WASHINGTON (AP) — Former presidential candidate John Edwards and federal prosecutors are arguing over whether money used to cover up his extramarital affair at the height of the 2008 Democratic nominating campaign was a campaign contribution or just a gift from longtime friends.
An indictment of Edwards appears imminent, but some people on both sides are still hoping for a last-minute plea deal.
The prosecutors have decided after a two-year investigation that the hundreds of thousands of dollars that two Edwards donors gave to help keep his mistress in hiding were contributions that should have been reported publicly by his campaign fund because they aided his candidacy.
But Edwards' lawyers have argued the funds were gifts intended to keep the affair a secret from his wife, Elizabeth, who died of cancer in December.
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