The famous politician left a federal courthouse in North Carolina late Thursday afternoon thanking the jury and saying “I don’t think God’s through with me,” after a federal judge declared a mistrial in his high-profile corruption case. Click below to read the rest of the story.
Jurors found him not guilty on just one count but were deadlocked on the remaining five, resulting in the mistrial decision by Judge Catherine Eagles.
Emerging from a cloud of legal troubles for the first time in years, the former Democratic presidential candidate gave an emotional statement on the courthouse steps Thursday. Choking up, he spoke of his love for the child he fathered out of wedlock with his mistress Rielle Hunter. And he spoke of the future, suggesting he wasn’t preparing to leave the public spotlight.
“I really believe (God) thinks there’s still some good things I can do,” he said. “Whatever happens with this legal stuff going forward, what I’m hopeful about is all those kids that I’ve seen, you know, in the poorest parts of this country and in some of the poorest places in the world, that I can help them, in whatever way I’m still capable of helping them.”
Edwards also said that while he doesn’t believe he did anything illegal, “I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong.”
“There is no one else responsible for my sins,” Edwards said. “I am responsible. And if I want to find the person who should be held accountable for my sins, honestly I don’t have to go any further than the mirror. It’s me. It is me and me alone.”
He praised the jury, saying they “took their job very, very seriously.” And in an emotional moment, he talked about “my precious Quinn” — Frances Quinn Hunter, his daughter with Rielle Hunter. Though he initially denied he was Quinn’s father after confessing to the affair, Edwards has since acknowledged paternity.
