Edwards admits to affair

Denies he fathered ex-aide's daughter; Political future damaged irreparably, some say

The affair, according to ABC, was with Rielle Hunter, who is in her early 40s. (Extra/Associated Press)

Former North Carolina senator John Edwards, a leading Democratic presidential candidate this year and in 2004 who became one of the party's most influential voices, acknowledged yesterday that he had an extramarital affair with a former campaign aide and had lied about it repeatedly.

Edwards, in an interview with ABC's "Nightline" slated for broadcast last night, said that the affair occurred while his wife Elizabeth's cancer was in remission. He denied that he fathered the aide's baby daughter, and offered to take a paternity test to prove it.

In a statement released late yesterday afternoon, he said he was "ashamed of my conduct and my choices."

"It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry," said Edwards, 55. "In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up - feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself. I have been stripped bare and will now work with everything I have to help my family and others who need my help."

The surprise admission by Edwards, prompted initially by reports on the affair in the National Enquirer, severely damages his political future, perhaps irreparably, according to analysts and former associates.

Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, was not considered a serious contender to be Senator Barack Obama's running mate this year, but he had been mentioned as a potential Cabinet secretary and speaker at this month's Democratic National Convention. He was also expected to help Obama on the stump, particularly to help court the white, lower- and middle-class voters who flocked to Edwards during the primaries.

Democratic media consultant Thomas "Tad" Devine, who knows the Edwardses well, said the revelation of the affair is politically devastating and promises to keep Edwards a good distance from Obama's general election campaign.

"In terms of politics, I do believe that doing anything now is not tenable," said Devine, who worked on Edwards's successful 1998 US Senate campaign. "That means actively campaigning for Barack Obama or having a role at the convention. He'd be a huge distraction."

The affair, according to ABC, was with Rielle Hunter, whose company was paid more than $100,000 from July 2006 through April 2007 by Edwards's political action committee to produce Web documentaries. Hunter, who is in her early 40s and traveled with Edwards on the campaign trail and to Africa, lacked experience in video production, ABC reported, and the Associated Press reported that the company produced short videos of Edwards in informal settings. Edwards told the network the affair began after she was hired.

The story was first broken last fall by the National Enquirer. At the time, Edwards, his aides, and Hunter insisted there was nothing to it.

"The story is false," Edwards told reporters, calling the allegation "untrue" and "ridiculous." He noted he had been in love with Elizabeth, his wife since 1977, for more than 30 years. "As anybody who's been around us knows, she's an extraordinary human being - warm, loving, beautiful, sexy, and as good a person as I have ever known."

Last month, Edwards dubbed the story "tabloid trash."

"I wanted to keep this mistake I had made two years previously private," he says in the ABC interview.

But the Enquirer kept publishing new reports about it, including one with photos of Edwards visiting Hunter and purportedly holding her daughter at a hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., last month. Edwards confirmed in the ABC interview that he had made the visit. He denied the Enquirer's report that he was the father of Hunter's daughter, who was born in February, saying the affair ended too soon, but said he had not taken a paternity test. Edwards said in his statement that he was willing to take one. "I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established," he said.

The Charlotte Observer reported last week that Hunter's daughter's birth certificate does not list her father. A former Edwards staffer, Andrew Young, has claimed he is her father.

The Enquirer also reported that a wealthy Edwards associate had paid Hunter money to help cover up the affair. Edwards said in his statement that he had no involvement in such a scheme, but told ABC that he would investigate whether friends or supporters had made such payments without his knowledge. NBC reported that Edwards's former national campaign finance chairman, Fred Baron, acknowledged making payments to Hunter and Young out of Baron's personal funds without the former senator's knowledge but denied it was hush money.

Edwards said in the statement that the affair was brief, beginning and ending in 2006. He said he told his wife about it at the time and asked for "forgiveness." "She was mad, she was angry - I think furious would be a good way to describe it," Edwards told ABC. In March 2007, Elizabeth Edwards disclosed that her cancer had returned and that it was incurable.

But Edwards told ABC that he had not told Elizabeth about last month's visit to Hunter. Elizabeth Edwards is a respected lawyer, healthcare activist, and Democratic leader in her own right who campaigned forcefully for her husband despite being diagnosed with cancer in 2004. The couple is scheduled to speak at "A Conversation with John and Elizabeth Edwards" at Salem State College on Sept. 23.

"There are two problems here: One is personal, and he and his family will have to work that out, and the other is that he apparently lied repeatedly about this," said Robert Shrum, a longtime Democratic strategist who helped Edwards win election to the Senate in 1998. "It's tragic for [Elizabeth] and the kids. . . . As a serious political candidate it would be very hard for him to be that again or to have a major job in government. The lying is a big part of that."

Edwards's admission of the affair deals a serious blow to his image as a tough, compassionate, and honest fighter for the poor and middle class, a persona he cultivated successfully during the Democratic primaries. He placed second behind Obama in the Iowa caucuses in January, but dropped out of the race on Jan. 30 after a poor showing in his native South Carolina.

"I'm just taken aback," said Rob Werner, a city councilor in Concord, N.H., who supported Edwards in both presidential campaigns and spent a great deal of time with him on the trail. "My observation was that he seemed very sincere. It never ceases to amaze me how often this happens."

David Bonior, Edwards's campaign manager for his 2008 presidential bid, angrily said that Edwards had "betrayed" his backers. "Thousands of friends of the senator's and his supporters have put their faith and confidence in him and he's let him down," Bonior told the Associated Press.

Obama's campaign declined to comment. An ashen-faced Hillary Clinton, campaigning for Obama in Las Vegas, said, "My thoughts and prayers are with the Edwards family, and that's all I have to say."

Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com.