John Edwards extramarital affair
Relationship between candidate John Edwards and filmmaker Rielle Hunter
In August 2008, John Edwards, a former United States Senator from North Carolina and a Democratic Party vice-presidential and presidential candidate, admitted to an extramarital affair, which was initially reported in December 2007 by the National Enquirer but was given little attention outside the tabloid press and political blogosphere. The Enquirer cited claims from an anonymous source that Edwards had engaged in an affair with Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker hired to work for his 2008 presidential campaign, and that Hunter had given birth to a child from the relationship. ABC News reported that Andrew Young, a member of Edwards' campaign team, stated that Edwards asked him to, "Get a doctor to fake the DNA results ... and to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."
In July 2008, several U.S. mainstream news outlets cited the allegations in relation to Edwards' future political career, as well as in relation to his chances of being selected as a running mate in Barack Obama's 2008 presidential bid. Then, on August 7, 2008, Edwards admitted to ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff that he did have an extended affair with Hunter, but denied that he was the father of Hunter's baby girl. Hunter's sister claimed that Edwards was the father and publicly asked Edwards to take a paternity test to determine whether the child was his. On January 21, 2010, Edwards issued a statement admitting that he was the father of Hunter's child.
After Edwards's admission, his wife Elizabeth announced a separation from her husband with an intention to file for divorce. When Edwards first admitted to the affair, he stated that Elizabeth was in remission from breast cancer. However, it became clear that Edwards continued the affair even after he and his wife made a joint announcement that her cancer had returned and was found to be terminal.
“John Edwards extramarital affair” enters the record as relationship between candidate John Edwards and filmmaker Rielle Hunter. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what John, Edwards and extramarital can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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