Has Rielle Hunter Been Illegally Paid John Edwards Campaign Money?

First, I think the irony that the National Enquirer broke this story is delicious. It's almost as fun as Matt Drudge and Monica's stained dress ....

That aside, wearing my lawyer hat, I'm thinking that the big, lasting story here is the money. Affairs aren't new for presidents or presidential candidates and sad to say, illegitimate children probably aren't either.

But this twist of "show me the campaign money" is new....

There are continuing news stories about Rielle Hunter receiving cash from Edwards' former campaign finance chairman ... and that this money continues to be provided to her.

CBS News is quoting ABC's Nightline interview last Friday of John Edwards, where he purported states,"I've never paid a dime of money to any of the people that are involved. I've never asked anybody to pay a dime of money, never been told that any money's been paid."

(Edwards is a lawyer, and this response reminds me of my first year at UT Law, where torts Professor Treece explained personal injury defense: "you weren't bitten by a dog; second, my dog doesn't bite; third, I don't own a dog.")

1. Rielle Hunter's undoubtedly got the argument that she was, or is, a campaign employee.

However, that only gets her so far -- the money she's received needs to be reasonably comparable to others in that same position. Easiest way to do that is to compare jobs: how much did Hillary's campaign videographer get paid? Mitt Romney's? Mike Huckabee's? Ron Paul's? Do they all have campaign videographers?

2. Another question here, for me at least, is not just the scope of her employment but its length.

Is she still employed by the campaign? In what capacity? (According to the National Enquirer, Rielle Hunter is still receiving cash payments from the Edwards campaign coffers.)

3. Was any of this illegal?

If Miss Hunter, the former Lisa Druck, has been paid campaign dollars for what essentially becomes custody, support, and/or consideration for a confidentiality agreement, then federal laws may come into play here, and to me, this is where the rubber meets the road on this story being different from the rest of the Gary Hart-esque dramas.

I think we're looking at a federal crime when someone's dollars, given to advance a political campaign for president, are instead used for the personal expenses of the candidate's pregnant girlfriend.

Maybe it's fraud. Maybe it's theft. Maybe it's a violation of federal campaign funding protocols. But it's something.

CAYLEE ANTHONY - NOW THEY'VE HIRED PSYCHICS

Today's news has Cynthia and George Anthony hiring a psychic named "Gale St. John" to try and find Caylee Anthony. (Casey's still in jail, refusing visits with family.)

So, I went and surfed around on "Gale St. John" and she doesn't seem that impressive to me. Her website has a list of cases, not that many, and of thosae, only a few that appear to be successful ... and there's no specific references to any particular police matters where Gale St. John has saved the day.

I know that the Amazing Randi considers all psychics as shams, but if the Anthonys were going to hire someone, couldn't they at least go get Allison DuBois, who at least has a Harvard professor backing her up? (Yep, that Allison DuBois - the one that they made the TV show about, starring Patricia Arquette ....)

Where Was Casey Anthony Employed?

There's video of George Anthony describing the last time he saw Caylee -- Casey and Caylee were leaving the Anthony home while George was watching his usual Food Network television show, before he left for his job. Casey was purportedly going to work, and dropping Caylee off at the babysitter (I just cannot use the word "nanny" here ...). This was on June 16th.

There's video of Cindy Anthony talking about Casey referring to Caylee's "nanny" over the past year and a half before Caylee went missing.

There's audio of Lee Anthony explaining that Casey worked for two companies (Kodak, CVision) that contracted with Universal, which would explain why Casey Anthony's name was not on the Universal payroll roster.

Then, there's the search warrant affidavit (see link below) -- Casey Anthony was fired off the Universal lot over two years ago, her alleged coworkers and former boss don't exist, and she's got no payroll stubs, etc. to show any past employment history.

So, here's my question: as bizarre as the Anthony family appears to be, they do seem cohesive in their assumption that Casey was going to work. For an extended period of time.

Where was she going, with her child, on a regular basis - in work attire?

I can't find the answer anywhere on the web.

Sources:
Sun-Sentinel.com
FoxNews.com
InvestigationDiscovery.com"

Read the Search Warrant in Caylee Anthony Case

A local television station in Orlando has published the entire search warrant in the Casey Anthony case online, go read it here:

http://www.wftv.com/download/2008/0807/17124703.pdf.

The Best Caylee Anthony Coverage is by David Lohr

I have not been able to find a site that is doing a better job of covering the Caylee Anthony disappearance than David Lohr over at Investigation Discovery - this is just excellent work:

Full Coverage - Table of Contents for ID's Full Coverage of Caylee Anthony

ID's Timeline of Events which is kept current and intersperced with links to videos, audios, etc.

ID's Audio File Collection including the jailhouse phone conversations and the 911 calls

ID's Document Collection including court filings, press releases, etc.