Edwards campaign owes taxpayers but still spending

By MICHAEL BIESECKER
Associated Press

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — Federal elections officials say John Edwards owes taxpayers $2.1 million in public matching funds improperly received after the former North Carolina senator dropped his 2008 run for the White House, yet disclosure reports show his failed campaign is still spending.

Edwards’s hopes for the Democratic nomination imploded in a sex scandal four years ago. Reports filed last week show his 2008 campaign spent $836,712 in 2011 on airfare, hotels, phones and other expenses.

Attempts to contact Edwards or his campaign were unsuccessful. People listed as receiving some of the $266,000 in campaign payroll declined to talk.

Edwards got nearly $13 million in federal funds in 2008, most of it after he quit the race amid reports of his extramarital affair. He has pleaded not guilty to pending criminal charges.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)