John O'Quinn, Edwards Contributor, Dies In Car Accident

A top contributor to former presidential candidate John Edwards died in a car accident last Thursday.

O'Quinn, a well-known Texas attorney, was driving his SUV in rainy weather, when he lost control and crashed into a tree. Both he and his assistant, Johnny Cutliff, were killed. Neither man was wearing a seat belt.

The National Enquirer reported that a federal grand jury was considering calling on O'Quinn to testify about Edwards' campaign finances.

"While there's no indication of wrongdoing in O'Quinn's death, it's weird timing that he was suddenly killed with the grand jury still investigating whether Edwards had broken any campaign finance laws when paying Rielle," a government source told the tabloid.

O'Quinn was a friend of Fred Baron, who was Edwards' national finance chairman. Baron reportedly paid for Hunter to move out of North Carolina.

Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[MarciaJ720]

I worked with O'Quinn for many years (I handled the money, not the law).

Trust me, there is no conspiracy theory here. John and Johnny were known to not wear their seat belts and if Johnny wasn't driving fast enough for O'Quinn, O'Quinn would take the wheel himself.

It is my understanding he simply misjudged both the weather and the time it would take to get back to Hobby airport.

I attended the funeral. Many people in shock. The firm will slowly be dissolved. My heart is broken for all.

He was a good man and so was his right-hand man, Johnny.

[mfc62]

So lets get this clear.....­..........­.They were killed in and SUV accident on wet roads, while not wearing seat belts? Sounds like foul play to me...........

[cuzkate]

Who are the beneficiries (sp) of any policies left behind by the two gents?

[whitehawk]

Wasn't he also the lawyer representing Anna Nicole's mother at one time? Another death in t he cirlcle.

[Kakie]

Oh, brother...

The National Enquirer is being quoted?

Please....­..........

[doodlefarbe]

The National Enquirer, between alien abduction stories, completely scooped all other media, serially, on, the John Edwards affair, John Edwards hush money to the mistress, then on the John Edwards baby with the mistress.

When it comes to John Edwards, the National Enquirer is 3 for 3.

So, what's your beef with quoting it?

[roshni]

WT.F?

[CorkiDeCat]

WOW, quite a plot! hmmmmm..

[blueskybigstar]

Can we get a story on Mark Levy or the guy from Freddie Mac? How are those investigations going?

[tomcat27834]

surely the Clintons are involved ? Fox headline perhaps

[lynettema]

I know! Edwards made it rain and told them to get in the car and not wear their seat belts and drive too fast so that they would skid on the slippery high way. Good grief people. We are looking for goblins where there are none.

[ezgoingal]

This sounds like a huge stretch by NE.

[stillbarbi]

Too many drivers don't know they shouldn't use cruise control on wet roads. Hydroplaning can be the deadly result.

It's mysterious that two educated, intelligent men wouldn't be wearing seat belts. There is no doubt they both knew better.

[Ashamed-in-Texas]

I knew John O'Quinn. I'm not posting here to defend his not wearing a seat belt, but I will say that nowhere has it been said that he was using cruise control. The fact is that the road he was traveling is notorious for becoming slick when wet and it was most assuredly slick the morning of the accident. There have been plans in the works to do something about this particular major thoroughfare. John was speeding and lost control of his SUV.

[stillbarbi]

I know it didn't say that, but thought it would be good to post for the benefit of those who may not know. http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp

It happened to me once. I had cruise control on and stepped on the brake when the road was wet. Instantly, I had no control over the car. The brakes and steering were useless, and I ended up in the lanes where oncoming traffic should be. Fortunately for me, there were no cars there.

[factotem]

And he was a car accident attorney!

[374662]

And not wearing a seat belt is always extremely dangerous in the event of an accident.

[garcia83]

God, Edwards is a national soap opera.