John Edwards is a former United States Senator from North Carolina and a Democratic Party vice-presidential and presidential candidate. In August 2008, Edwards admitted to an extramarital affair, which was initially reported in 2007 by the National Enquirer but was given little attention outside the tabloid press and political blogosphere.[1][2][3] The Enquirer cited claims from an anonymous source that Edwards had engaged in an affair with Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker hired to work for his 2008 presidential campaign, and that Hunter had given birth to a child from the relationship. ABC News reported that Andrew Young, a member of Edwards' campaign team, stated that Edwards asked him to, "Get a doctor to fake the DNA results ... and to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."[4] The allegations were initially denied by both Edwards and Hunter. Young claimed paternity of Hunter's daughter, although no father is listed on the child's birth certificate, and Young has subsequently denied it.
Campaign Video shot by Rielle Hunter, who had affair with John Edwards
On October 10, 2007, the National Enquirer published an article claiming that Edwards had engaged in an extramarital affair with an unnamed female campaign worker. On the same day, Stein published another article in The Huffington Post that contained additional details about Hunter, including her name and the web videos that she had produced.[23] The following day, October 11, New York magazine published a piece linking Hunter to the Enquirer allegations.[18]
The Enquirer published a follow-up story that included a photograph of a visibly pregnant Hunter on December 19, 2007. The tabloid alleged that, according to its anonymous source, Hunter was claiming that Edwards was the father of her child. The article also claimed that Hunter had relocated to a gated community in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, near Andrew Young, a former official with the Edwards campaign, who had claimed paternity of Hunter's child. As with Hunter's initial denial of the affair, Young's paternity claim had been issued to Armstrong and published on MyDD.[30][31]
On August 13, Hunter's sister, Roxanne Druck Marshall, gave an interview to CBS News in which she personally apologized to Edwards' wife for her sister's behavior. She also claimed Edwards had lied in his confession, stating the affair was of a longer duration than the timeframe that he had claimed and was still ongoing. Marshall also stated that, in the days after the story broke, Edwards provided Hunter and her baby with a new and secret domicile to prevent media reporters from finding her. She also called upon Edwards to tell the complete truth about the affair.[85] That same day, an article from CBS News reported that, "Edwards may be in legal jeopardy if it could be shown that [campaign] funds were used for purposes other than the ones that they had been assigned for."[86] The New York Daily News also reported that, when questioned about the affair by reporters, Mimi Hockman, Hunter's partner in Midline Groove, "said the contract they signed with John Edwards had a 'hefty' confidentiality clause that bars her from talking."[87] Two days earlier, on August 11, Hockman had been questioned by reporters from the Star-Ledger at her home and reportedly told them, "I'm contractually prohibited from talking to you."[88]
The scandal, which involved an illicit affair with a 2008 presidential campaign aide, followed by a love child and an intense cover-up, would be Edwards' undoing. His career in professional politics would be over.
Ahead of the 2008 election campaign, Edwards traveled the country to drum up support for a presidential run, when he met a feisty unknown actress and movie producer named Rielle Hunter. According to Hunter, their love affair began with a California hotel encounter.
Last year, Edwards went on trial in North Carolina for allegedly misusing campaign funds to hide the affair with Hunter and subsequently the birth of their child. But he was acquitted after the trial ended in a split jury.
Edwards, who was a presidential candidate in 2008, admitted to an affair with the former campaign worker during a TV interview in August of 2008. Shortly after the news was made public, his political career begin to unravel.
After months of denying the affair, Edwards admitted making "a serious error in judgment" in 2006 when he had an affair with Hunter, a filmmaker who worked making videos for his presidential campaign.
But in 2006, while his wife was battling a recurrence of breast cancer, Edwards began an affair Rielle Hunter, who produced videos for his campaign. A year later, the National Enquirer reported the two were having an affair. And then the bombshell: Hunter was pregnant with his child.
Meanwhile, a separate federal criminal investigation in Raleigh has drawn several people in recent months to testify before a grand jury. People familiar with the case have said investigators are examining how much Edwards knew about money used to cover up his affair and whether he violated campaign finance laws. The investigation is particularly focused on whether money given to Hunter and Young should have been considered campaign donations.
Hunter worked in 2006 as a videographer for Edwards' political action committee, shooting behind-the-scenes footage as the Democrat prepared to launch his second White House campaign. Edwards acknowledged a year ago that he fathered a child with Hunter, though Young had initially claimed paternity so Edwards could continue his campaign. 2ff7e9595c
Comentarios