"Observers: Edwards Case was Doomed from the Start" (Greensboro, NC(AP)

Observers: Edwards case was doomed from the start
Associated PressBy MICHAEL BIESECKER | Associated Press – 3 hrs ago

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A jury's refusal to convict John Edwards was less a redemption of the former White House hopeful than a rejection of the Justice Department's boldest attempt to make an example of someone in the name of enforcing campaign finance laws.

Thursday's verdict of not guilty on one count and a mistrial on five others bore out criticism from the earliest stages of the case that it was a reach, that prosecutors went after the ex-U.S. senator without the kind of evidence that justified the charges that he masterminded a scheme to use campaign donations to hide his pregnant mistress from the public and his terminally ill wife.

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From the start, lawyers for Edwards painted the prosecution as politically motivated. The investigation was originally spearheaded by George Holding, the then-U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Appointed by President George W. Bush, Holding made a name for himself with criminal probes of high profile Democrats, including the state's former governor. When President Barack Obama came into office, Holding managed to forestall being replaced by a Democrat for years while the Edwards investigation was ongoing. He eventually resigned in 2011 as Edwards was indicted and soon announced his candidacy for Congress, winning in the GOP primary last month.

The final decision to prosecute Edwards was made by the Obama administration and the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section. Once highly admired, the section's reputation suffered after a corruption conviction against former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska was overturned in 2009 after it was found prosecutors knowingly concealed exculpatory evidence and allowed false testimony to be presented at trial.

The case against Edwards was tried by three prosecutors sent down from Washington and one prosecutor from Raleigh who had served as Holding's second-in-command. They presented 14 days of testimony and evidence, with Young their star witness.


http://news.yahoo.com/observers-edwards-case-doomed-start-074929116.html


More about George Holding: ...from WIKI:

Holding is a member of the prominent Smithfield, North Carolina banking family that controls much of First Citizens BancShares Inc., the parent company of First Citizens Bank.[9] He is the first cousin of First Citizens Bank CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr.[

George E. B. Holding (born April 17, 1968) served as the United States Attorney for North Carolina’s Eastern District from 2006 to 2011. He is now a Republican candidate for Congress in North Carolina's 13th congressional district.[3]