Washington - Former presidential candidate John Edwards
admitted Friday that he had an extramarital affair during the initial
stages of his campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination.
Edwards, who was also 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry's running
mate and a possibility for the spot again under Barack Obama,
admitted to an affair with Rielle Hunter, a 44-year-old filmmaker who
produced online documentaries for Edwards' campaign.
'In 2006, I made a serious error in judgement,' Edwards said in a
statement to US news media admitting the affair. 'I was and am
ashamed of my conduct and actions.'
US broadcaster ABC, which first broke the story, was to release a
full interview with Edwards Friday night.
Edwards' wife Elizabeth was diagnosed in 2004 with breast cancer,
which resurfaced in March 2007, this time as an incurable bone
tumour.
Edwards told ABC that the cancer was in remission when he began an
affair with Hunter, which reportedly went on for about two months in
late 2006, before he formally announced his candidacy for president.
The couple has two school-age children and an older daughter.
Edwards said he told his wife soon after the affair in 2006, but
admitted fighting to have kept it out of the public eye.
He had categorically denied media reports of the affair during his
campaign for the White House, and the exact details of the
relationship were still unclear. Edwards confirmed to ABC that he had
visited Hunter at a Los Angeles hotel as late as last month.
Edwards denied that he was the father of a child that Hunter gave
birth to in February and was planning to take a paternity test to
prove the fact. A former campaign aide, Andrew Young, has reportedly
admitted to fathering the child.
Edwards ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination in
February.
At an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, his one-time rival Hillary
Clinton said: 'My thoughts and prayers are with the Edwards family.'
USA
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