WASHINGTON – Iowa Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Saturday he has “absolutely no control” over a $495,000 donation a wealthy philanthropist made to a group that supports him.

Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission showed that the investment arm of philanthropist Rachel Mellon gave the gift to the Alliance for a New America. The Alliance is an independent group not subject to federal campaign financing limits.

Headed by former Edwards adviser Nick Baldick, the group is spending a reported $1.7 million on radio and TV ads in support of Edwards in Iowa, whose Thursday caucuses kick off the 2008 campaign. Coordination between such groups and campaigns is against the law.

Rival Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has criticized efforts by so-called 527 groups to help Edwards and Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

Edwards has made a point of saying he doesn’t take money from lobbyists or special interest political action committees. Saturday he repeated his call for the Alliance to stop its ads. Asked if he would push for the return of Mellon’s donation, he said, “I have absolutely no control over that.”

“I call on them (the Alliance) to stop what they’re doing,” he told reporters after an appearance in the town of Washington.

“I’m not asking them to do anything for me,” he said earlier. “I’m asking them not to.”

Edwards has stressed his campaign’s independence from the Alliance, which is also funded by organized labor.

As a vice presidential candidate in 2004, Edwards called on President Bush to force a 527 group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to take down ads attacking Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

“Mr. President, the clock is running,” Edwards said at the time. “The American people deserve to hear from you. And they deserve to hear from you that these ads will come down.”

Bush didn’t criticize the ads until a week after they stopped running.

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AP-NY-12-29-07 1750EST