GREENSBORO, N.C. – Prosecutors rested their campaign fraud case against John Edwards on Thursday after 14 days of dramatic and often unflattering testimony that focused on the once-promising politician’s infidelity and the secret money they say he used to cover up the affair he feared would derail his presidential ambitions.

In its final act, federal prosecutors played a tape of a 2008 national television interview in which the Democrat repeatedly lied about his extramarital affair with the woman who was part of his campaign staff and denied fathering her baby.

The testimony repeatedly showed an unappealing side of Edwards, casting him as a liar and lousy husband. The question is whether prosecutors showed he violated campaign finance laws in using nearly $1 million in undisclosed payments from two wealthy campaign donors to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the White House.

To prove their case, the government has to not only show that the ex-North Carolina senator knew what the money was being used for, but that he knew he was violating the law and did it anyway.