AFP

WASHINGTON THE US Justice Department has approved the prosecution of former White House candidate John Edwards over alleged campaign violations linked to the cover-up of an affair, ABC News has reported.

The allegations concern hundreds of thousands of dollars provided by two wealthy donors that he allegedly used to shelter his mistress, Rielle Hunter, with whom he fathered a child, ABC news said.

The news outlet cited an unnamed source close to the case as saying that the former Democratic senator was aware of the looming indictment and was considering whether to seek a plea bargain or face a potentially costly trial.

ABC said the case relies heavily on Andrew Young, a former close aide to Edwards who initially claimed to be the father of the child so that the politician could continue his 2008 White House race.

Young later wrote a tell-all book about the affair in which he detailed a costly and elaborate effort to keep it from going public.

He has also testified before a North Carolina grand jury.

Edwards, 57, admitted to the affair in August 2008, after his campaign had ended, but did not admit to fathering the child until January 2010.

Elizabeth Edwards, his politically savvy and popular wife, was informed of the affair in 2006, while she was being treated for cancer.

She recovered and played a central role in his 2008 presidential run, but passed away in December at the age of 61 after the cancer resurfaced.

John Edwards was a US senator from North Carolina until 2004, when he became John Kerry’s running mate after losing to him in the Democratic presidential primary.

The two were defeated that year by then-president George W Bush.