Senator John Edwards is still dealing with the fallout of the Rielle Hunter story; Hunter allegedly had Edwards' child and served as a paid producer during his campaign.
Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has admitted that he had an extramarital affair during his White House campaign, according to excerpts of an interview on 08 August 2008 with US broadcaster ABC. EPA/TANNEN MAURY
The National Enquirer broke the story back during the presidential primaries, and first broke the news a month ago that Edwards was the subject of a federal probe that led to a closed door grand jury investigation.
The investigation is in the usage of campaign funds given to allegedly keep Rielle Hunter from going public with their relationship.
According to the Enquirer, she was paid more than $100,000 to produce campaign videos for Edward's campaign.
“I am confident that no funds from my campaign were used improperly,” Edwards said today to the Charlotte Observer.
“However, I know that it is the role of government to ensure that this is true. We have made available to the United States both the people and the information necessary to help them get the issue resolved efficiently and in a timely matter. We appreciate the diligence and professionalism of those involved and look forward to a conclusion.”
In early 2007, Hunter talked to Extra about her work producing webisodes for Edwards.
“I traveled for 6 months. It was great. We went to Africa which was an amazing experience going to Uganda. The whole experience was life altering for me... Working in politics and the travel. It was a brand new perspective and education.” She added, “It was a documentary series of the many sides of John Edwards and I wanted them to be not commercials, to actually show his humanity and to give the viewer access in.”
She continued, “It was great. Really it was. I love challenges.” Although still work, she admits, “It was incredible fun. Incredibly challenging…The paycheck helped.”
Hunter explained how she secured the job saying, “It was a random meeting. [Edwards] was in a business meeting in New York and I was in the same place….I don’t own the footage. I was hired…. [I am like the] producer/director. I pitched them. They are the studio. I went and pitched them the idea. They loved the idea and I got hired to do this job.”
She said, “I definitely believed I was hired because I am not interested in politics like most people in America. It was not interesting. From my perspective it was a gross environment. A lot of operatives and things aren’t always as they seem which is probably a positive way of saying that.”
As for her professional relationship, she said, “I was around him a lot so having a camera on him all the time I was able to capture that. He’s very real.” When asked what she learned about Edwards, she responded, “I have [spent a lot of time with him] and from my perspective what [other people] don’t know is how smart he is and how aware he is and how fair and open. For me what I was most in awe about was his ability to not be defensive. People say wild stuff to him day in and day out. Opinions about everything. He listens to all of it. He’s open and it’s an amazing thing. I don’t know how many people know that about him.”
Although Hunter worked for Edwards’ political campaign, she admitted, “I’ve never really been interested in politics. I’ve voted twice in my life. It’s just not something that has been interesting to me at all, and meeting John Edwards was interesting because in person when I met him he was very real and authentic from my perception. His public persona, what I knew of him in 2004, wasn’t really that in my opinion. So I came up with this idea to help him because he was inspirational to me to be involved in politics and be so real.”
According to FOX news, Former Sen. John Edwards could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if an investigation into his campaign finances yields an indictment, a guilty verdict and the maximum penalty.
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