Edwards’s financial backers provided money for his mistress, Rielle Hunter; the cash served the dual role of keeping the affair hidden from his wife and of maintaining his political viability. 
 
 It is possible to shoehorn this conduct into a violation of the campaign finance laws. First, the money was not disclosed as a campaign contribution — although, Catch-22, if it had been reported as such, it would have been illegal because it was used for an improper, non-campaign purpose. Second, the amount spent on Hunter, close to $1 million, vastly exceeds the total that the individuals could legally contribute to Edwards’s presidential campaign. 
 
 Yet what is the larger goal served by prosecuting Edwards? Retribution? His career is in ruins. To keep future straying pols from misusing campaign funds? Surely that deterrent effect has been already applied — by the National Enquirer. 
 
 The irony — tragedy? — of this misapplication of government resources is heightened by an unsettling coincidence: As Edwards faces prison for taking outsize campaign contributions, such mega-donations have become the central feature of the 2012 presidential campaign. 
 
 Smart election lawyers seized on court rulings to create a dangerous creature known as a candidate-specific super PAC. This vehicle allows a politician’s most ardent, and deep-pocketed, supporters to spend unlimited amounts in supposedly independent expenditures on the candidate’s behalf. 
 
 Thus, Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, could openly spend $20 million to try to help Newt Gingrich become president. Indeed, Gingrich, in withdrawing from the race, went out of his way to thank the Adelsons. 
 
 “Of course, while they weren’t directly associated with the campaign,” Gingrich said, “it would be impossible for me to be here and thank everybody without mentioning Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, who single-handedly came pretty close to matching [Mitt] Romney’s super PAC, and I am very, very grateful to them.” 
 
 You bet he is. It’s hard to imagine a more vivid illustration of the potentially corrupting influence of these mega-donors. 
 
 “We will not permit candidates for high office to abuse their special ability to access the coffers of their political supporters to circumvent our election laws,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said when the Edwards indictment was issued last year. 
 
 Noble sentiments, but hard to square with the squalid new reality of candidate-specific super PACs, which exist for the very purpose of letting candidates “access the coffers” of political supporters “to circumvent our election laws.” 
 
 These are entities run by the candidates’ former top advisers, blessed by the candidates and — as Gingrich outlined — essential to the candidates’ political fortunes. President Obama sends his top campaign and White House officials to help his — oops, I mean, the independent — super PAC raise money for the reelection campaign. Mitt Romney does the same. 
 
 So this is what enforcement of campaign finance laws has come to in 2012: In a courtroom in North Carolina, jurors hear harrowing testimony about Elizabeth Edwards’s deathbed fears and John Edwards’s delusional bid to trade his presidential endorsement for a spot on the ticket. Meanwhile in Washington, the real threat to “the integrity of democratic elections” that Breuer cited in going after Edwards grows unchecked. 
 
 The Supreme Court, with a dewy-eyed view of independent expenditures, blind to the inevitability of wink-and-nod coordination, opened the door to this flood of campaign cash. The entities that could close it are hamstrung and unmotivated. Congress has no appetite for fixing the law, and little ability in its gridlocked state to make that happen. 
 
 The Federal Election Commission, which could step in to write tighter regulations, is paralyzed in a 3 to 3 standoff between Democrats and Republicans. The terms of five of the six commissioners have expired. The president, who once pledged to ensure “strong, impartial leadership” at the commission, hasn’t bothered to submit a candidate since the one he nominated in 2009 withdrew after 15 months of congressional inaction. 
 
 Something is very wrong with this picture. 
 
 ruthmarcus@washpost.com 

 John Edwards' defense team rested its case Wednesday in his corruption trial. 
 
 No more witnesses will be called and closing arguments are scheduled to begin tomorrow. Jury deliberations will likely begin on Friday. 
 
 The former U.S. senator's trial is under way in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is charged with six counts of illegal campaign contributions, conspiracy and falsifying documents. If found guilty on all charges, Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine. 
 
 The government alleges Edwards "knowingly and willingly" accepted large amounts of money from wealthy campaign donors to hide Rielle Hunter and her pregnancy in an effort to remain a viable candidate in his 2008 presidential campaign. 
 
 A friend and adviser to Edwards testified Tuesday that the candidate appeared surprised to learn that an elderly heiress sent money that ended up going to Hunter and Young. 
 
 The defense, which began its case Monday, has argued that Young largely used the money for his own personal gain, while also paying for Hunter's medical expenses during her pregnancy in an effort to hide the affair from Edwards' wife. Donations for that purpose, the Edwards team has argued, cannot be considered in violation of campaign finance laws. 

 John Edwards' defense team rested Wednesday without calling the two-time Democratic presidential candidate or his one-time mistress to the witness stand, a sign of confidence after presenting little more than two days of testimony and evidence. 
 
 Former presidential candidate and Sen. John Edwards, center, arrives at a federal courthouse with his parents Wallace and Bobbie Edwards, right, in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Edwards... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former presidential candidate and Sen. John Edwards, right, arrives at a federal courthouse with his father Wallace Edwards in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Edwards has pleaded not guilty... (Associated Press) 
 
 John Edwards, center, and his mother Bobbie Edwards, right, and his father Wallace Edwards, left, arrive at a federal courthouse for John Edwards' trial on charges of campaign corruption in Greensboro,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former presidential candidate and Sen. John Edwards, center, arrives at a federal courthouse with his parents Wallace and Bobbie Edwards, right, in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Edwards has... (Associated Press) 
 
 John Edwards, left, and his mother Bobbie Edwards, right, arrive at a federal courthouse for John Edwards' trial on charges of campaign corruption in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Edwards... (Associated Press) 
 
 John Edwards arrives at a federal courthouse for histrial on charges of campaign corruption in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Edwards has pleaded not guilty to six counts related to campaign... (Associated Press) 
 
 John Edwards arrives at a federal courthouse for his trial on charges of campaign corruption in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Edwards has pleaded not guilty to six counts related to campaign... (Associated Press) 
 
 Former presidential candidate and Sen. John Edwards, right, arrives at a federal courthouse with his parents Wallace and Bobbie Edwards in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Edwards has pleaded... (Associated Press) 
 
 The defense had called a series of witnesses aimed at shifting the jury's focus from the lurid details of a political sex scandal to the legal question of whether the Edwards' actions violated federal campaign finance laws. 
 
 Prosecutors spent nearly three weeks trying to convince a jury that Edwards masterminded a conspiracy to use nearly $1 million secretly provided by two wealthy donors to help hide his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, as he sought the White House in 2008. 
 
 Many people watching the case believed Edwards would testify so the jury could hear directly from the former U.S. senator and trial lawyer, who had a reputation for his ability to sway jurors. But putting Edwards on the stand was also a gamble: It would have exposed him to withering cross-examination about his past lies and personal failings. 
 
 Most experts were convinced calling Hunter to testify would have dredged up more negatives and lies. The defense also elected not to question Edwards' oldest daughter, Cate, who has sat behind Edwards nearly every day of the trial and could have helped humanize him. 
 
 At one point during the trial, she ran out of the courtroom in tears during testimony about her cancer-stricken mother confronting her father about his extramarital affair. 
 
 The judge told jurors that no more witnesses would be called. It's unclear exactly when closing arguments would start, but most likely Thursday. 
 
 Edwards is charged with six criminal counts including conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, accepting contributions that exceeded campaign finance limits, and causing his campaign to file a false financial disclosure report. 
 
 He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of all charges. 
 
 Edwards has sat quietly at the defense table throughout his trial, whispering with his lawyers and rarely showing reaction to the often emotional testimony from witnesses who were once among his strongest supporters and closest friends. He has made no public statements since October, following a pre-trial hearing where a judge refused to throw out the criminal case against him. 
 
 "After all these years, I finally get my day in court and people get to hear my side of this, and what actually happened," Edwards said last year on the steps of the federal courthouse in Greensboro. "And what I know with complete and absolute certainty is I didn't violate campaign laws and I never for a second believed I was violating campaign laws." 
 
 At the trial, prosecutors have shown two members of Edwards' inner circle, campaign finance chairman Fred Baron and once-close aide Andrew Young, engaged in a yearlong cover-up to hide the married presidential candidate's mistress from the media. Young, who is married, falsely claimed paternity of his boss' baby and received $725,000 in secret checks from an elderly heiress, using some of the money to care for Hunter. 
 
 Baron, a wealthy Texas lawyer, provided Young and Hunter with more than $400,000 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif. 
 
 Prosecutors have introduced phone records, voicemails and other evidence showing Edwards was in frequent contact with Baron, Young and Hunter, all while his mistress was in hiding. Former members of Edwards' campaign also testified that Baron spoke of "moving Hunter around" in the candidate's presence and that Edwards told his speechwriter he knew "all along" what Baron was up to. 
 
 However, in 14 days of testimony, no witness ever said Edwards knew he was violating campaign finance laws, a key element of criminal intent the government must prove to win a conviction. 
 
 The defense also undercut the credibility of Young, whom bank records showed siphoned off most of the money from Mellon to build his expansive $1.6 million dream house. Baron wired another $325,000 to the company building Young's house. 
 
 Jurors were also read a stipulation about a sex tape the Youngs had, purportedly showing Edwards and a pregnant Hunter. Jurors were told Andrew Young considered selling the tape, and during his last personal encounter with Edwards on a rural North Carolina road, he told Edwards he had the tape. 
 
 The tape had only briefly been mentioned during the trial until Wednesday. 
 
 Before his indictment, Edwards rejected a potential plea agreement with federal prosecutors that would have allowed him to serve as little as six months and keep his law license. 
 
 A graduate of the University of North Carolina law school, John Edwards made his fortune handling medical malpractice and corporate negligence cases before turning to politics following the death of his 16-year-old son Wade in a 1996 auto accident. Edwards was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998 and was John Kerry's running mate in 2004. 
 
 Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, died of cancer in December 2010. He is now a single parent of two school-aged children, ages 13 and 11, who live with their father at the family's gated estate outside Chapel Hill. Edwards' 30-year-old daughter Cate is a lawyer who married last year. 
 
 After years of denials, Edwards admitted fathering his Hunter's baby in January 2010, shortly after agreeing to pay child support. The girl, now 4, lives with her mother in Charlotte. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow AP writer Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck
– The John Edwards trial will wrap up relatively short on drama: His defense team rested its case today after a little more than two days, opting not to call Edwards himself, daughter Cate, or former mistress Rielle Hunter to the stand, reports CNN. Closing arguments are tomorrow, and jury deliberations should begin on Friday. The AP reads the defense team's move as a "sign of confidence." For Ruth Marcus at the Washington Post, the verdict is already clear: Edwards is an "egocentric cad," for sure, but he's no criminal. "Nothing in the evidence so far has shaken my view that this case is an unfortunate instance of prosecutorial indiscretion," she writes. The trial is more a reflection of the sad state of campaign finance reform, she adds. Neither Congress, the president, nor the Federal Election Commission is able or willing to fix the law. Instead, all we get is this show trial. "Something is very wrong with this picture." Click for her full column.