The New York Times is reporting today that John Edwards — the former North Carolina Senator, Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee in 2004 and presidential contender in 2008 — may finally admit something he’s long denied: that the 19-month-old daughter of Rielle Hunter, with whom Edwards has admitted an affair, is his child.
The newspaper cites “friends” and “associates” as the source of this information.
The Times also cites a book proposal of Andrew Young, an ex-aide who had signed an affidavit that he was the girl’s father. Young has since gone back on that assertion, but is now saying in a book proposal examined by the Times that the politician knew the whole time that he was the real father.
He said Mr. Edwards pleaded with him to accept responsibility falsely, saying that would reduce the story to one of an aide’s infidelity.
If Edwards does admit fathering Hunter’s daughter, it would be something of a 180-degree turnaround. Though Edwards admitted his affair with Hunter last year, he has denied that the child is his because, as the Times puts it, “of the timing and brevity of their intimacy.”
A federal grand jury in North Carolina is currently investigating whether Edwards committed any crimes by concealing his affair with Hunter. These deliberations reportedly center around whether paying a candidate’s mistress to make sure she keeps quiet about an affair — and thus not damage the candidate’s election prospects — are campaign donations that ought to be reported. According to the Times:
When Mr. Edwards was running for president, and later when he still held out hope of a cabinet position in the Obama administration, two of his wealthy patrons, through a once-trusted Edwards aide, quietly provided Ms. Hunter with large financial benefits, including a new BMW and lodging, that were used to keep her out of public view.
Read the full NYT story here.
Editor’s Note: This post has been added to since it was first published.
