RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A relieved John Edwards said after his mistrial on campaign corruption charges that he believed good things were still in store for him, though image makers and his friends agree that does not include politics.

The ex-presidential candidate who turned 59 this week will no longer have to face that future with federal charges hanging over his head after prosecutors on Wednesday dropped their campaign fraud case against him. After a six-week trial in North Carolina, jurors acquitted Edwards on May 31 on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions and deadlocked on five other felony counts. The judge declared a mistrial.

The U.S. Justice Department said in a court order that it will not seek to retry Edwards on the five unresolved counts, leaving some to say the charges shouldn’t have been brought in the first place.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who oversees the agency’s criminal division, said prosecutors knew the case, like all campaign finance cases, would be challenging. But he said it is “our duty to bring hard cases” when warranted.

“Last month, the government put forward its best case against Mr. Edwards, and I am proud of the skilled and professional way in which our prosecutors … conducted this trial,” he said, adding that he respected the jury’s judgment and decided not to seek a retrial “in the interest of justice.”

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