John Edwards’ daughter breaks down during testimony about deceased mom, leaves courtroom

The Ticket

More tears were shed at the John Edwards conspiracy trial on Wednesday—this time by his daughter.

Cate Upham, Edwards' 30-year-old daughter, began crying during testimony from one of her father's former aides about a 2007 argument between her parents, Edwards and the late Elizabeth Edwards.

Before Christina Reynolds, the ex-aide, recounted the confrontation, Edwards turned to his daughter—a Harvard Law School graduate—seated in the front row.

"I don't know what's coming," Edwards said to Cate, according to the Associated Press. "Do you want to leave?"

She walked out of the courtroom wiping away tears, the AP reported. (As she left, Edwards was heard saying, "Cate, Cate.") Cate returned to the courtroom after a recess.

Reynolds testified that in October 2007 after the National Enquirer broke the story about Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter, Elizabeth Edwards confronted the candidate at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

"Elizabeth was very upset," Reynolds said. "She stormed off and collapsed into a ball in the parking lot."

More from the AP:

[Reynolds] and another staff member helped her into the bathroom of a private hangar. After collecting herself, Elizabeth Edwards came back into the hangar, found her husband and began yelling. She then pulled off her shirt and bra, leaving herself bare-chested, Reynolds said.

"You don't see me any more," Reynolds quoted the wife as saying.

Reynolds said Elizabeth told her that Edwards had confessed to the affair in the summer of 2007. Elizabeth Edwards died in December 2010 after a long battle with cancer.

According to ABC News, "Edwards lowered his head in his hands as Reynolds spoke."

Also Wednesday, another aide, Josh Brumberger, testified that he was with Edwards at a New York bar when Hunter first met the candidate. Brumberger said it was not unusual for strange women to approach Edwards on the campaign trail, and he would often have to intervene on the candidate's behalf.

"My normal bag of tricks included, 'Got a big day tomorrow, got to rest,'" Brumberger said.

Brumberger said he recognized Hunter from the bar several weeks later when she began working as a videographer for the campaign. "It was a cause of concern," Brumberger testified.

He said he tried twice to confront Edwards about Hunter, only to be rebuffed. When Brumberger approached two senior aides about her, Edwards threatened to fire him. He quit instead.

"I told Mr. Edwards I was no longer interested in working for him," Brumberger said. "I was kind of in shock."

On Monday, Cheri Young, the wife of Edwards' former aide Andrew Young, broke down in tears when she was asked why she went along with the plan—initiated by Edwards—to put Hunter up in the couple's Chapel Hill home in an effort to keep her from public view. The jury was dismissed to allow Young time to compose herself. The same day, Young's testimony was cut short due to a migraine.

On Tuesday, she was grilled by the defense, admitting that her husband—the prosecution's star witness—drank "a lot" and took Ambien while trying to hide Hunter, the former presidential candidate's mistress.

Edwards faces six criminal counts—including conspiracy, four counts of receiving illegal campaign contributions and one count of making false statements—for allegedly soliciting and secretly spending over $925,000 to cover up his affair with Hunter. If convicted on all six counts, Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.

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