Lawmaker aide makes no plea in 1st hearing on campaign payment scandal

A close aide of ruling party lawmaker Anri Kawai postponed entering a plea Monday during the first hearing of his trial over an election campaign payment scandal, which could possibly lead to her having to give up her parliamentary seat.The defense counsel of Hiroshi Tatemichi, a 54-year-old state-paid secretary of Kawai, who was elected to the House of Councillors last July, said he will enter a plea in an upcoming hearing at the Hiroshima District Court.Tatemichi was indicted in late March over payments of around 2.04 million yen ($18,900) in total to 14 staffers who campaigned for Kawai …READ FULL ARTICLE