John Edwards civilian admits that John Edward politician was lying

As far back as October 2007, this blogger was one of the first to cover the then largely ignored claim that John Edwards was having an affair with Rielle Hunter. In August of 2008, John Edwards admitted to the affair...



But said he's not the father of her child. Still, the admission destroyed John Edwards' political career, just when he was poised to have a key role in the Obama Administration. Now, his campaign all but gone and his Twitter account inactive, John Edwards is a civilian.

John Edwards

Today, John Edwards admitted what was long speculated by The National Enquirer:

“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace.

It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me. I have been providing financial support for Quinn and have reached an agreement with her mother to continue providing support in the future.

To all those I have disappointed and hurt these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry.”

This ends a long and very sad sex scandal that started in August 2007, when the New York Post Page 6 ran a column reporting that a politician had a girlfriend:

WHICH political candidate enjoys visiting New York because he has a girlfriend who lives downtown? The pol tells her he'll marry her when his current wife is out of the picture.

Then, late 2007, when the National Enquirer first speculated that Edwards was fooling around, and then "progressed" to Edwards being discovered by two National Enquirer writers as he was attempting to visit Rielle Hunter in July of 2008:



This story is a study in how the media can avoid a story both to protect a politician and to just skip over what's considered sensational.

In this case, The Huffington Post's Sam Stein was one of the first to take the National Enquirer story seriously and write a blog post on it but after first being led to it by then then removed-from-the-Internet campaign videos made by Rielle Hunter.

The Daily Kos took Stein to task as John Edwards was then their darling candidate.

Then Sam Stein wrote a full post on the affair speculation that was removed and replaced by a safer and more watered-down version that only pointed to the Enquirer's story and did not offer detail.

The delay in reporting the Edwards scandal, as America was deep into an intense Democratic Presidential campaign, allowed John Edwards to rise in campaign dollars, polls, and expectations from supporters.

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder called it "a trash story". The LA Times removed links to a post on it.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Edwards was being left in the dark. No word on her view of Edwards' statement today. Yet.