John Edwards has been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegal campaign activities.

This is one of the most sordid political tales to come along in a while. ABC News:

The case against Edwards, which called on more than 100 witnesses, will seek to prove that hundreds of thousands of dollars were allegedly used illegally to seclude and support his mistress Rielle Hunter, so Edwards could continue his campaign for the presidency in 2008.

Edwards' attorney Greg Craig arrived in North Carolina last night to consult with the former senator.

The federal investigation of Edwards began a few months after the National Enquirer had cornered him at a Beverly Hills hotel in October 2007. The supermarket tabloid began to run a series of stories alleging that an adulterous affair occurred between Edwards and Hunter, his former campaign worker.

A few weeks later, in an exclusive interview with ABC's "Nightline," Edwards finally admitted to the affair -- but denied paternity of Hunter's child. In the interview, Edwards also said that he was in the dark about the expensive scheme to keep Hunter out of the public eye.

The key to the case was when trusted Edwards aide Andy Young - who had claimed paternity of the baby - came clean and fingered Edwards in the cover up scheme:

In December 2007, the group began traveling by private jets to luxury hotels on a cross-country game of hide and seek. It was all financed by wealthy Edwards campaign operative Fred Baron, and it was all with Edwards' approval, Young said.

"Maybe he didn't know exactly where we were, but he knew about the money, he knew about the methodology and he knew about the sources," Young said in an interview with ABC News.

Young and his wife have estimated that it cost Edwards' benefactors $1 million in cash, private jets and hotel rooms to cover up the affair and Hunter's pregnancy.

Recall that all of this was going on while Edwards' wife was battling cancer.

Edwards will probably not go to jail. But if there were biblical justice available, there wouldn't be a hole deep enough or dark enough to throw this charlatan in and throw away the key.