The case was suspect from the beginning, and when the verdict came back — one not guilty and five deadlocked votes — it seemed doom to go away with a whimper.
So on Wednesday, the Justice Department announced it was not going to retry presidential hopeful John Edwards on the outstanding campaign violation charges.
“We knew that this case — like all campaign finance cases — would be challenging,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement. “But it is our duty to bring hard cases when we believe that the facts and the law support charging a candidate for high office with a crime.”
The Washington Post reported that several Justice officials said the department concluded it was not worth pursuing anymore and expending resources.
