 2010 against Young. The suit alleges Young stole a sex tape featuring Hunter and Edwards and dozens of other personal photographs including pictures of Edwards with his then-infant daughter, Frances Quinn.

Young has said he kept the tape and photographs only to back up the claims he made in his book. None of the disputed images -- or the tape -- have ever been released.

Edwards was ordered to sit for a follow-up deposition, which had been scheduled for June, but that was put on hold by the judge until the criminal case is over.

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Exclusive: John Edwards Sought Millions from Heiress as Feds Closed In

Thinkstock/Comstock(NEW YORK) -- Just weeks before federal prosecutors charged John Edwards in a six-count felony indictment, ABC News has been told, the two-time Democratic presidential candidate requested millions of dollars from Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, the banking heiress whose financial support of Edwards is at the center of the criminal case.

One person with knowledge of the request confirmed the amount was in the millions of dollars but was unwilling to discuss why Edwards was seeking the money.

William Taylor, an attorney for Mellon, declined to address questions from ABC News. A spokesman for Edwards' legal defense team also refused to comment.

Edwards' ongoing relationship with the reclusive Mellon, who will turn 101 years old in August, was being closely monitored by federal authorities as the investigation into alleged violations of campaign finance laws was wrapping up.

Their concerns were heightened in late April when Mellon dispatched her private jet to a small North Carolina airport to pick up the former senator and members of his legal team. As ABC station WTVD's helicopter hovered above the airport to capture video of the boarding passengers, Mellon's pilot paced around the tarmac before eventually taking off again with no one else aboard.

But a month later, as Edwards' attorneys were engaged in last-minute negotiations with the Justice Department, ABC News learned, Edwards was visiting Mellon for a private luncheon at her sprawling Virginia estate. Taylor, who said he was present for that meeting on May 26, described it to ABC News as a "personal and social" visit.

Rachel Mellon was an early supporter of Edwards' bid for the 2008 Democratic nomination, pouring more than $4 million into political groups and non-profit organizations connected to the Edwards campaign. But the government alleges that Mellon also was the principal source of money that enabled Edwards to conceal his affair.

Identified in the criminal indictment against Edwards only as "Person C," Mellon provided more than $700,000 that the government alleges were unlawful contributions that went to pay the living and medical expenses of Rielle Hunter while Edwards continued his pursuit of the nomination.

Another attorney for Mellon, Alex Forger, has said previously that Mellon was unaware of how her money was being used.

Edwards' defense team is expected to argue that the money from Mellon was a gift and has blasted the government's case as "wrong on the facts and wrong on the law."

ABC News has been unable to determine if Mellon provided the money allegedly requested recently by Edwards. And since the campaign is now long over, even if such a gift were made, it would not be illegal.

At a brief appearance in federal court in Winston-Salem earlier this month, Edwards indicated his intent to plead not guilty to all the charges. A trial date has not yet been set.

One of the conditions of his release from custody was that he have no further direct or indirect contact with Rachel Mellon.

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John Edwards Seeks to Delay Deposition in Case Over Sex Tape

Chris Hondros/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Attorneys for John Edwards are asking a North Carolina court to delay a deposition he is scheduled to give later this month in the civil case brought by Rielle Hunter against former Edwards-aide Andrew Young. The case centers on a videotape depicting Hunter and Edwards in a sexual encounter.

Citing the criminal indictment issued against Edwards last week, his attorney argues in a motion that Edwards is entitled to a stay of his deposition until the conclusion of the criminal case -- in order to protect his constitutional rights to a fair trial and against self-incrimination.

The deposition is currently scheduled for June 20 and, if it proceeds, will be subject to the direct supervision of a superior court judge.  Edwards has already been deposed once in the case -- but attorneys for Young successfully argued for a second deposition after Edwards declined to answer a number of questions Young's team considered relevant to the case.

In their motion, Edwards' team argues that Young, who is a material witness in the criminal case, is proposing to have his attorney examine Edwards under oath about the subject matter of the indictment.

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John Edwards to be Deposed Again in Civil Suit over Sex Tape

ABC News(RALEIGH, N.C.) -- Attorneys for former John Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri, convinced a North Carolina judge on Friday to compel Edwards to provide additional deposition testimony in the long-running dispute over a sex tape featuring the ex-presidential candidate and his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

The judge scheduled the follow-up deposition for June 20 in response to the Youngs’ contention that Edwards had failed and refused to respond adequately during a videotaped deposition in February.  The June deposition will take place privately, but under the direct supervision of the judge.

Also at the hearing was a coalition of more than a dozen media companies, arguing for the unsealing of Edwards’ deposition and others taken thus far in the case, but the judge deferred a decision on the media motion until at least two weeks after the completion of Edwards’ second deposition.  He did unseal the Youngs’ motion to compel further testimony – but the motion contained no details or transcript of the testimony.

Attorney for Hunter and Edwards had previously won broad protective orders from the court preventing any public disclosure of the deposition testimony or other evidence learned in the discovery process.

Hunter filed the suit against the Youngs in January of 2009, alleging invasion of privacy and accusing them of using the sex tape and other personal items of hers to promote Andrew Young’s book.

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Attorneys Seek Court Order to Press John Edwards on Sex Tape

Photo Courtesy - ABC News(HILLSBOROUGH, N.C.) -- Attorneys for a former aide to John Edwards Thursday sought a court order to compel the two-time presidential candidate to provide additional information in a dispute over ownership of a sex tape Edwards allegedly made with his mistress.

Edwards gave a sworn deposition in the case last month.

The details of the court filing are shielded from public view because of a broad protective order sought by Edwards' attorneys in advance of the deposition and issued last year by the judge. But if the court were to grant a hearing on the motion, it is possible that a transcript of Edwards' deposition, or portions of it, could be entered into the public record.

Edwards' testimony was taken in Chapel Hill last month in connection with the civil suit filed by his mistress, Rielle Hunter, against Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri.

Andrew Young, a former close aide to Edwards, claimed in 2007 that he was the father of Hunter's child, but retracted that assertion last year and published a tell-all book, writing that he took the fall for Edwards as part of an elaborate and expensive cover-up of the affair designed to protect Edwards' political aspirations.

Hunter brought the suit in January 2010, days before the publication date of Young's book, The Politician. At the center of the suit is Hunter's allegation that Young took from her a "personal and private" videotape that depicts Edwards and Hunter in a sexual encounter, as well as a series of photographs that include images of Edwards with his daughter, Quinn, who turned 3 last week.

Attorneys for Hunter and Edwards, who is not a party in the lawsuit, have pointedly accused Young of trying to sell the sex tape and of using it to promote his book and a forthcoming film adaptation by Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

But Young contends he found the tape discarded in a box of trash in a rented Chapel Hill home that Hunter once shared with his family, and claims that Hunter uploaded the photographs to a computer they all shared while hiding out in a California mansion.

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John Edwards Deposed in Civil Suit

Photo Courtesy - ABC News (CHAPEL HILL, N.C.) -- John Edwards is talking again about his affair with Rielle Hunter -- but this time under oath.

Edwards was deposed earlier this week in Chapel Hill, N.C., in connection with a civil lawsuit Hunter brought against former Edwards aide Andrew Young over a sex tape allegedly depicting Hunter and Edwards, ABC News has learned.

An attorney for Young confirmed that the deposition took place but, beyond that, no one will say a word about the substance of Edwards' testimony.

Attorneys for the ex-senator successfully argued for a broad protective order prohibiting anyone -- under threat of contempt charges -- from disclosing any details of the videotaped deposition.

There were, however, no limits on what questions could be asked.

Separately, a federal criminal investigation of Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign finances is near its conclusion, and sources with knowledge of the probe tell ABC News that a decision on whether to seek indictments could come at any time.

Edwards has not commented publicly on the investigation since May 2009. In his statement then, he expressed confidence "that no funds from my campaign were used improperly."

Federal investigators have dedicated significant resources to gathering evidence and interviewing key witnesses in North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

The focus of the case has been on the money allegedly spent -- upwards of $1 million -- to seclude Hunter and Young, who had falsely claimed paternity of Hunter's child, while Edwards continued his pursuit of the nomination.

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John Edwards Affair: Grand Jury Indictment Decision Expected Soon

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- A long-running federal grand jury probe of John Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign is nearing its conclusion as investigators wrap up an inquiry which has been broadened to include issues beyond the money allegedly used to conceal the affair between Edwards and his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation tell ABC News that a decision on whether to seek an indictment of Edwards is expected within the next several weeks.

"I think it's very close," says one source involved in the case, noting that the government has recently dedicated significant resources to gathering evidence and interviewing key witnesses in North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

Former Sen. Edwards and his attorneys have acknowledged the grand jury investigation, but have denied wrongdoing.

The focus of the investigation remains on the more than $1 million allegedly spent to seclude Hunter and former Edwards staffer Andrew Young, who had falsely claimed paternity of Hunter's child, as Edwards continued his pursuit of the nomination.

Investigators are leaning strongly toward the legal conclusion that those payments should have been reported as campaign contributions since they supported -- albeit indirectly -- Edwards presidential campaign.

To bolster the case, sources indicate that the federal government has also been digging deeper into Edwards' past, scrutinizing the transactions of a web of loosely-connected political committees, corporations and non-profit organizations associated with his failed campaign, looking for potential violations of campaign finance and tax laws.

Among the groups facing scrutiny is a non-profit organization -- created by former Edwards' staffers and advisers -- known as The Center for Promise and Opportunity.

Tax records show the center received more than $2.2 million in 2006 from undisclosed donors and spent nearly all of it funding events and travel for Mr. Edwards and associates as he sought to enhance his credentials prior to officially entering the race.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

John Edwards Not Engaged to Rielle Hunter

Photo Courtesy - ABC News (NEW YORK) -- Despite rumors to the contrary, former presidential hopeful John Edwards is not engaged to Rielle Hunter, sources close to the couple tell ABC News.

"I do not believe it to be true," Hunter's attorney, Alan Duncan, told ABC News when asked about a report in The National Enquirer that Edwards had proposed over a December vacation, just weeks after the death of his estranged wife Elizabeth Edwards.

Another source close to the couple also disputed the alleged engagement, telling ABC News that the couple was not planning to wed.

According to the Enquirer, the same publication that first broke the news of Edwards' extramarital affair with Hunter in 2007, Edwards told Hunter he wanted to "become one big, happy family."

A spokeswoman for the Edwards family declined to comment on the report.

Hunter is the mother of Edwards' 2-year-old daughter, Quinn. Edwards first denied the affair with Hunter before admitting the indiscretion in August 2008. Then, in January 2010 he admitted that he was, in fact, Quinn's father.

Reports of an impending wedding come just days after news that will of Edwards' estranged wife Elizabeth Edwards excluded the former North Carolina senator.

This is not the first time a wedding between Edwards and Hunter has been rumored.

Last year, following the announcement that Edwards is Quinn's biological father, the Enquirer ran a similar story reporting the couple's engagement that was also debunked.

Also last year, Andrew Young, a former aide to Edwards, told ABC News that Hunter talked about plans for a rooftop wedding in New York.

Elizabeth Edwards, who died Dec. 7 after a six-year battle with breast cancer, appointed her eldest daughter Catharine as the executor of her will, which makes no mention of John Edwards.

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John Edwards Not in Elizabeth Edwards' Will

Photo Courtesy - AmericanProgress dot org(HILLSBOROUGH, N.C.) -- Elizabeth Edwards, estranged wife of John Edwards, did not include the former U.S. senator in her will, reports Raleigh's News & Observer.

Elizabeth Edwards, who died Dec. 7 after a six-year battle with breast cancer, named her eldest daughter, Cate Edwards, as executor of her estate in the document.

Edwards separated from her husband John Edwards after he fathered a child from a widely reported extramarital affair with campaign worker Rielle Hunter.

According to the News & Observer, the will states that Edwards' possessions would be left to her three children with John Edwards.

"All of my furniture, furnishings, household goods, jewelry, china, silverware and personal effects and any automobiles owned by me at the time of my death, I give and bequeath to my children," her last will and testament states.

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