John Edwards Affair: Grand Jury Decision Awaits Edwards

EDWARDS TO ADMIT PATERNITY
OF RIELLE HUNTER'S DAUGHTER, FRANCES QUINN

EDWARDS AWAITS GRAND JURY DECISION

MAINSTREAM MOUTHPIECE MEDIA (MMM) ALREADY INDICTED

THE 99% HONEST MAN:
"I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby." --John Edwards' statement to the press, August 8 2008.

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THE TANGLED WEB


Q: How can you tell when a trial attorney-turned-politician is lying?
A: When his lips are moving.

John Edwards is reportedly finally to admit he is the father of [Sources: Edwards to admit paternity of ex-mistress' child] 18-month-old Frances Quinn Hunter.

What might compel former presidential candidate, John Edwards, to finally come clean about mistress, Rielle Hunter, and daughter, Frances Quinn? [John Edwards to Admit Rielle Hunter’s Love Child His: When Politicians Fail to Keep Their Pants on]. Maybe it's a sudden yearning to demonstrate he's tired of deceiving the public.

Or perhaps, it is the looming grand jury decision on whether he paid his mistress out of campaign funds.

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JOHN EDWARDS LOVE CHILD SCANDAL Library
Over 80 articles chronicling the affair from December 2007 to present.

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IN GOD WE TRUST
ALL OTHERS (ESPECIALLY POLITICIANS & MEDIA), PAY CASH

In the John Edwards Scandal, the Mainstream Media truly became the Mainstream Mouthpiece Media (MMM), taking the side of a millionaire presidential candidate over their readers' interests; it found a plethora of reasons why it did not investigate the Edwards' allegations.

In Edwards' case, the story came out, not because of the media's handling of the story, but in spite of it.

During the months of the Edwards' scandal, the media instituted their own "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Obsessed with managing the news instead of reporting it, in the MMM's eyes, the public's right to know became what was right for the public to know. In fact, it was the MMM's principal defense of their non-coverage of the story.

The attitude festered during the 2008 presidential campaign and continues to the present time.

There was a small segment of the public who didn't want to know; the comments section of many Edwards' articles reveals who those people were. They were, in most cases, blameless, Most likely, they were part of the dwindling readership of big city dailies.

That might be one reason that Public Attitudes toward the media show only one publication gaining in trust over the last 10 years--the National Enquirer.

The Enquirer continues to outperform the dinosaur media to this day. See any of the stories linkied at the bottom of JOHN EDWARDS SECRET DNA TEST PROVES HE'S THE DADDY!.


[image courtesy of http://www.stateofthemedia.org]


Edwards' own "Trend-line in Trust" will have to be guessed at by the reader.

Though not listed, another loser of trust was Wikipedia, which demonstrated that the on-line compendium is less-than-reliable on subjects political, especially contemporary controversial ones. [John Edwards Love Child Scandal: Debate at Wikipedia Rages and John Edwards Love Child: Wikipedia Editor Defends Go-Slow Policies On Edwards Entry]

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ONE YEAR and NINE DAYS LATER

* In Mickey Kaus' Edwards' Love Child: Mandatory Gloating Edition, the Edwards scandal is broken down into several easily-digestible parts.

Kaus, one of the few who covered the Edwards' scandal, succinctly details the lies, damn lies and fall-back lies which Edwards hid behind. He also provides a "Historic Gallery of Kossack Krap" and asks plenty of questions. Kaus points out:

If Edwards is in fact the father this entire fallback edifice of BS crumbles. ... It's worth reading the transcript of the ABC interview--practically every sentence out of Edwards' mouth is a lie.

What, Me Lie?
Edwards' August 8 2008 national mea culpa on ABC Nightline
John Edwards Scandal: The Many Faces of Contrition

* DBKP pointed out several of these lies the day of the Edwards' "confession" to ABC [John Edwards Scandal: Edwards Admits Affair, Lies, to ABC News]. Two days later, in John Edwards Scandal: Edwards Continues Deception in Interview, we expanded the list.

A week after Edwards' Nightline appearance, DBKP's exclusive photo [John and Elizabeth Edwards with Rielle Hunter Dec 30, 2006] put the lie to not only Edwards' narrative of the affair, but also Elizabeth Edwards' statement.

The Mouthpiece Media might be excused for a similar quick reaction: it was too busy explaining why it had not asked a single question of Edwards from November 2007 until August 2008 about his curious connections with Hunter.


John and Elizabeth Edwards with Rielle Hunter
December 30 2006
Both Edwards led the public to believe that the affair was over and their "long period of healing" began in 2006.


* Deceiver comments on the recent events: Big Baby to Admit Paternity of Little Baby? and Least Shocking Edwards Story Ever?.

Recall that previously Edwards said he was eager to do the DNA test, but Rielle refused. Which sure was convenient. That’s the problem with hush money: When the money stops, so does the hushing.

* Edwards still harbors the delusion that he is not finished as a national political figure. Apparently, it has not occurred to him that whatever the grand jury decides, he's guilty: either of providing for his mistress with campaign funds--or of merely being just another deadbeat dad.

In either case, only the most narcissistic of politicians would be encouraged.

You know its a lost cause when even the Washington Post admits that John Edwards a Lot Short of 99%.


* Are the Edwards still together? Technically, they are.

DBKP interviewed some residents in the Edwards' neighborhood who say that the couple does not live together. One said that "John does not live at their home, but does watch the kids." Edwards spends a good deal of time during the fall and winter at their residence on Figure Eight Island. Figure Eight Island is a gated private oceanfront community close to Wilmington NC.


* Andrew Young, the political aide-cum-father, readies publication of a tell-all book, complete with John Edwards-Rielle Hunter sex tape revelations.

The basic problem with the book: how much can we believe from the man who (through his attorney in December 2007] claimed he was "the father of Ms. Hunter's unborn child"? [UPDATE: JOHN EDWARDS LOVE CHILD SCANDAL!]

Strangely, at the end of the day, Young may come out the best of the bunch.

Though he lied, he only did so in that December 2007 statement and in exchanges with the National Enquirer's reporters. Both John and Elizabeth Edwards, Rielle Hunter and the media continued their deceptions--sometimes to the public and to themselves--repeatedly.

Andrew Young, though partially motivated by profit, could at least say that he did what he did because of someone in whom he believed.


by Mondo Frazier

Crossed fingers image, courtesy http://www.newyorkpersonalinjuryattorneyblog.com

John Edwards Affair: Edwards Attempts Political Resurrection

John Edwards Affair/Scandal/Coverup:
Democrat Party Pariah Attempts to Resurrect
A Political Career in Shambles



Former VP candidate Speaks for First Time in Months

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John Edwards is hoping that a third media blackout is the charm to resurrecting what remains of his battered political career.

• The first media blackout was by a protective Mainstream Media which protected both Edwards and MSM news customers of all news about Edwards' affair with mistress Rielle Hunter. It ran from November 2007 through August 8 2008, when Edwards 'confessed' on ABC's Nightline.
  
  
• The second media blackout as imposed by the Democrat Party. After Edwards' Nightline appearance, he was still under the illusion that his services were needed at the Democrat Convention in Denver. He was mistaken and prominent Democrats told him--both publicly and in private--"Thanks, but no thanks. Stay away."
  
  When Edwards attempted to resume speaking engagements after the Dem convention to keep himself in the public eye, he was again counseled to cool it. Edwards then issued a statement that he didn't want to be a "distraction" to an Obama campaign which had considered him as a top-tier VP candidate--before his ABC mea culpa. He canceled his remaining speaking engagements until after the election.
  
  
• The third media blackout has been imposed by Edwards himself. Edwards spoke at a closed-door appearance at Indiana University November 11. Recording devices and cameras were banned from the speaking room. Spontaneous questions were off-limits as well.
  
  Mary Catherine Ham says that Edwards, "only took written questions submitted beforehand, and the affair didn't come up. We shall have to wait."

Ham's assessment of an Edwards' comeback:

Can he make a comeback? Democrats were angry at him, not because he cheated (as they made sure to stipulate, so as to avoid being pegged as insufficiently non-judgmental), but because he endangered their electoral prospects. Surely, he'll stick around as a middling speaker, but in the Age of Obama, how does a sullied Southerner the Dems don't even need to gain the Bubba vote forge a path back to prominence?

Sounds like a good call to us.

DBKP: The John Edwards Scandal Library Over 120 DBKP stories on the affair/scandal/coverup from December 2007.

CNN's Andrew Mooney wonders about an Edwards' comeback as well--and also uses the 'P' word: pariah.

The man who had been considered a major contender for the Democratic nomination instantly became a pariah in his own party and didn't merit so much as a mention at the Democratic National Convention a month later.
...
But with the 2008 presidential election officially in the history books, Edwards may be looking to accomplish what a handful of other national political figures have been able to do: successfully re-emerge from an embarrassing public scandal that by all appearances has left his political career in ruins.

But Edwards' future just may hinge on how he goes about re-entering the public sphere. While it remains a long shot that Edwards will ever run for office again, he could re-emerge as a powerful voice for a set of issues he championed during the Democratic presidential primary: poverty and healthcare.

One wonders how effectively Edwards can talk about poverty when the multi-millionaire trial lawyer's experiences for decades have been more of the penthouse variety.

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SANCTUARY AMONG THE RESTROOM STALLS

The Mainstream Media blacked out all mention of Edwards' affair with Hunter for almost nine months. Even after reporters from the National Enquirer--an Edwards' nemesis throughout the affair--caught the former Democrat presidential candidate leaving Hunter's Beverly Hilton hotel room, the MSM refused to report on the spectacle of Edwards barricading himself in a public rest room at 3 am to escape the Enquirer's inquiring minds.

Edwards, who campaigned on the morality issue--he included his family and cancer-striken wife, Elizabeth prominently at campaign trail appearances--denied the allegation the Enquirer reports of his infidelity in October 2007.

Then, after a November 2007 interview in which Edwards boasted of "staring down the National Enquirer", the former NC senator didn't have to answer any unpleasant questions from a decidedly un-curious MSM for nine months.

All of that ended with the Enquirer's reporters attempting to question Edwards in the early AM on July 21 in the Beverly Hilton. Though Fox News confirmed the confrontation a few days later, the MSM--except for a few newspapers--banned mention of the incident to their readers/viewers.

Edwards kept a high profile for several days, until MSM reporters from NC newspapers attempted to question Edwards after he spoke at an AARP symposium in Washington DC in late July.

Edwards ducked out on the reporters--escaping through a side entrance--and immediately ducked out of public life, retiring to his palatial spread outside Chapel Hill, NC. When he re-emerged from hiding on August 8, public statements appeared within minutes of each other from Edwards, wife Elizabeth and Edwards' campaign money-man, Fred Baron.

Parts of all three statements were later found to be disingenuously-parsed at best; falsehoods at worst.

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RIELLE BABY DRAMA
HUNTER KNOWS ALL, WRITES ALL?



Edwards denied being the father of Rielle Hunter's infant daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter--he still denies it--even after the Enquirer published pictures of Edwards holding Frances Quinn in a room at the Beverly Hilton. Skeptics, however, will point to Edwards' previous denials of the affair itself as proof that what Edwards alleges is not always reliable.

According to the National Enquirer, Rielle Hunter is writing an explosive tell-all book about her affair with Edwards--as a sort of insurance policy, in case her money payments stop.

Rielle Hunter aka Lisa Druck the 44 year-old divorcee, former videographer and mother of Edwards' love child plans to publish the bombshell tell-all only if the "hush money" she's been receiving ends, sources reveal.

Fred Baron, the wealthy Dallas ex-trial lawyer and former fiancé chairman for Sen. Edwards failed presidential bid died Halloween Eve, Oct. 30, from complications of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Baron had admitted paying Hunter's bills and also those of Andrew Young, another Edwards' crony who claims the baby is his.

Now that Baron is dead, Rielle, who has no job not source of income, realizes her serial payments could end unless Edwards makes them directly -- which so far he has refused.

Before he died, Baron maintained that the money he was doling out to both Hunter and long-time Edwards' operative, Andrew Young--who initially claimed Hunter's baby was his--was from his personal money stash and that Baron was making the payments without Edwards' knowledge.

ENQUIRER: "Now Rielle is writing an explosive tell-all memoir that blow the lid off the whole steamy affair and cover-up - a book that could keep her and her love child rolling in greenbacks for years to come.

"Rielle views the book as her personal insurance policy," an insider divulged.

"She's been keeping a journal since she began her affair with John."

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DIRTY DIAPER DNA

Rumors abound over the possession by the Enquirer of one of Frances Quinn's dirty diapers. From Did John Edwards father child of Rielle Hunter? The latest poop:

Even though he admitted cheating with campaign staffer Rielle Hunter (top), The National Enquirer wants to prove he's the father of Hunter's baby. How? We hear that, on the night they caught Edwards visiting Hunter and child at a Beverly Hills hotel, Enquirer reporters grabbed one of the baby's poopy diapers.

Now, say sources, intrepid Enquirer editor David Perel hopes to compare the infant's stinky DNA with that of Edwards, who has denied paternity. "All they need is a cup he drank from," an insider tells us.

"I will neither confirm nor deny possession of a dirty diaper," Perel said dryly. "But I would like to do a DNA test."

David Perel told DBKP: "There's a lot of ways to go on DNA testing."

"I'm not saying we have material for DNA testing. But if we did, at some point we'd be interested in having a test done."

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Edwards appeared in San Francisco on Wednesday at a private debate with former Bush honcho, Karl Rove, in front of a group of bankers. Two nights, two speaking engagements, one question: Does John Edwards really think he has a political future?

Some former staff members are doubtful.

But even as Edwards is appearing to take the first steps toward a comeback, former supporters -- many of whom where blindsided by his admission of infidelity -- may be unwilling to give him a second chance this soon.

"I wish he would keep himself locked in a cave for a year," a former senior staffer to Edwards' campaign said. "The best strategy he could adopt right now is to stay below the radar and just be quiet and let people move on."

One wonders what John Edwards would do with himself without politics. He speaks on political subjects and clearly was comfortable in the limelight. Sources tell DBKP that Edwards "isn't much interested in returning to the courtroom any time soon."

Edwards is not the only one hoping for a comeback. Others also wait for an Edwards' resurrection. Edwards' return to the spotlight might touch off a cottage industry of tell-all books by others involved in the Edwards' affair: Andrew Young, Bob McGovern, Pigeon O'Brien, perhaps even Andrew Baron.

Interested or not, John Edwards may not be the one who makes the call between a return to politicis or the courtroom: a political career seems likely to be wishful thinking.

Especially, if Rielle Hunter cashes in her "personal insurance policy" and publishes her tell-all book.


by Mondo Frazier
images:
* national enquirer
* dbkp file
* aycu26
* Doug Ross@journal

John Edwards Scandal: Edwards, Hunter, Young, Baron and Karma

KARMA COALITION
John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, Andrew Young, Rielle Hunter, Fred Baron




The saying goes that good karma is like a boomerang; the more good karma one spreads, the more you get back in return. However, to those associated/affiliated with John Edwards and Rielle Hunter, the opposite seems to be in play.

Take, for example, Elizabeth Edwards, the wounded spouse in this tawdry affair. Denied a run for the White House by primary voters, the Democratic Convention was supposed to be the Edwards’ centerpiece for health care reform.

Instead, due to the fallout from John Edward’s tawdry escapades, a prime-time speech slot was hastily rescinded. Worse, while Elizabeth Edwards received an initial burst of goodwill and enthusiasm from disappointed Democrats, that goodwill disappeared in the night like will o’ wisp through inopportune interviews where it was revealed that Elizabeth had been complicit in her husband’s perfidy.

As for John Edwards, he’s certainly kept a low profile these past months, at one point even being banished from the family home, and he canceled a slew of lucrative speaking engagements. Rumors persist that after the election, Edwards intends to mount a “comeback.” How he intends to do this remains unclear at this time; a round of Oprah, Leno and Letterman, perhaps?

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Over 120 stories about the John Edwards Affair/Scandal/Coverup:
Library of DBKP John Edwards Stories

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Rielle Hunter seems to have drifted off the reservation, the frenzy around her seemingly abated. Tabloid press and gossip sites which ran Rielle Hunter 24/7 have, by all appearances, called off the dogs. Even the National Enquirer seems off the hunt. If there are any more bombshells in the Edwards-Hunter arsenal, perhaps the NE is holding it until after the election.

Andrew Young, the ex-John Edwards staffer and alleged “father” of Baby Frances Quinn, is supposedly back in North Carolina, along with his wife and other children, awaiting the completion of his million-dollar mansion, the one he built with no visible means of support.

Unfortunately for Fred Baron, the Texas lawyer and Democrat big wig who financed Hunter and Young’s cross country trips and manse rentals out of the goodness of his heart, he’s in the battle of his life.

According to his son Andrew, the elder Baron was recently diagnosed with final stage Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow, and given days to live.

After initially being denied access to Tysabri, a last chance experimental drug undergoing clinical trials, despite entreaties by President Bill Clinton, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator John Kerry, Senator John Harkin, Lance Armstrong and Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach (head of the FDA), Baron is now receiving the drug under the auspices of The Mayo Clinic.

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NOTES:
* Does John Edwards plan on trying to resurrect his political career? Apparently so. The ex-VP candidate and NC Senator has speaking engagements planned for after the election, starting with an appearance at Indiana University on November 11.
* Elizabeth Edwards says that her condition has not worsened, according to reports. She continues to speak in favor of socialized health care.
* Rielle Hunter is rumored to be co-producer of a movie, a move some are saying is one of the quiet payoffs for remaining quiet over the paternity of her daughter.
* The New York Post is rumored to have new photos coming out in the near future of Rielle Hunter and daughter, Frances Quinn.
* Andrew Young, according to some sources, has moved into his new multi-million dollar home. He is still reported to be without visible means of support.

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by CB
images: file

CB writes at PJ MacIlvaine. "Confessions Of A Very Sweet Screenwriter/Journalist/Mommy/Proud Bleeding Heart Liberal"

John Edwards Affair: Light, Action, Swingers, Camera, Movies!

John Edwards Affair
Love Child Scandal and/or Cover-up News:
* Swingers in the Edwards' Cover-up?
* That Might Explain Rielle Hunter, Andrew and Cheri Young Living Arrangements
* John Edwards as Rock Star
* Rielle Hunter to Produce Hollywood Movie?
* Movie Used as Money Conduit or Gag?
* John Edwards Has the Best of Both Worlds




We're on the road checking out rumors of a different nature for a story Sunday, so we've gathered bits and pieces from the John Edwards Affair/Scandal/Cover-up and mixed them all together in no particular order.

What's rumor and what's the cold-hard truth?

As always, what is known is presented, as is what is being guessed or whispered about.

The readers, as always, can then make up their own minds.


* SWINGERS CLUB Close to Edwards' Campaign HQ?


According to Mo, at Morons in Chapel Hill, "Is There A Swinger's Club Based At Southern Village?

Fresh from the rumor mill: A swingers group or club in or around Southern Village is having trouble with a member or couple who have decided to expose the groups activities. This group (if it exists at all) has flown under the radar for several years and has had participants travel from as far away as California to join in "events" sponsored by this group. Even more interesting is that there is a possibility that someone with genuine political connections is involved with the group.

The story adds that there's no confirmation, but that, "There is or was a polyamory group in Durham that often advertised in the Independent. There are separate bondage groups based in Raleigh and Winston Salem, so a swingers group in Chapel Hill would not be a big surprise."

Of course, this may or may not have anything to do with the John Edwards scandal.


* SWINGING EXPLAINS YOUNG-HUNTER-YOUNG LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

It might explain--if true--why the unusual living arrangements of Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri, didn't seem so unusual to those involved in the madcap coverup.

As LBG noted back in December--when Rielle Hunter, Edwards' mistress and supposedly pregnant with Andrew Young's baby, moved right down the street from Andrew and Cheri Young--in "Rielle Hunter: Kept Woman":

Former Edwards campaign Director of Operations, Andrew Young, gives Open Marriage advocates something to cheer about.

The 41-year-old former “North Carolina Finance Director” of the Edwards campaign has stepped forward and not only claimed the “alleged” love child of John Edwards as his but has also moved his six months pregnant mistress, Reille Hunter, into the same multi-million dollar gated community as his own wife and children.

No word from Young’s wife on how well she’s adjusted to the new neighbor, the ‘other’ woman and the impending “bundle of joy.”

According to the National Enquirer, the bald headed stepchild of the MSM, an unnamed source claims Young, and his ‘first’ family, his legally married wife and legitimate children, had dinner with his pregnant paramour in her newly acquired abode.

This was all before surrogate sugar daddy, Fred Baron, standing in for John Edwards, moved Rielle Hunter, sugar baby Frances Quinn Hunter, and Andrew Young, wife Cheri, and family to Santa Barbara--all into the same house as one big family family.

Who wrote the script for Edwards' and Baron's cover-up material: the Marx Brothers?

The only two groups of people in America that have believed the screwball cover-up antics of the Edwards' gang have been 1-foaming-at-the-mouth Edwards' supporters; and, 2-the Mainstream Media.


* JOHN EDWARDS, ROCK STAR
RIELLE HUNTER, MOVIE STAR




[ABOVE: Barack Obama isn't the only Democrat who rode the "rock star" meme during the 2008 campaign. John Edwards, from the photo above, also seemed to know his way around a mosh pit.]


Hunter in Malibu, says one gossip site:

...insist my beachy real estate moles who swear on their leased Mercedes guzzlers that Reille has landed in simply the most perf place for persecuted, peroxided types: Malibu.

A DBKP's comment by Love Lips on "John Edwards Affair: Rielle Hunter, the Bird in A Gilded Cage" remarked:

There are rumors in Hollywood that Rielle Hunter has told friends that she is writing for and will be a silent partner on a movie production done by the team that did FIghting Words to be financed solely by asbestos lawyers including Fred Baron.

"Fighting Words" was produced by another trial attorney, Robert Zaytoun of NC. Fortunate Son, at Deceiver, on the same story, "Elizabeth Edwards Feeds the Monster Whether She Likes It or Not" notes that, "Wake County lawyer Robert E. Zaytoun was John Edwards’ co-counsel in malpractice case(s)".

When Raleigh lawyer Robert Zaytoun was approached by one of his best friends to produce a movie, his first thought was, "That's a good way to lose money."

Might Hunter's film also be a good way to channel (lose) money?

We recall a conversation with Drew Carey in the 1990s when Carey related that "if you want to make a lot of money, shoot a movie pilot". Carey created, wrote, was executive producer for a time and directed, as well as starred in "The Drew Carey Show".

Might Hunter be involved in ways that could channel money for her performing, writing, producing and/or directing in a film project--regardless of whether the movie ever sees the light of day?

Might this also be a way of keeping Hunter--the one person who could surely blow the lid off of the Edwards' story--happy and quiet? Snoop-diggety-dang-dog thinks so.

"Perhaps that’s what Fred Baron’s ’slow-pitch’ movie deal for Rielle is all about? Keep her yap shut for 46 more days so this doesn’t become ‘an October surprise’."

Rielle Hunter will keep her yap shut until she realizes that she's been had by John Edwards and Fred Baron.

LBG nailed it: for now, she's a bird in a gilded cage.

Hunter doesn’t seem to realize that for Edwards to ever have a relationship with her he would have to admit he lied during his “confession” on ABC’s Nightline when he was supposed to be telling the country the truth.

Hunter doesn’t realize that Edwards will never forgive her for being the cause of his fall from public grace, no matter the degree of his own cupability.

Hunter doesn’t realize that having a baby with John Edwards doesn’t count, as he had four babies with his wife Elizabeth and he still cheated on her in the end.

Hunter doesn’t realize that, to the country, she will always be seen as a wanton woman, in it for the money, power, or fame, take your pick, courtesy of John Edwards and Fred Baron’s scheme to hide the relationship. In an attempt to salvage his own reputation, Edwards had Hunter’s viciously savaged as an opportunist willing to sleep with married men, an “extortionist” willing to use her baby for her own “ends”.

* JOHN EDWARDS: BEST of BOTH WORLDS

It's been reported that John Edwards has been kicked out of his palatial digs and lives apart from wife, Elizabeth at Figure Eight Island, NC.

If that is the case, then John Edwards has the best of all cover-up worlds. When on the phone to wife, Elizabeth, he could paint the best of times about their marriage. When on the phone to mistress, Rielle Hunter, he could paint the worst of times about his marriage.

It would be the supreme way to keep Rielle Hunter "on the hook" and quiet.

One source told us that Rielle doesn't think people "understand" the situation he and Edwards are in. At some point, Hunter will understand the situation--not she and John Edwards are in, but the situation that she's put Fred Baron in--and his trial lawyers investors and their millions upon millions of dollars investment in Edwards White House chances.

Meanwhile, the Edwards's strategy seems to be: evade the media--who was never inquisitive at all prior to August-- and let the public's short memory fade and he'll resurrect his political career.

* ODDS & ENDS

* Among the phone conversations, emails, stories and comments we received this past week concerning John Edwards and Rielle Hunter:

--Hunter thought that Edwards had a big Schwanzstucker, according to one conversation.
--In another conversation, it was related that "she [Rielle Hunter] thought that he [John Edwards] was a great lover". Which prompted the question, "Why did she think that?" Which prompted the another reference to the Schwanzstucker.
--Elizabeth Edwards Feeds the Monster Whether She Likes It or Not
--Hunter was living off the kindness of friends and strangers until she struck trial lawyer paydirt in John Edwards. Before she was moved to the Governor's Club in Chapel Hill, Mimi Hockman was Hunter's source of lodging.

Quite a long step up from Mimi Hockman's NJ pad and Fred Baron's Malibu beachside accomodations, huh?


by Mondo

John Edwards Affair: Andrew Young, Deadbeat Dad

John Edwards' News:
John Edwards - Rielle Hunter
Fred Baron - Andrew Young - Frances Quinn Hunter





Andrew Young, Deadbeat Dad?


Where is Gloria Allred?

Where are all the child advocates?

Who speaks for 26-week-old Frances Quinn Hunter?

The National Enquirer has reported that Andrew Young--the loyal campaign foot soldier who took a bullet for the team and claimed he was the father of Rielle Hunter's daughter, Frances--"has never given her [Hunter and daughter] a dime.

"Andrew Young hasn't paid a red cent to Rielle or her baby Frances because he's never had a relationship with Rielle and he's not the father," revealed a close source.

"He hasn't even spoken to Rielle in almost two months since she lived with him and his wife Cheri and their three kids in Santa Barbara, Calif., as part of the cover-up.

If that is all true--and the Enquirer has batted 1.000 in the story thus far--that would make Andrew Young a deadbeat dad.




[Background information: access over 100 DBKP stories on the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter affair, scandal and cover-up: John Edwards Love Child Scandal Library.]


It's been reported that Andrew Young, Cheri Young and their children have tired of Southern California and made their way back to North Carolina. For a time, reports were that they moved back into the Governor's Club house of ex-NBA player, Eric Montross.

Andrew Young is awaiting the finishing of construction on a new home--which will be valued at well over $1 million--which is said to be the payoff for his claiming paternity for Hunter's baby.




Actually, that is going too far: Young has never claimed to be the father of Frances Quinn Hunter. There was no name on the birth certificate. Young has never, according to the Enquirer, "paid a dime" in child support.

In fact, the only time that Andrew Young claimed to be the father was back in December.

Once.

Through a Fred Baron-arranged attorney.

In response to the National Enquirer's December edition of the scandal.

Young's attorney provided a statement at that time--no other statements have been provided--and no other announcements were forthcoming or needed. But the lone statement accomplished its intention: it quelled any curiosity in the MSM over the strange events of Edwards, Hunter, Young and the campaign's handling of the the escapade.

It allowed CBS News' Bob Shieffer to roll over and go back to sleep.

There's no report of Andrew Young ever being asked about his relationship with Hunter by any MSM reporter. The Enquirer reports that "now Andrew Young has simply clammed up".

Our observation: not much clamming up was needed.

The MSM? They're too busy looking into McCain VP pick, Sarah Palin, and the "bloody, dead caribou the mom just shot."

Which leads to this story of Andrew Young, the tight-lipped deadbeat dad--and the equally-tight-lipped child advocates of the left.

The Enquirer's source continued, "The Youngs no longer have contact with Rielle. Now if Andrew was indeed the father, don't you think Rielle would be asking for child support?

"But Andrew never has supported Rielle financially."

Who has been supporting Rielle Hunter and daughter, Frances Q.?

SHE AIN'T HEAVY, SHE'S EDWARDS' BABY




Fred Baron hasn't been making many statements, other than the occasional lawyerly deflection to the Dallas Morning News. Oh, and his dodging an ABC News team that was shadowing him at the Democrat National Convention.

For their investigative trouble, ABC producer, Asa Eslocker, got bum-rushed by the cops, pushed into traffic and choked, before being arrested.

However, that was only a blip to the brave members of the MSM Fourth Estate.

Former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox seems to sum up the Fred Baron attitude toward any unwanted publicity over Baron's payments to Rielle Hunter.

"You know they indicted me, but we survived it," said Mr. Mattox, who was acquitted of a felony bribery charge in 1985."

Mr. Baron, who attended the brunch with his wife, Lisa Blue, didn't appear to see the connection. "Hey, I've done nothing wrong," he said.

Mr. Baron is absolutely confirmed in his above opinion by the intrepid reporters of the MSM--ABC excepted.

EDWARDS EXPANDS, THEN CONTRACTS, HIS SPEAKING SCHEDULE

John Edwards first sought last week to "fill out" his speaking schedule. He ran from that pronouncement almost as as quickly as he did when pursued by National Enquirer reporters in the Beverly Hilton.

Perhaps, with a little help from his friends at the DNC and the Obama-Biden campaign.

Only last week, a spokesman said that John Edwards was looking to fill out speaking schedule. So, he followed in the footsteps of his wife and canceled his speaking appearance at Hofstra University. Strange way to expand your appearances.

“Nothing is more important than electing Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” Edwards said in a statement released Thursday by the Harry Walker Agency in Manhattan. “I don’t want my appearance at these events to be a distraction from the important issues of the election, or from the important purpose of these meetings.”

Which prompted Simon at Deceiver to raise the question: Is Edwards admitting that he's a political liability?

Hey, wait a sec… I thought Edwards was a private citizen? I thought this scandal had absolutely nothing to do with Obama? But there it is in black and white gray and slightly lighter gray: Edwards just went out of his way to link himself to Obama. Otherwise, why would appearing in public be a distraction from Obama’s campaign?

All good questions.

All good questions that won't be appearing on CNN or in the New York Times.

If those two stellar members of Big Media had handled the Edwards and Palin stories in the same manner, Palin would have had to bought time and space to get her name mentioned.


CONVENTIONS A BLESSING FOR EDWARDS, MSM




The two-week convention season was heaven-sent for both John Edwards and the Mainstream Media: Edwards didn't see the odd newspaper story with his name in it; and, the Mainstream Media had a toy: John McCain VP pick, Gov. Sarah Palin, of Alaska.

Edwards and Rielle Hunter's personal lives were not news when he was running for president.

The elaborate and bizarre cover-up that Edwards undertook was not news, either.

First, loyal Edwards' operative, Andrew Young--who initially claimed he was the father Hunter's baby--moved a pregnant Hunter a few blocks away from his wife and their small children in Chapel Hill, NC. When the Enquirer tracked Hunter down to NC, Edwards' money-man, Fred Baron, got involved.

Baron flew Hunter, Young and Young's wife and children to Santa Barbara, where, in a sort of modern-day Beverly Hillbillies twist, they all lived in the same multi-million dollar house as one happy family.

That not news to the MSM.

July 21, John Edwards got caught by the National Enquirer's reporters leaving Rielle Hunter's hotel room in the Beverly Hilton at 2:40 in the morning. When confronted, Edwards ran into a men's room, barricaded the door and had to be rescued by hotel security guards.

Again, to the MSM, this was not news, even though Edwards had been identified as being on the Obama VP shortlist that same week by Time. The fact that the possible Dem VP was hiding in a hotel mens room didn't enter into the "vetting process" of Time's Joe Klein.

The teen-aged father of Bristol Palin's baby caught the keen journalistic eye of Klein and his comrades; the father of Rielle Hunter's baby, didn't.

Nothing interested Big Media: until ABC got involved and confronted Edwards on August 8. Edwards then gave his blessing to the MSM to inform their readers/viewers about the unpleasant situation.

Here's a tip for the Mainstream Media: tell your remaining news customers that you're trying to make up for your lack of investigation in the John Edwards' scandal by doubling your investigative efforts on Sarah Palin's 16-year-old pregnant daughter.

It's not believable.

But, it doesn't have to be believable to be a hit at the next cocktail party that Joe Klein attends.


by Mondoreb
images: National Enquirer; jack boulware
Source: JOHN EDWARDS SCANDAL NEWS: NO CHILD $UPPORT FROM 'DAD'

John Edwards Affair: MSM, Bob Schieffer and the Schieffer Standard

The "Schieffer Standard"
Lethargy over John Edwards Scandal Returns to MSM




In the John Edwards Scandal, CBS News' Bob Schieffer serves as the poster child for the ADHD Mainstream Media.

After a spike in coverage--largely composed of stories about why the MSM didn't allow their customers news of the John Edwards affair, scandal and cover-up before John Edwards gave the Dinosaur Press his okay--the MSM has 'moved on' to more pleasant topics, leaving the scandal's reporting and investigation to the National Enquirer and the blogosphere.

Bob Schieffer, of CBS, might well one day become a case study in Journalism 101's "Death of the Dinosaurs" chapter. From the beginning, Schieffer has racked his brain for excuses for not bothering his remaining viewers with news of a presidential and vice-presidential contender's affair and cover-up in an election year. The fact that Schieffer "knows" John and Elizabeth Edwards, or that Edwards has the protective "D" after his name probably never blurred Schieffer's news "judgment".

In December, when the National Enquirer published pictures of pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, and the news that she'd moved to within five miles of the Edwards 08 for President campaign HQ in Chapel Hill, NC, Bob Schieffer wasn't interested in the story.

[Background information: access over 100 DBKP stories on the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter affair, scandal and cover-up: John Edwards Love Child Scandal Library.]

The Enquirer also published details of the Edwards' cover-up and the fact that Hunter was driving around in a BMW owned by Edwards' operative, Andrew Young. But none of that interested hard-bitten newsman, Bob Schieffer.

Here's what Schieffer had to say in December about why he wouldn't be reporting the John Edwards' affair:

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, you know I saw that this morning. I believe that — I believe that's a story that we will be avoiding, because it appears to me that there's absolutely nothing to it. I'm told that another — a man says that the child is his. I'm told that the woman who seems to be pregnant says it's not his. So I guess — I guess we're going to pass on that. Unless you come up with some new information on this, Don.
–When asked about the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter story On the Don Imus show

What sort of "new information" might have changed the news equation for Bob Schieffer?

How about John Edwards getting cornered by Enquirer reporters on July 21 in the Beverly Hilton after visiting Hunter?

Nope.

How about Edwards ducking reporters on July 30 who tried to question him about the Beverly Hilton events, after an Edwards' speech in Washington, DC?

No, again.

Apparently, it took John Edwards appearing on rival ABC's Nightline to confess to the affair--but not to the cover-up or the paternity of Hunter's daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter--to get the attention of Bob Schieffer.

Not sure if Bob Schieffer would have reported on it even then.

It took a personal phone call to Schieffer from John Edwards himself to convince steely-eyed journalist Bob Schieffer to comment on the matter at all. On August 8, Schieffer got the the go-ahead to talk about the Edwards-Hunter affair. Readers can decide for themselves if Schieffer sounds like a objective newsman or an Edwards' PR hack trying to soothe CBS' dwindling audience.

SCHIEFFER: Russ, just before we went on the air tonight, John Edwards called me and said he wanted to talk. He said that all this happened back in 2006 before he announced that he was running for president and that he told his wife Elizabeth about it then and that she forgave him. He said because of that he thought it was just between them. I've known John Edwards a long time and I asked him if I could talk to Elizabeth and she came to the phone. She was obviously in tears and didn't say much but she told me that he had told her about then and they had decided to move on.


MITCHELL: Why did he decide to tell it now?


SCHIEFFER: He said he said he just couldn't live with the constant pounding from the tabloids. It wasn't going to stop, I was being dogged and dogged, for the sake of my family I just had to end it, for the sake of my family. So he decided to confirm it and go on, he said, for the sake of his family. He said repeatedly that he took full responsibility for this. He told me he was certain the child was not his, that the affair was over long ago. When I asked him how Elizabeth was doing he said she is just amazing, like she always is.

Edwards' previous denials to the press in October 2007--which Schieffer now knew to be lies was barely remarked upon.

SCHIEFFER: When I asked him why he had denied the story over and over he said because so many of the stories had so much false information. He said what I should have done is confirm the part that was true and then live with it.

That explanation reveals why the story of the Edwards' coverup--in Bob Schiffer's mind--is a settle matter.

So, nineteen days after that phone call, how does Bob Schieffer feel about reporting on the man who lied to the press and the nation while running for president, vice-president and away from reporters?

Howard Kurtz reports Bob's current take, as told to those in Denver:

CBS's Bob Schieffer defended the media's reluctance to cover John Edwards's extramarital affair, saying Edwards's candidacy was over and "I don't see that we have time to be fooling with this."

Bob Schieffer kicks it into high gear

Bob Schieffer is leaving the investigative work to others, while he tackles weightier issues, like Paris Hilton.

Two days after Edwards called him on August 8, Schieffer was "standing up for old, white-haired dudes":

For example, if forced, we can drink coffee straight from a mug. We don't need to sip it through a little hole in a plastic top in a cardboard container to make it taste good.

Bob also allowed in that piece that "our memory sometimes fails us".

Apparently, one blogger thought Bob's memory failed him a couple days before the December 18 revelations in the Enquirer. "Face it! Bob Schieffer is an Idiot." critiques Schieffer's interview on December 16 with--surprise!--John Edwards.

Bob Schieffer blows my mind. He’s the CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent, yet he still doesn’t seem to have a clue about the basics of United States government. Bob… the U.S. has three branches of government, not four. Big corporations are not a branch of the U.S. government. I know it’s confusing, but no matter how many politicians they buy or lobbyists they have writing laws, they are not a branch of government. We don’t have to sit down to the table and negotiate with corporations. The actual government’s job is to make laws to protect citizens and regulate corporations.

On this December 16, 2007 broadcast, he asked John Edwards why he was taking such an aggressive stance against corporate interests instead of sitting down with them to negotiate.

Bob continues to leave the heavy lifting in the story to the Enquirer and the blogosphere. He seems to echo all of those ex-MSM guys who've had the sense to leave Big Media and seek employment in academia.

One such Nutty Journalism Prof is DAVID HAZINSKI, ex-NBC/MSM-turned-"Mad Professor of Media" at UGA who, in December coincidently, railed against the "dangers" of citizen journalists and offered remedies; one of which was:

"Major news organizations must create standards to substantiate citizen-contributed information and video, and ensure its accuracy and authenticity."
--From Citizen Journalism: "911, I'd Like to Report an Unregulated Blogger"


Here's Hazinski's chance: he could create the "Schieffer Standard" of news reporting to bring citizen journalists to the same standard employed by Bob Scheiffer at CBS News!

From December 23, "The Edwards Scandal, The Press, The Enquirer and the Blogosphere":

"I said I need back-up!! NOW!!
I got Bob Schieffer's sense of curiosity here!"

A presidential candidate and his campaign's mysterious video: one that was produced with the high hopes of making the candidate better-known, only to have that hope fulfilled when it disappeared from public view.

That doesn't excite Bob Schieffer.

A presidential candidate who isn't asked by the press if he denies being in phone contact with his alleged mistress since she discovered she's pregnant. Indeed, the Mainstream press didn't go postal: they went Emily Post-al, as in, "let's not make any waves, that's not polite; might get us thrown out of the candidate's press tent."

That doesn't excite Bob Schieffer.

A presidential candidate's alleged mistress moving close to campaign headquarters, driving around in a BMW owned by the campaign's former Director of Operations, living in a house owned by the campaign's backer, having her bills and living expenses paid for–well, who is paying them?

Doesn't matter.

That wouldn't likely excite Bob Schieffer, either.

What would excite cynical, seasoned, experienced CBS newsman, Bob Schieffer?

Bob Schieffer: Star Light, Star Bright…

The other question is if it all gets settled, and may well be by mid-February, what are we going to do after that? I would love it if the two parties have a special meeting (instead of conventions) and certify them as candidates. Wouldn't it be great to have them fly around the country on the same airplane and have debates?

Maybe Bob will get to fly on the plane!

Maybe Bob Schieffer will actually get to fly on the plane with John Edwards!

Goodie!

Wouldn't do to have that whole unpleasant business about mistresses and hiding campaign videos produced by her and her living arrangements come up, would it, Bob?

As we also stated in December: "But DBKP’s doesn’t mean to be picking on Bob Schieffer. We like Bob and always enjoyed watching “Face the Nation”.

Bob’s is shorthand for the attitude of the Mainstream Media."

He continues to play that role to this day.

One question, we suppose, Bob Schieffer will never get asked--and therefore, will never receive an answer--is "When would have been the best time to report on the John Edwards scandal?"

The answer might provide some insight for future journalism students into the "Schieffer Standard".


by Mondoreb
images:
* image of Schieffer on a segway: newsday
* dbkp file

John Edwards Affair: Many Big Campaign Donors Got Refunds in March

John Edwards' Two Americas:
The Fat Cats and Bundlers Who Got their Money Refunded;
The Working Stiffs Who Stayed in the Dark



* The John Edwards' campaign has already refunded $3,831,398 to contributors--many who contributed the maximum of $2300.
* 2,247 donors have already received money back from the John Edwards--many who are trial attorneys and political "bundlers"--and most received it back on March 24.
* Refunds to small donors under $100 have accounted for only 1/5th of one percent, so far, according to Open Secrets.com.
* The Edwards campaign still has $4,791,200 cash on hand, according to its July 31, 2008 filing.
* There are no instructions on the Edwards' campaign website for applying for a refund, though the campaign is still taking donations on the same site. It may be that refunds will be issued on a "first come, first serve" basis, but that is speculation. More on the refund process in a DBKP story to be published later Monday.

For any readers who gave money to the John Edwards' campaign and are now upset that perhaps that hard-earned $50 or $100 (or more) went to pay for Rielle Hunter's stay in the tony Governor's Club or Andrew Young's BWM that Hunter drove for awhile, there's hope yet to recover that money.

While searching for info on another John Edwards' story, DBKP's LBG uncovered something previously unreported in the media: the Edwards' campaign made a number of refunds to campaign contributors on March 24. Most were large contributors--trial attorneys and political contribution bundlers--and many received $2300, or more, back from the Edwards' campaign. Many not only received refunds themselves, but members of their families who had contributed also received checks from the campaign in March.

For a candidate that ran on a "Two Americas" theme, when it came time for refunds, only One America got campaign refund checks, while the other America was kept in the dark.

Until now.




Warren Buffet told CNBC last week: "I've seen a lot of class-action suits with less to it than this particular case. The facts are clear. I mean, he [John Edwards] solicited money and he wasn't telling the truth to the people he was soliciting it from."

Buffet was talking class action, but DBKP has learned that the Edwards' campaign has refunded $3,831,398--the bulk of it back on March 24, when the campaign quietly issued refunds to the vast majority of the 2,247 who've received their money back.

Many of those receiving refunds were big trial attorneys and bundlers--those political money men/women who round up boatloads of cash for a candidate's campaign.

One such bundler was Atlanta attorney, Stephen Leeds. He received $2300 back on March 24. Apparently, at least one of the contributors, who gave Leeds $750 of her money for Edwards, has not.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in a story Sunday of one such former Edwards' backer who wants her money back.

“That’s money I could have put in my children’s college fund,” state Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Atlanta) said of her contributions to Edwards.

Stuckey said she donated a total of $750 to Edwards and has contacted former Edwards backer Stephen Leeds trying to find out how to get a refund.

Leeds, an Atlanta attorney, has been an Edwards supporter since 2002 and was considered Edwards’ point man in metro Atlanta. Leeds said he now backs presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama and has no idea if there is any money in Edwards’ campaign coffers to return to disgruntled former supporters. He said he has not talked with Edwards since the scandal broke.

“John ended up dishonoring an awful lot of people in this process, from his family to a lot of his supporters,” said Leeds, who gave Edwards $2,300 for his primary run and $2,300 for the general election.

The Journal-Constitution reported that Leeds stated, "Any general fund campaign contributions will be returned to donors because he [Edwards] is not running in November".

Leeds should be able to help Benfield get her money back: Leeds received $2300 back from the campaign in March, according to Open Secrets.com.

Lee Stranahan predicted last week, in a Huffington Post article, that Democrats might want their money back from Edwards:

Some Democrats Will Want Their Money Back : It's already becoming something people are talking about informally but it's just a matter of time before lawsuits start because it's becoming clear that Edwards used campaign money to take his girlfriend on the road with him. Times are hard and this could become a new and innovative economic stimulus plan for Democrats.

Again, for the first lucky applicants, no lawsuits are necessary: just be at the front of the line and be the first on your block to get your John Edwards' stimulus check!

At least that's the speculation until later today, when a few experts in the field will give their views in a yet-to-be-published DBKP article.




More from Warren Buffett on the class-action matter:

CNBC: Did you ever give money to John Edwards along the way?

BUFFETT: No, I didn't--I didn't give money to John Edwards. And, in fact, I think if I'd given money to him, I'd probably be asking for it back now. It's an interesting situation because John Edwards essentially was soliciting money from people to further his ambitions for the presidency, and, you know, people sent him 50, $100, $200, and I would say that they sent it in while they were being misled by the person who was soliciting the money from them. And, you know, I think if I were Edwards, I might give up a haircut or two and refund at least, you know, the people that gave the 50 or $100, $200 items, because they-- if they had known the facts, they wouldn't have sent him the money, and he is the guy that didn't give them the facts. I mean, he knew that, in effect, he wouldn't be elected president. I mean, the story was out there during the campaign. He denied it, but it was out there. And, in fact, I've never heard of it, but it might be kind of interesting if somebody, some contributor, would bring a class-action suit on behalf of all these people who essentially were led to send money to a man under totally false circumstances, false pretenses, and where he knew it and didn't tell them the truth.

Mickey Kaus commented on the Buffett class-action idea:

Heh! ... I would think this would be a difficult precedent to contain--can donors sue McCain because he didn't, in fact, get "the message" from the defeat of his immigration semi-amnesty bill--and he knew it? Maybe businesses have to live with this sort of uncertain class-action threat when they dissemble. Politicians will never stand for it.

But again, why go the legal route--that seems more make-work for the bundler-types, many who've already received their refund checks--when you can apply to the Edwards campaign directly for your money back?

Time may be of the essence here: the campaign reported $4,791,200 cash on hand in its July 31 filing. Because there is no information on the Edwards' campaign website about a refund process--but one whole page dedicated to collecting donations is still active--contacting the campaign would seem to be a must.

And, "first come, first served" might be something for disgruntled Edwards' contributors to keep in mind. DBKP is still probing the matter and will have more on the process, as well as a story on who received their cash back in March, only seven weeks after the former NC senator called it quits.

One such contributor left a comment on one of our Edwards' stories just last week. Identified only as "emma", the comment may ring a bell with some former Edwards' contributors:

"...and i gave $500 to his campaign which went to pay for his whore’s meals! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But, there may be hope yet for emma.

She may not be a big campaign cash bundler--42% of all Edwards' bundlers received refunds so far, most on March 24--but 125 contributors who gave under $100 have gotten refunds back from the Edwards' campaign thus far.

In a story to be published later today, more facts about the March refunds:

* Who got their money back early?

Fred Baron was one, ex-NBA player Eric Montross--who rented his Governor's Club house to Andrew Young for awhile--was another. Many trial lawyers, such as John O'Quinn, William Lerach and Thomas Girardi, were in on the Edwards' early refund program.

* Who in Hollywood got back money already from the campaign?

* What small contributors--who earned big bucks--have already gotten their money back?

Also, later today: How to apply for refunds.

As J.G. Wentworth says in his TV commercials, "It's your money."


by Mondoreb
notes: LBG
images:
New sox
Confessions of a Wannabe Adman
Hiphop Republican

John Edwards, Rielle Hunter, Andrew Young, Fred Baron: Hiding in Plain Sight

John Edwards, Rielle Hunter, Andrew Young, Fred Baron:

"They're all still hiding, but they're hiding in plain sight. We can see them! Don't they know we can all see them hiding?"
--DBKP's LBG on the continued subterfuge in the John Edwards Scandal





Why is everyone in the John Edwards' scandal still hiding?

As LBG emailed recently, "They're all still hiding, but they're hiding in plain sight. We can see them! Don't they know we can all see them hiding?"

In what's likely to be the last story, before the National Enquirer publishs more baby pix to nail John Edwards' confessional lies to the barn door, a few observations and questions about the "99% honest" man:

*** Rielle Hunter continues to be jetted around the country, in an attempt to be kept out of sight of a suddenly-awakened MSM.

Why?

After the Edwards PR appearance on ABC's Nighline on August 8, the Enquirer released this information a week afterwards:

And now The ENQUIRER has uncovered that Edwards' political operatives are still paying his mistress Rielle Hunter - and she was whisked away on a private jet two days before he confessed their extramarital affair on national TV!

Again, we ask, "Why?"

Are these the actions of a "99% man"? Perhaps Edwards, who offered gallantly to submit to a paternity test, doesn't know anything about this? Perhaps it is just the actions of Edwards' finance chair, the equally-gallant Fred Baron?

The Enquirer's latest print edition reported, however, that "Trapped like a rat, John Edwards spoke those soothing words to his mistress Rielle Hunter after admitting to their illicit affair." The "soothing words Edwards spoke?

"Of course, I still love you. Don't worry, we'll get through this."

This was not widely--if at all--reported in a MSM that is now chasing the Enquirer's leads in the story after building an impressive wall of silence for months. Perhaps the MSM still handles the Enquirer's leads like days-old garbage?

The Enquirer is good enough to investigate the story, report the story, stay with the story for months and continues to be light-years ahead of the MSM in the quest for the "truth".

Big Media can now report the story of John Edwards, Fred Baron, Rielle Hunter, Andrew Young and details of the cover-up, not because the story was under their noses for the better part of a year: but because John Edwards gave them permission to investigate and report it when he went on ABC's Nightline August 8 and admitted his affair. BM (Big Media, though other, more earthy thoughts are brought to mind by the initials) will be taking its investigative marching orders from the National Enquirer for a while yet.

And likely seething the entire time.

*** John Edwards and Fred Baron's statements belie their actions. If the affair was over and John Edwards is not the father, then why are all the principals in the matter still acting like they have something to hide?

Andrew Young, the man who fell halfway on his sword for Edwards--he claimed in December he was the father, but didn't put his name on the birth certificate--has scooted back to North Carolina with his family.

Why doesn't Andrew Young issue another statement declaring his paternity of Frances Quinn Hunter? That wouldn't settle any questions, just as his December statement failed to settle any--except for decidedly un-curious MSM editors and reporters, most notably, CBS's Bob Scheiffer.

Scheiffer was rewarded for his infamously un-curious nature by getting a phone call from John Edwards shortly after his statement was released for the press on August 8. Edwards apparently knew he could count on good, ole Bob not to ask any unpleasant questions during that phone conversation.

In his statements, Baron is still treating the press like he's on trial with his carefully-parsed sentences. Who know? Perhaps Baron can see into the future?

John Edwards' carefully-crafted statement and interview answers are his last comments on the affair. It's hard to see how he can say anything at this point that would improve his situation.

Perhaps that's why John Edwards has been hard to see during the last 11 days: Edwards is still in the self-imposed seclusion he entered on July 30, after reporters attempted to question him about his "incident" at the Beverly Hilton on July 21.


*** Rielle Hunter is keeping mum, except to issue a statement through her Baron-suggested attorney that she's not willing to call for Edwards to take a paternity test. Hunter's sister, however, was not as close-lipped and did ask for Edwards to step up to the paternity plate.

Apparently, Melissa and Rielle did not consult on that point. Edwards and Baron did not consult about Rielle Hunter and her living arrangements and numerous private jet trips--according to their statements. [John Edwards Cover-up: Press Releases a Carefully-Orchestrated Affair?]

So, John Edwards, Andrew Young and Rielle Hunter have remained inaccessible to the pleadings of the press for more information.

*** Fred Baron has clarified, but hasn't exactly been a Pigeon O'Brien about appearing before the press to clear up matters, in the last few days.

"The bottom line to it is John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards had no knowledge of anything I did," Mr. Baron said. "I did it as a friend."

That was Fred Baron's last known utterance on the matter, reported by the Dallas Morning News.

It may be the last for awhile. The Enquirer is expected to publish this week more baby pictures, including, it is supposed, some that also feature John Edwards.

Which may force everyone involved to continue hiding in plain sight.


Deceiver channels the spirit of 19th-century French psychotherapist, Emile Coue: Every Day, in Every Way, the John Edwards Story Gets Better and Better. If you're short of time, a better John Edwards' go-to source is hard to find.


Oh and a shout out to Doc Sanity's latest edition of Carnival of the Insanities: she included pat's Christians in Muslim Countries: Saudi Girl Burned Alive for Being Christian in her weekly roundup of the bizarre and insane.


by Mondoreb
image: Amazon.com