Edwards’ contacts with witnesses raises red flags

Plus, why didn’t the media go after Edwards like they did Tiger?

(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - Witness tampering allegations appear to be the rage these days. Yesterday, the Anchorage Daily News detailed allegations that prosecutors covered up tampering attempts by one of their star witnesses in their corruption cases. Today, the Charlotte Observer reports that John Edwards has used the private jet of a potential witness in an investigation of misuse of campaign funds, and that could raise serious legal issues for the former Democratic VP nominee:

On Friday, a Raleigh TV station showed Edwards at the Raleigh-Durham airport walking off a plane belonging to Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, a wealthy heiress who supported the former Democrat’s presidential candidate’s campaign.

Flight records showed the plane flew from RDU to the private airstrip at Mellon’s northern Virginia home. In 2008 Mellon’s holding company gave $3.48 million to Alliance for a New America, a 527 group tied to Edwards’ presidential campaign. Prosecutors investigating Edwards have talked to Mellon’s attorneys.

The grand jury is investigating whether Edwards used campaign money to cover up an affair with mistress Rielle Hunter. Charlotte lawyer Ken Bell, a former federal prosecutor, said Edwards’ flight could cause an appearance problem, if not legal.

“It would create a danger of being accused of trying to influence a witness or obstruct justice,” he said. “It’s dangerous and perhaps inadvisable, but not necessarily illegal.”

Politico reported Monday that Andrew Young, the former aide who once claimed to be the father of Hunter’s baby, is alleging that Mellon paid some of Hunter’s bills. It’s unclear whether Mellon herself has talked to prosecutors.

Edwards faces a grand jury investigation into alleged payoffs from campaign funds to his mistress, Rielle Hunter, who gave birth to Edwards’ child. While that investigation is ongoing, contacts between targets and potential witnesses are usually considered suspicious. Edwards certainly has the money to buy his own first-class plane tickets. He doesn’t need Mellon’s jet to get him from Point A to Point B, which makes the contact and the favor even more suspicious.