John Edwards: 'I Am Responsible'

After a jury declared former presidential candidate John Edwards not guilty on one count of campaign fraud charges, and a judge declared on a mistrial on the other five charges, he spoke outside the courtroom in Greensboro, N.C.

"I want to make sure that everyone hears from me and from my voice that while I do not believe that I did anything illegal or ever thought I was doing anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong," he said. "And there is no one else responsible for my sins. None of the people who came to court and testified are responsible. Nobody working for the government is responsible. I am responsible."

"And if I want to find the person who should be held accountable for my sins, honestly I don't have to go any further than the mirror. It is me and me alone."

Edwards turned the focus to his children. "She said dad, I love you. I will be here for you no matter what," Edwards said about his daughter Cate. "And I'm so proud to have had her with me throughout this process." He then spoke of his other children with his late wife, Elizabeth.

On the child he had with his mistress Rielle Hunter, Frances Quinn Hunter, he paused and said that he loved her "more than any of you can imagine." Edwards had initially denied that he was her father before admitting it.

He said, "I don't think God's through with me. I really believe he thinks that he believes that there are still some good things I can do."

Weaving children into his future, he said, "What I'm hopeful about is all these kids I've seen in the poorest parts of this country, in some of the poorest places in the world that I can help them in whatever way I'm still capable of helping them." He continued, "I want to dedicate my life to being the best dad I can be and to helping those kids who I think deserve help and who I can hope I can help."