WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Former U.S. Senator John Edwards goes on trial Monday on charges he used illegal campaign contributions to cover up an affair with a mistress who became pregnant during his failed bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Edwards is accused of accepting more than $900,000 in campaign funds from two wealthy donors, knowing the exposure of his extramarital affair “would destroy his presidential campaign,” prosecutors said in a trial brief.

“This is expanding the scope of the definition of campaign contribution,” said Ron Wright, a law professor at Wake Forest University who is not involved in the case. “It is an unprecedented definition.”

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Category: Research | Tag: Ronald Wright