Former presidential hopeful John Edwards pleaded not guilty"Wudn't me."
Friday to charges of using $900,000 in campaign funds to cover up an extramarital affair, proclaiming: "I did not break the law."
Edwards, 57, was charged in a six-count indictment "for allegedly participating in a scheme to violate federal campaign finance laws," the Justice Department said.
The former Democratic U.S. senator, who fathered a child in the affair with a film producer, asserted his innocence upon leaving a courthouse in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
"I did not break the law and I never ever thought that I was breaking the law," said Edwards, accompanied by his oldest daughter, Kate.
The charges concern hundreds of thousands of dollars provided by two wealthy donors that Edwards allegedly used to shelter his mistress, Rielle Hunter.
Edwards acknowledged making mistakes, but said they weren't crimes.
"There's no question that I've done wrong and I take full responsibility for having done wrong and I will regret for the rest of my life the pain and the harm that I have caused to others," he said outside the courtroom.