Justice Dept. Dropping Edwards Charges

John Edwards can breathe a big sigh of relief. The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it has dropped its case against the former presidential candidate. Edwards had been acquitted on one of six charges last month and the jury in his case could not reach verdicts on the other five counts, all relating to campaign money he allegedly used to cover up an affair with his mistress, Rielle Hunter. “In the interest of justice, we have decided not to retry Mr. Edwards on those counts,” the DOJ Criminal Division's Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer said. “We knew that hits case—like all campaign-finance cases—would be challenging.”