Wife of campaign aide takes the stand in John Edwards trial

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Cheri Young is the wife of Andrew Young, a former campaign aide for John Edwards


• She is expected to testify about how she helped her husband cover up Edwards affair


• Edwards is facing six federal felony charges


• Federal prosecutors say Edwards used campaign donations to hide his affair

Greensboro, North Carolina (CNN) -- The wife of a former campaign aide for John Edwards takes the stand Monday in a federal court in North Carolina where she is expected to detail her role in helping conceal the one-time Democratic presidential hopeful's affair with a videographer.

Cheri Young, continues her testimony from Friday. Her turn on the witness stand followed five days of testimony by her husband, considered the government's star witness against Edwards.

Edwards is accused of using hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to conceal his affair with a campaign videographer without reporting the money to federal authorities.

Among the many questions Cheri Young is expected to be asked on the stand: Why she agreed to help her husband hide Edwards 2007 affair with Rielle Hunter? Why she agreed to allow Hunter to hide out from the media at her home? And also why she agreed to allow her husband to falsely claim he was the father of the child produced by Edwards' affair with Hunter?

Edwards is facing six felony charges, including that he accepted illegal campaign donations. He also is charged with conspiracy and making false statements. Edwards could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of all six felony and misdemeanor counts against him.

Prosecutors in U.S. District Court in Greensboro have argued that Edwards broke federal law by accepting about $725,000 from 101-year-old heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon and more than $200,000 from Fred Baron, a Texas lawyer who has since died.

Edwards is accused of concealing the money from the public and the Federal Election Commission, which polices political contributions, by filing false and misleading campaign disclosure reports.

Edwards' attorneys have argued that ex-campaign aide Andrew Young was instead involved in what was largely a ruse to extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from the donors for personal use.

The former aide admitted during questioning by Edwards' attorney that he used campaign donations for personal use. He testified he used much of it to fund construction of a home, which included a pool and a theater.

Young is the author of the tell-all book "The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down." Young was hammered on the witness stand about his own motives and asked whether he made up stories about how Edwards concealed contributions from campaign donors.

He testified last week that he wrote the book for two reasons: Edwards did not live up to a promise to tell the truth and he needed the money

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