Showing posts with label national enquirer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label national enquirer. Show all posts
Money Talks, Suckers Walk
In regard to the stories about refunds of contributions to Big Wheels, I don't have strong feelings either way, and a couple of Devil's Advocates could argue both sides.
I do note, however, that even though the latest, baddest story was not broken until August 8 or thereabouts, the stories, both National Enquirer and blind items in the New York (Daily News or Post, I forget which), go back to at least August, 2007, and the bizarre stories regarding Ms. Hunter and Mr. Young developed months ago, so the campaign has been on notice that a big storm was on the horizon for much longer than August 8, 2008.
There were reasons a long time ago for the campaign to start placating big supporters in some way. Those are the supporters who probably have access to the candidate and campaign leaders, and who could influence action from general pressure and explicit statements of chagrin, whether there were specific questions as to why the candidate had not thought with his brain, and "what the heck is going on and I spent all my time bundling for you for this mess to develop?"
It is probable that most regular Jills and Joes who sent small donations would not have such access and implicit, if not explicit, influence. The regular Jills and Joes would get their info and ability - - or lack of ability - - to exert influence as a group from the MSM - - - and now back to square one re the MSM. When the recent explosive story came out and the MSM covered it - - or covered their failure to cover it - - Andrea Mitchell said on a cable news show that the journalist community had known about the stories for a long time. It sounds as if journalists knew and sat on it, and those in the inner circle knew, or knew something was stinky, and said, "I'm disappointed with you. I am taking your allowance away this year."
Most scenarios don't unfold all neat and tidy like on "Matlock," where the evidence is so obvious the lawyer just explains it in a five minute narrative and then asks the stunned and cowering witness, merely, "Isn't that true?" It is a mistake to assume after the fact, with enhanced hindsight, that all actions in any scenario took place with perfect knowledge on behalf of the actor. It may simply be a case of the squeaky wheel got the grease.
Big supporters may have been harrumphing because they knew something was up, whereas regular Jills and Joes may have had to choose between the National Enquirer and John Edwards, their hero, who said it was all a pack of lies.
To be fair to all donors, big and small, if there was not enough money to repay all contributions, then the campaign should have issued pro rata refunds to all donors in both Americas, without waiting to be asked.
[Background information: access over 100 DBKP stories on the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter affair, scandal and cover-up: John Edwards Love Child Scandal Library.]
by Phil Ander
image: learnsomethingnewtoday
Fly the Friendly Skies of Fred
An Appeal for Tail Number from Fred Baron's Plane
John Edwards is embroiled in a Chinese water torture-like hell of his own making and Fred Baron is apparently along for the (plane) ride.
DBKP wrote yesterday of some odd arrangements between Fred Baron and the John Edwards campaign. More is planned for later today or tomorrow. In the meantime, we were sent notice of some related news.
[Background information: access over 100 DBKP stories on the John Edwards affair, scandal and cover-up in the John Edwards Love Child Scandal library.]
Laura Leslie, of WNCU North Carolina Public Radio, is perplexed about the odd arrangements between the John Edwards campaign and finance chairman, Fred Baron.
Last but not least…Last night, I asked why Edwards’ campaign was paying its campaign finance chairman hundreds of thousands of dollars. (For the record, they usually don't get paid at all.) I got an answer today.
FEC records show the Edwards campaign actually paid “Frederick Baron” a lot more - about $1,024,000 over the course of 2007. According to OpenSecrets.org, it was reimbursement for airfare. In the last and current campaign cycles, Edwards frequently used a small private plane that Baron says he “has control of.” But Sept 2007 changes in election law require campaigns to report and pay for loaner planes at market rates.
Leslie goes on to say all's according to Hoyle and that Clinton and Obama spent more on airfare. But then this: "But some insider folks I talked to today raised a couple of red flags."
Red flags?
Who would've thought we'd be using "the Edwards Affair" and the subsequent cover-up and "red flags" in the same sentence? Not anyone in the MSM until late July.
Back to the Laura Leslie's red flags.
- When a candidate’s traveling to multiple destinations in a short time, private planes make more sense. But when it’s a simple itinerary, commercial airline travel is usually cheaper. Relatively speaking, Edwards’ folks spent a lot of time on his friend’s private plane, regardless of the price – especially surprising, given his tight fundraising battle with Clinton and Obama.
- Charter planes, no matter who owns them, are usually operated by some type of company. The campaign usually pays the operating business, not the owner. But in this case, records show the campaign wrote the checks directly to Frederick Baron. That's not illegal, but it's pretty unusual.
- Most nebulous but most interesting: one reputable source told me, “You know, if you wanted to move some money out of a campaign without too many questions, private airplane bills would be a really good way to do it.” Why? Even if you can crosscheck manifests and destinations (no small job, BTW – 122 billings in 2007 alone), the pricing itself can be tough to verify.
The day before, August 10, Patterico's noticed something at a "website called “Web of Deception” has the following interesting observation, complete with links supporting the allegations:"
Fred Baron provided money to Hunter and Young because he stated he liked them and during that exact period of time he was given $389,698.45 from the “John Edwards for President” campaign and received another $57,428.00 the month Hunter went into the hospital to give birth.
Patterico was so interested by all this that he sent Fred Baron an email to inquire into the curious nature of all of this. Mr. Baron responded:
The payments you reference were made to an aviation company that I control to reimburse travel expense from the campaign — the FEC mandates these charges to be paid by the campaign and they have been reported in our FEC public filings — I hope this answers your question.
Patterico noted that he "sent Mr. Baron a few follow-up questions," and "hoped he would respond".
It's our hope, too.
Laura Leslie finished her segment of John Edwards' travel musings with a mention of an "interesting coincidence".
Interesting coincidence: The day in 2007 that Edwards’ campaign spent the most on Baron’s jet – $89,562 – was October 9th, one day before the National Enquirer published allegations that Edwards was having an affair with an unnamed campaign staffer. (Edwards, for the record, was apparently on the ground in Iowa that day.)
Anyone following this story since December will notice that this is not the only "interesting coincidence" that has occurred. The John Edwards scandal is replete with such coincidences.
Did the Edwards campaign use travel billings to transfer money back to Fred Baron to transfer to Rielle Hunter? We can only speculate--for now.
While in December, the many, many coincidences in the Edwards-Hunter story excited no curiosity outside the offices of the National Enquirer and a few blogs, today they attract the attention of a much wider audience.
Which partially explains the "drip, drip, drip" that John Edwards and Fred Baron are currently feeling.
[NOTE: Any readers who can lay hands on a picture or registration number of Fred Baron's "mystery plane", might email DBKP (mondoreb@gmail.com). Any information which is used gets the lucky contributor an all-expenses paid, luxury hat tip.]
by Mondoreb
images:
* pjs group
* no fenders
Edwards STILL Covering Up Affair and Money
* Rille Hunter and Frances Quinn Hunter Pix
* Team of Six Edwards Donor Lawyers Assisting
* Hunter and Baby Stayed in Virgin Islands with Edwards and Obama Donor, Attorney Lee Rohn
* Edwards and Hunter Slept Together the "First Night They Met"
[Click images to enlarge.]
More bombshells for John Edwards and associates to deal with: the National Enquirer's latest print issue has published even more damaging information on the John Edwards Scandal.
Included on their website, "JOHN EDWARDS BLOCKBUSTER NEW EXPOSE!", is information that will be sure to prompt new questions for the "99% man".
[Picture of the Lee Rohn's Virgin Islands' house where Rielle Hunter and Frances Quinn Hunter stayed while in the Caribbean getaway.]
In what the Enquirer labels as, "Destination: St. Croix in the Virgin Islands!"
THE ENQUIRER tracked Rielle to St. Croix where our reporters discovered Rielle and the baby stayed in a luxurious oceanfront home owned by controversial trial lawyer Lee Rohn, another close friend of Edwards.
When visited by an ENQUIRER reporter on August 15, Rohn snapped a terse “No comment!” when questioned about Hunter.
Former Virgin Island Senator Anne Golden confirmed to THE ENQUIRER that “within 24 hours of their arrival that they were here and staying with Lee Rohn.”
After the ENQUIRER discovered Rielle’s hideaway with Rohn, she was moved to a motel on the island before returning to Santa Barbara on August 17 according to another source.
An ENQUIRER reporter then saw Rielle back in her California home, which is being paid for by Edwards’ former finance chairman Fred Baron.
Rohn has a "controversial" history, according to the Enquirer--and so she does. The native Texan, who is now a resident of the Virgin Islands, is a campaign donor to both John Edwards and Barack Obama.
LBG tracked down more Lee Rohn info:
"On 2/4/2008 Rohn contributed $1300 to Obama For America. On 9/30/2007, Rohn contributed $2300 to John Edwards.
Rohn's a member of the State Bar of Texas; Virgin Islands Bar Association, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (Member, Leaders Forum), and Virgin Islands Trial Lawyers Association (Founder and Member).
According to a 2004 article in the Virgin Island Daily News, Rohn has had several complaints about her professional conduct including coercing clients to sign false documents, ignoring judge's orders, personal attacks on judges, and profanity in the courtroom."
Source - Virgin Island Daily News
Source - Rohn Law Firm
Source - Rohn Campaign Contributions
The money trail from John Edwards--or perhaps his campaign--continues to unravel as the Enquirer reveals that a team of six more lawyers are involved.
None of this is paid for by Rielle. The money continues to come from Edwards’s network of loyal supporters, with no explanation from Edwards why he is having his friends continue to support Rielle now that the affair has been made public.
Edwards is not only aware of the hush money payoffs but orchestrated it with his team of former campaign advisors and now The ENQUIRER has discovered that a team of six more lawyers have been involved in the coverup and are funneling payments to Hunter, who has no money and no means of support.
The ENQUIRER has also learned that Hunter's own lawyer advised her to allow Edwards to take a paternity test but she refused out of misguided belief that Edwards will marry her after the death of his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth.
The ENQUIRER’s continuing blockbuster investigation also reveals the disgraced ex-senator is still in constant communication with his mistress!
DBKP also has some financial questions for John Edwards and Fred Baron in a story to be published immediately following the publication of this story. They involve the Edwards' campaign's use of Fred Baron's aircraft and the details, which publicly don't add up.
DBKP will publish updates to this story throughout the early morning as more details become available. The Enquirer's print edition becomes available shortly after 8 am EDT.
by Mondoreb & LBG
images; Lawyers.com; designrelated
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
John Edwardsibilia:
August 18, 2008
Edwards to editor on Hunter story last year: Did I mention my wife has cancer?
AllahPundit's wrath is a sight to behold. AP relates a story from John Edwards' hometown newspaper, The Raleigh News & Observer.
"Via Byron York, who calls it “breathtaking” when it’s really just par for the course."
By the time Edwards called, we had decided not to publish the story in the Friday paper. But Edwards didn’t know that. I wanted to hear what he had to say. We still could have reversed our decision. Edwards told me that the allegations were not true. He said The N&O was the paper that arrived on his doorstep every day, the one read by friends of him and his wife, Elizabeth. He said he’d never called before to complain or state his case. Given Elizabeth’s health — she has cancer — he said it was especially important to him that the story not run in The N&O. He was calling from an airport, and we spoke only a few minutes. I made no promises. Edwards’ comments were off the record. Because he has acknowledged he lied, I feel free to report them. |
Allah hits a couple nails on the head with the same hammer in the following paragraph.
Anything wrong with a guilty husband doing what little he can to protect his sick wife after the fact? Nope — except that, as we now know by Edwards’s own admission, Elizabeth Edwards had already learned about the affair by that point. He claims he told her in 2006; HuffPo’s timeline says it was April 2007 at the latest, fully six months before the Enquirer story broke. Which makes what he told the N&O a lie, and a bad lie at that. Was he seriously suggesting that she wouldn’t have found out about the story if their hometown paper hadn’t mentioned it when it was already screaming from every checkout counter in America?
Questions are being asked--and unlike December 2007, a horde of MSM reporters are not only on the story: they're upset that they swallowed John Edwards et.al.'s lies "hook, line and stinker", as LBG pointed out.
Deceiver has its daily dose of John Edwardsibilia, including these interesting finds:
- First things first: According to no less an authority than Pigeon O’Brien, Rielle is pronounced “Ree-elle.” Not “Riley” or “Real” or “Cosmic Babymaker McGee” or anything else. So that’s one unanswered question down, a zillion to go…
- When you’re campaigning for president and you think your hometown newspaper is about to run with a story about your infidelity — and, inevitably, the intricate and expensive coverup of that infidelity — you know what’s a good weapon to have in your arsenal? Your wife’s cancer.
- McSweeney’s presents: Edwards! The Musical.
Also, Deceiver has the answer to all those who write that "Nobody in the general public actually cares about John Edwards or his unsavory behavior. Edwards became ancient history the first five minutes after this thing broke."
From CNN RELIABLE SOURCES: John, Elizabeth Edwards Speak Out on Tawdry Affair; Hillary Clinton's Paper Trail
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: So, are journalists going to keep chasing this story even though Edwards is out of politics, perhaps forever?
Joining us now in New York, Lola Ogunnaike, entertainment correspondent for CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING"; Mark Feldstein, former CNN investigative correspondent who now teaches journalism at The George Washington University"; and Lois Romano, "Washington Post" reporter who has been covering this story.
Lois, John Edwards gave a heartfelt performance on "Nightline," said he was lying before but he's telling the truth now.
Do most journalists believe he's telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
LOIS ROMANO, "THE WASHINGTON POST": No. Most journalists do not. And basically, we're seeing kind of death by a thousand cuts now.
Or maybe even Death by 1000 Papercuts?
[hat tip: Dossier]
Dossier adds in another comment to the same story [John Edwards Cover-up: Press Releases a Carefully-Orchestrated Affair? ]
Could the biggest story of the whole John Edwards Lovechild story be the exposé that Trial Lawyers have covertly purchased control of the Democratic Party?
Barack Obama may be extremely vulnerable on the issue of Tort Reform in this election.
Is there a top secret ATLA agenda? Have the tinfoil hat guys been right all along?
As a Democrat, I am outraged that I have been sold this bill of goods under the false assumption that factors other than the highest bidder were planning my society!!!
That would be too bad: trial lawyers reined in?
No more 24/7 commercials on daytime television with the not-so-subliminal meme that everyone in America has been wronged and needs to consult the talking head ambulance chaser sponsoring the come-on?
That's not the America I knew...
by Mondoreb
Three Press Releases
An Orchestra of Remarkable, Similarly-Worded Statements
* John Edwards * Elizabeth Edwards * Fred Baron
Who Discussed What with Whom When?
DBKP took a look at the statements released by John and Elizabeth Edwards, and Edwards' money man, Fred Baron. Their three statements never mention Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter. Instead, all three refer to her and her child as "mistakes".
We found some curious features in the press releases of the principals involved. In December, 2007, there were many curious features about the John Edwards' scandal that excited no curiosity among the Mainstream Media. [Curious Circumstances Excite No Curiosity in the Mainstream Media]
August 2008 is a completely different ballgame, however.
Let's take a look at these curious features.
[Background information: access over 90 DBKP stories on the John Edwards scandal and cover-up: DBKP John Edwards Love Child Scandal Library.]
JOHN EDWARDS, ELIZABETH EDWARDS
For convenience, the statements of John and Elizabeth Edwards will be examined first.
John Edwards went into seclusion after a July 30 speech in Washington, D.C., when reporters attempted to question Edwards about his confrontation with reporters from the National Enquirer. [John Edwards Scandal: Edwards Bolts from Reporters Once Again]
He then had the better part of ten days to craft his statement, which he released on August 8 before his appearance on ABC's Nightline. Elizabeth Edwards also released a statement on August 8 on the website, DailyKos.
"2006" was prominent in the opening part of John Edwards' statement: he used it three times in the first eight sentences.
In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99 percent honest is no longer enough.
I was and am ashamed of my conduct and choices, and I had hoped that it would never become public. With my family, I took responsibility for my actions in 2006 and today I take full responsibility publicly. But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006.
"2006" played a key part in Elizabeth Edwards' statement, too. She referred to the year four times.
"John made a terrible mistake in 2006."
"And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007."
"The pain of the long journey since 2006 was about to be renewed."
"But now the truth is out, and the repair work that began in 2006 will continue."
The Edwards don't say when in 2006; apparently, from the photo DBKP obtained on August 15, it had to have begun on December 31.
The picture is backstage at a rally in Chapel Hill, NC that ended on the evening of December 30. As LBG pointed out in John and Elizabeth Edwards: New Info Casts Doubt on Couple’s Claim Affair Ended in 2006:
It’s clear in the photo that Hunter is there in her “official” capacity, capturing the event for use in the documentaries she was allegedly producing for the Edwards’ 2008 presidential campaign. Not only was Hunter there in Chapel Hill on the evening of December 30, but she was also along with Edwards at the end of 2006 on his “Presidential Announcement Tour” which culminated on the evening of December 30 in North Carolina.According to the Washington Post, Hunter was along when Edwards filmed his Youtube announcement in New Orleans on December 28. Hunter was by no means, “hidden”, as she was photographed and seen by various people in the course of the “trip”.
On December 31, 2006 the Edwards also had a busy day.
The next morning, the last day of 2006, the Edwards were interviewed on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos“. Remember, the night before Rielle Hunter was still in the picture, captured in photos filming the Chapel Hill event. In one photo Hunter can be seen along with John and Elizabeth Edwards.
...
The discovery of Hunter’s appearance in Chapel Hill on the evening of December 30 raises some questions about the timeline posited by both John and Elizabeth Edwards as to when the affair truly ended, when Edwards confessed, and when the “repair” work began.
On the morning of December 31, Edwards described his wife to Stephanopoulus as someone who was not only “meek and mild” but “very strong-willed”. Hardly the sort of person, who, upon learning her husband had an affair, would allow the “other woman” to hang around her husband, even in an “official” capacity. Hunter was photographed filming the Chapel Hill event. Elizabeth was fully aware Hunter was there. In fact, Hunter was on the plane, along with other campaign staffers and various other people for the presidential “pre-announcement” trip that led up to the Chapel Hill event.
If Edwards hadn’t yet confessed to the “awful truth” that he was cheating on Elizabeth with Hunter by December 30, then the clock was ticking down to the end of 2006. By the time the Chapel Hill event ended, Edwards had less than 26 hours to tell his wife.
Besides the repetition of "2006", the word "mistake" is also repeated: thrice by Elizabeth ("terrible mistake", "mistake" and "mistakes") and twice by John Edwards ("serious error", "mistake", as well as "misconduct").
There seems little doubt about the careful coordination between the Edwards' two statements.
If it is learned, at some future date, that December 31, 2006, was indeed when John Edwards "first began revealing the truth", this is not the impression that the Edwards left after reading their statements.
Why?
Others will have to speculate at the present moment. DBKP may well do so later.
JOHN EDWARDS, FRED BARON
From John Edwards' statement:
I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. 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.
During John Edwards' appearance that same day on ABC's Nightline, he again repeated his denial of his knowledge of any money being paid.
Uh, this is what I can tell you. I've never paid a dime of money to any of the people that are involved. I've never asked anybody to pay a dime of money, never been told that any money's been paid. Nothing has been done at my request. So if the allegation is that somehow I participated in the payment of money -- that is a lie. An absolute lie, which is typical of these types of publications.
Later in the same interview, Edwards was insistent.
WOODRUFF: I do need to tell you though through ABC investigation there has been evidence, or we've been told that there, about $15,000 a month has been paid to Miss Hunter, so that she could actually live out in California. In fact that money was from Fred Baron, who was your national finance chair. Is that correct?
EDWARDS: I don't know. I told you just a moment ago, I know absolutely nothing about this.
WOODRUFF: You never even heard about that before?
EDWARDS: I've heard about it from reporters like you just in the last few days. It's the first I hear anything about it.
The next exchange between Edwards and ABC's Bob Woodruff is particularly curious.
WOODRUFF: So when you see this now and you see the reporting about it and you see the information about it, are you going to try to look into this? That this is somebody doing this to cover up what happened with your affair?
EDWARDS: If you're talking about Fred Baron, I do know Fred Baron. I also know that Fred Baron knows both of these people who are involved and has worked with them for years. So he has the relationship with them independent of me. So what he chose to do or not do, I can't explain, he'll have to explain. I don't know what he did or why he did it. And what his reasons for, were, for doing it. Is it possible that he wanted to help them because they were in a difficult time? Of course. Is it possible that he was worried that in fact something had happened with me, and he wanted to help? Of course that's possible. I think all these things are possible.
WOODRUFF: Do you think it's possible he was trying to protect you?
EDWARDS: Do I think it was possible he was trying to help me?
WOODRUFF: Yes.
EDWARDS: Yeah, of course I think it's possible.
[Note: We'll leave aside for the moment, Edwards' claim that Fred Baron worked with Hunter and Young "for years". Baron did work with Andrew Young for more than a year. Rielle Hunter's involvement with the campaign, by her own statement of October 2007, states that her work with the campaign ended at the end of 2006--a period of only six months that Baron could have "worked" with her.
Unless Baron hired her afterwards, which has not been reported--and which neither Baron nor Hunter have mentioned in any public statements.]
Woodruff lets Edwards change the question--without follow-up: from "protect" to "help". Edwards uses the word "help" three times in that short exchange. Why might he have done that?
Perhaps, Edwards was trying to help his finance chair, Fred Baron, with his statement, which would be delivered with minutes of John and Elizabeth Edwards' statements.
At that time, Baron stated spontaneously--and without consulting John Edwards-- that his magnanimous gestures toward Andrew Young and Rielle Hunter stemmed from his need to "help.
"I decided independently to help two friends and former colleagues rebuild their lives when harassment by supermarket tabloids made it impossible for them to conduct a normal life," Baron, a Dallas trial lawyer said in a statement, Rob Christensen reports.
"John Edwards was not aware that assistance was provided to anyone involved in this matter," Baron said. "I did it of my own voilition and without the knowledge, instruction, or suggestion of John Edwards or anyone else. The assistance was offered and accepted without condition."
Later the following day, August 9, it was reported that Baron stated, "I made a decision on my own, without talking to Edwards or anybody, to try to help them move to a community to try to get away from those folks."
"I feel sad because I know John Edwards so well," Mr. Baron said. "In life we all make mistakes. ... It breaks my heart if this is going to disqualify him from being a public servant, because he would be a great one."
Mr. Baron said he had also talked to Mrs. Edwards.
"It's a hard time," he said. "This has been a trying couple of weeks."
Baron also used the word "mistake" to refer to John Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter, just as John and Elizabeth Edwards' both did.
Baron admitted talking to Elizabeth Edwards, but not John Edwards, who he knew "so well". John and Elizabeth Edwards were apparently talking, and consulting, with each other while preparing their statements. But, what were they all talking about?
Apparently, if John Edwards and Fred Baron are to be believed, they were discussing anything but the mistake which had them all preparing statements in the first place: Rielle Hunter and her living arrangements.
Oh, and the living arrangements of long-time Edwards' aide and operative, Andrew Young and his family. Nothing was discussed about him, either.
All three--the two Edwards and Fred Baron--were busy preparing carefully-worded statements which were all released within minutes of each other on August 8, concerning events extremely important to all three of them. Yet, one of the central subjects--the "hush money" the Enquirer reported on July 30 was being paid to both Hunter and Young--never came up.
Baron also apparently forgot to mention to the Edwards that an Enquirer reporter showed up asking questions at his Dallas estate four days earlier, on August 4.
Three lawyers, taking days to meticulously prepare statements about explosive events in their lives and the subjects of Rielle Hunter, where she was, where and how she was living, and the questions sure to asked about "hush money", were never broached.
Baron's help, and John Edwards suggestion to Woodruff that perhaps Baron was helping, were the product, not of consultation or conversations between seasoned attorneys, but were--like so many events in the Edwards' cover-up story--just another set of curiously-striking coincidences.
by Mondoreb
images: corbis; dbkp
Who's been the "inside source" for the National Enquirer in the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter Love Child Scandal? Seems everyone has an opinion, including DBKP. Was it Rielle Hunter? Hunter's friend, Bob McGovern, who drove both Hunter and Edwards to their meetings at the Beverly Hilton? Or, a third person?
Radar's "Is Rielle Hunter the National Enquirer's Source?" thinks it's Rielle Hunter who's been dishing to the National Enquirer. They cite this speculation by Sharon Waxman who thinks it's all a Hunter-Bob McGovern blackmail scheme gone bad.
"Imagine if Hunter was blackmailing Edwards for money—or, for more money, since she was already being paid a monthly stipend. And if she were pressuring him by leaking information to the National Enquirer. And if she tipped off the Enquirer to the July meeting, including such details as the number of rooms rented, and who was in them."
[Background information: Nearly 90 DBKP stories on the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter affair since December.]
Earlier, Radar had speculated it was Rielle Hunter:
Meanwhile, the Daily News points a finger at Hunter's confidante Robert McGovern as being the Enquirer's likely source for the story, assuming, you know, it's not Hunter herself. (Which is a possibility. The Enquirer pays for info; it's not inconceivable that Hunter was taking money from both sides because she realized she had a kid to support and was going to come off looking ugly either way, so, hey, why not make a buck or two?)
The NY Daily Post thinks Bob McGovern is the inside man. McGovern is Hunter's New Age friend and "healer":
McGovern and his wife live modestly in a $255,000 home in Goleta, Calif., about 10 miles north of Santa Barbara, records show. They were in seclusion Monday.
In his confession to ABC News, Edwards said he got a call from McGovern on July 21, when Edwards was in Los Angeles to meet with the city's mayor. "I knew he was a friend of Ms. Hunter. And he asked me to come and meet with them," Edwards said. "He said the purpose of the meeting was she was having some trouble."
Edwards might have added that he knew McGovern was a friend of Hunter's from his previous two meetings with her at the Beverly Hilton. Although Edwards wasn't caught at those two meetings, reported in the latest print edition of the National Enquirer, Lee Stranahan confirmed that Edwards was at the Beverly Hilton on March 20 for a Tonight Show taping. The Enquirer had earlier reported a "meeting in late March".
So when did Edwards see Hunter aside from June and July? I think the date might be March 20th, 2008. Looking into Edward’s schedule, he appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on that date. The Tonight Show tapes at the NBC studios in Burbank, California and usually wraps taping a little after five o’clock. Burbank is about a half hour from the Beverly Hilton hotel.
This may answer some questions that have been raised about the infamous ‘Spy Cam’ baby photos. For example, some have wondered about Edwards wearing a short sleeved shirt in the photo while reporters from the Enquirer stated that Edwards was wearing a long sleeved shirt when they confronted him at the Beverly Hilton. A careful reading of the Enquirer story that ran with the photos, however, shows that Enquirer never said the Spy Cam photo was from the July meeting.
Later, Stranahan updated his post with this bit of confirming info:
I mentioned the March 20th date and the host of show and Huffington Post blogger Cenk Uygur told me that he ran into Edwards on March 20th, jogging outside the Beverly Hilton hotel. Edwards said he was staying at the Beverly Hilton and that he was appearing on the Tonight Show later that night.
Who's been leaking to the Enquirer?
Since no other persons were reported--as of yet--to be in the Beverly Hilton room with the Edwards, Hunter and McGovern, it has to be one of the three. Logic dictates it wasn't John Edwards--although this has been anything but a logical affair.
Hunter or McGovern?
We don't believe the Enquirer's inside information has come from Hunter: she has too much to lose in the long run, although events may prove that she loses in the long run anyway. Hunter may be having her doubts about how committed John Edwards is to her and her daughter--especially after Edwards told a Nightline TV audience that "he didn't love her"--but she knows she's also been reported to "be in love" with Edwards and no reports to the contrary have yet surfaced.
That leaves Bob McGovern and he's our candidate as the Enquirer's 'inside man'.
McGovern lives in a 'modest' house and, while we're not sure what the going rate is these days for a 'healer', it's likely that the Enquirer pays better than his regular day job in the mystic realm.
Might not McGovern notice that his friend Rielle Hunter is knocking down $15,000/month, living in multi-million dollar homes, and jetting around the world in private planes? Might not he consider that he wants a piece of the pie? McGovern would have had many opportunities during which to snap a cellphone photo during the three meetings Edwards had with Hunter: almost any time Hunter and Edwards were preoccupied with daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, would have been an occasion for a stealthy McGovern 'Kodak Moment'.
Regardless, our prediction: Edwards will demand that Bob be absent from all future meetings with Rielle Hunter.
The Enquirer's rates for information usually are reported in the $5-20,000 range. For example, it was reported that Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman's son got $15,000 for turning over his cellphone tapes to the Enquirer in November.
For a story that the Enquirer had invested a year in, McGovern's info would have most likely commanded a higher, premium payment--perhaps as high as $50,000. $50,000 is quite a large sum for most people--regardless of whether their house is 'modest' or not.
Speculation will continue for now; the information will eventually be revealed. For now, however, Bob McGovern has our solid vote as the Enquirer's pipeline from inside the Love Child Scandal.
by Mondoreb
image: National Enquirer
Who is Editing Out Unpleasant Details From Wikipedia's Rielle Hunter entry?
Who is ALJDJDD?
Mystery Continues
While working on this morning's John Edwards Scandal: Who in the Edwards’ Campaign Ran the Cover Up? UPDATED, a note was received from DBKP's crack research department.
Our mystery Wikipedia editor came back just now And made these changes to the Rielle Hunter article. Basically removed all of the negative info about the father, inserted the father's birth year of 1934, and, most interestingly, cleaned up the info about Hunter's small film roles, deleting a reference to roles in the films Overboard and Deadly Addiction, but leaving the reference to the 1991 Denzel Washington film Ricochet.
One can only type one story at a time and this one got pushed back. In the meantime, about three hours ago, we were notified of another interesting development:
Catherine Yronwode had an interesting theory about our mystery WIkipedia editor that she explained here - that "ALJDJDD" may be an acronym for "Alias Lisa Jo Druck, James Druck's Daughter".
Among other things, yronwode posits a possible identity for the mystery editor:
User ALJDJDD, who claims in her edit summaries to be James Druck's daughter (ALJDJDD may be an acronym for "Alias Lisa Jo Druck, James Druck's Daughter"), has repeatedly deleted from the Rielle Hunter page all mention of James Druck's involvement in the horse-murder insurance fraud scheme, incluing the murder of Lisa's own horse, for which we have numerous reliable msm sources now. (Apparently ALJDJDD does not believe the confession of the FBI informer and horse-killer Tommy Burns, upon which all the sources are based, and prefers to think that her father is innocent of the crime or that no crime was committed.)
We have no proof that ALJDJDD is who she says she is (i.e. one of the four Druck daughters), but she has added a bunch of unsourced material, such as the year of James Druck's birth, the location where Lisa Jo Druk and Kip Hunter were married, and some IMDb-sourced data about Lisa Jo Hunter that we had previously overlooked due to the subject's several name changes.
We touched on the edits being made yesterday at the Rielle Hunter Wikipedia page, in "John Edwards Scandal: Rielle Hunter Editing Her Own Wikipedia Page - UPDATED".
[UPDATE NOTE 12:55 EDT - Our research indicates that "a closer look at the change made to the article by that user - in addition to deleting the information about the father, the editor changed the place of marriage to Kip Hunter from New York state to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Not sure if this is true or false."
We will see.]
We also got a note that Rielle Hunter, born Lisa Jo Druck, has three other sisters than Melissa, who asked John Edwards on Saturday to "Stop Bad-mouthing Rielle Hunter - UPDATED".
According to The Palm Beach Post (see the last paragraph).
So there are several suspects for editing the Wikipedia article. The article also explains the "convicted criminal" part of the edit summary you quoted in your article.
The Palm Beach article, "Dad of Edwards' mistress had dark side" recounts a grisly tale of horse execution, fraud, insurance money and prison sentences. It's not very complimentary; one can see why a family member might want this information edited out of Wikipedia.
"They loved money! All of them watching out for themselves."
That's the Florida family environment fallen presidential wannabe John Edwards' mistress grew up in. So says Jupiter commodities trader Steve Smith, a longtime live-in boyfriend of one of Rielle Hunter's three sisters.
The article quotes "Jupiter commodities trader Steve Smith, a longtime live-in boyfriend of one of Rielle Hunter's three sisters" [designer, Jennifer Druck].
The Palm Beach article cites Sports Illustrated as a source.
In a 1992 cover story, Sports Illustrated named Druck an early figure in a frightening trend: The killing of show horses and ponies for insurance money.
IS Rielle Hunter editing her own Wikipedia page? Or, is it another of the Druck sisters?
Again, time will tell.
by Mondoreb
image: wikipedia
Info Keep Disappearing
Readers Keep Copying
Simon Scowl, at Deceiver--that name's popping up quite frequently over the last month--reports on what's rapidly becoming a Deceiver specialty: disappearing websites with information about Rielle Hunter. [Yet Another Rielle-Related Site Vanishes].
Yesterday the Newark Star-Ledger tried to talk to Rielle Hunter’s old business partner Mimi Hockman (pictured), as I recommended somebody do almost two weeks ago. They approached Hockman at her home in New Jersey, but she wasn’t too cooperative. Which isn’t surprising at this point. Nor is this (emphasis mine):
Deceiver's work on another vanished website was part of our story on disappearing Rielle Hunter information as the start of the Edwards' campaign cover up, John Edwards Scandal: Who in the Edwards’ Campaign Ran the Cover Up? UPDATED.
Thankfully, it's harder for the information to vanish now: a small army of readers are now aware of the problem and are screen-saving, copying and downloading Net info before it disappears--including Deceiver readers and our own Research Dept.
We'll call it: The Forces of Darkness vs. The Forces of Light, Internet Rielle Hunter Info Division.
by Mondoreb
image: Deceiver
DougRoss@Journal, DBKP December stories Confirmed:
Eric Montross Angle Valid
[The following is published not to toot our own horn. Okay, okay--maybe a little. The impetus is to record where this information was first published; as well as how much time elapsed before a member of the traditional media confirmed it.]
Another part of the John Edwards story uncovered by bloggers was confirmed--almost eight months after it was first reported at DBKP and DougRoss@Journal.
The Raleigh Telegram--which didn't let readers in on the scandal until days ago, and which ran an editorial citing Edwards' "continuous denials" as a reason for its non-coverage--confirmed, in a pair of stories yesterday, that ex-NBA star, Eric Montross was indeed involved in the scandal--most likely, unknowingly.
Rielle Hunter Stayed In Chapel Hill Last Year and UNC's Montross Rented House To Edwards Worker both confirm that Andrew Young was staying in Montross' house--in the same Governor's Club gated community that the Enquirer reported that Rielle Hunter was staying.
Although it is not known by this newspaper who owned the house that Rielle was living in, it has been confirmed that Young was renting his house from former UNC basketball star Eric Montross.
Montross is well-known to Tarheel fans for being the star center of the UNC NCAA Championship team in 1993, before going on to a ten year professional career in the NBA.
[The Telegram's earlier "continuous denial" quote was one, among others, that prompted DBKP to write John Edwards Scandal: The Myth of the Edwards’ Denials on August 7--one day before John Edwards quit denying the affair. It seems that the Telegram was stung by taking Edwards' October denial of the affair--when it was deniable, since the Enquirer had published, at that point, only some unnamed sources about an unnamed "other woman"--at face value and has been busy making up for lost time.]
On December 27, DBKP published "John Edwards Scandal: Rielle Hunter Housed by Former NBA Player". It left details of a tip we'd received from someone describing themselves as, "someone who partied with Rielle in LA".
We'd hoped that by publishing the info, that it would excite the curiosity of just one reporter in the MSM--maybe who was also a sports fan.
But, it was a blogger, Doug Ross, who responded to our article within minutes [John Edwards Love Child Saga, the NBA and the MSM] with the name of Eric Montross.
Doug did some detective work--work that any MSM reporter could have done in December, as The Telegram proved just yesterday--and ran down Montross. As Ross related:
"Okay, so I was curious. Went to OpenSecrets and did a donor lookup."
The only ex-NBA player and heavy Edwards donor I found is Eric Montross, who is listed in Chapel Hill. That's not to say Montross is hosting Rielle, but if the DBKP story is accurate, he's someone for the MSM to check into.
As Doug Ross, DBKP and the rest of the world was to discover: no one in the MSM did check it--until The Telegram did.
Now, for the first time, we can tell a bit of the story behind our December 27 story.
We received a credible tip about Rielle Hunter living in Eric Montross' house at the Governor's Club. LBG, after about 10 hours digging, discovered in December much of what The Telegram published yesterday, and from many of the same sources. From yesterday's Telegram:
Young and his family rented the substantially large house at 32340 Archdale Drive owned by Montross and his wife in the Governor's Club subdivision. Montross actually lives in another house over the county line in Orange County, according to tax records.
An online newsletter for the Governor's Club community called "Ginny's Community" welcomed the Young family to the neighborhood and mentioned them by name along with their new address.
According to a real estate listing on the Chapel Hill Realty Group's website, Montross' house at 32340 Archdale Drive that Young rented was formerly up for sale at an asking price of $1,425,000, although according to Chatham County, the assessed tax value is $1,658,822. Although the property is listed as "sold" on the real estate website, the Chatham County records do not indicate that a sale took place and Montross has owned the house since 1993.
DBKP's efforts were redoubled on December 26-27 in an effort to locate exactly which house Rielle Hunter was living in. It wasn't known if the Youngs had relocated to another nearby house when Hunter appeared in the Governor's Club, or if, more likely, our tipster had some of the info right.
We just could not tell.
So, we left messages in the comments sections of several NC blogs--including one in the Chapel Hill, NC area--appealing for someone nearby to do some legwork. The comments and emails went largely unanswered.
The decision was made to publish our story the way we did. We knew from the Enquirer's December reports and LBG's digging that Hunter had been in the house at 32340 Archdale, but we couldn't say for sure she was living there. It was hoped that by posting something, it might excite a reporter in the Raleigh area to check the information out.
As it happens, that occurred--over eight months after our story and Doug Ross'--was published; after John Edwards' Nightline appearance green-lighted the Edwards scandal for the major press organizations. to cover.
ENTER RADAR
Several weeks ago, in the wake of the Enquirer's reporters' confrontation with Edwards at the Beverly Hilton, interest in the Montross angle was renewed. On July 31, Radar published John Edwards’ Money Man: Fellow Tar Heel Eric Montross?. In the story, Radar took a look back at Ross' and DBKP's stories seven months earlier:
In a follow-up story published on December 19, the Enquirer reported that after word of the affair got out, Hunter moved into a home owned by an Edwards supporter in the exclusive Governors Club, a gated community less than five miles away from the Edwards HQ in Chapel Hill and only a few blocks away from the Young residence.
Here's where things get weird: five days later, a right-wing blog called Death By 100 Papercuts received a tip that the house Hunter had moved into was owned by a former NBA player who had contributed money to the Edwards campaign. Doing some digging, Doug Ross reported that the only former NBA player who had donated money to Edwards was Eric Montross, a UNC graduate who was drafted by the Boston Celtics back in 1994 and ended his NBA career in 2003. Montross gave $4,600 to Edwards during the 2008 election cycle; he was described as a "big backer of John Edwards' White House bid" by CNN. (Edwards went to UNC law school.)
We took note of the Radar reference in John Edwards Scandal: Birth Certificates, NBA Players and the Waking of the MSM the same day.
Less than a week later, Radar seemed to be backpedaling, however [Eric Montross Would Like You to Know He's Never Met Rielle Hunter, Thank You Very Much]. Radar then said:
Last week, we culled together some thinly sourced material from around the Internet and posted an (admittedly) wildly speculative theory about how Tar Heel and former professional basketball player Eric Montross was the guy paying off both John Edwards' alleged mistress Rielle Hunter as well as Andrew Young, the professed father of Hunter's (Edwards?) kid. Which would be news to Eric Montross! "I don't have anything to do with this," Montross told Radar by phone. "Whatever is going on with Edwards, I can tell you unequivocally that I am uninvolved."
Both Doug Ross and DBKP were relegated to the ranks of the "thinly-sourced". A letter was dispatched to Radar detailing how Montross' name had come to be connected with the scandal, along with the observation that DBKP "believed Montross didn't know Rielle Hunter".
Today, Radar commented on the Raleigh Telegram story with some interesting observations: [Eric Montross Back in the Picture!]
A little while ago, we floated an admittedly crazy theory that former NBA player, UNC alum, and John Edwards supporter Eric Montross not only owned the Chapel Hill house Rielle Hunter was reportedly staying in after Edwards knocked her up, but also that Montross might have been the mystery man paying off both Hunter and professed baby daddy Andrew Young. Montross vehemently denied having anything to do with anyone involved in the scandal ("I am 100 percent detached," he said), and soon after Texas lawyer Fred Baron was outed as the money man, and we assumed that was that. But it turns out Montross isn't totally insulated from the whole scandal: the Raleigh Telegram is now reporting that Montross rented a house he owned in the exclusive Governor's Club development to none other than Andrew Young—and that the house was just a few blocks away from a home Hunter herself was living in.
Granted, that doesn't mean Montross knew anything other than that his tenant had a crazy chick for a neighbor (it's still unclear who rented Hunter her home), but it's not like Young found him off of Craigslist. How much John Edwards actually told him is anyone's guess. The Telegram also corroborates an earlier story from the Enquirer in which it was reported that Hunter was an occasional dinner guest at her neighbor Young's house. (Young is married with kids.) Given that it's not exactly common practice to have the woman you've supposedly had an out-of-wedlock child with over for supper, the most logical conclusion to draw is that Young—surprise!—isn't the father of Hunter's kid.
We're just hoping all this gets us out of that "thinly-sourced" category.
[This past Thursday, DBKP and Doug Ross again collaborated to beat the MSM to the punch on the Fred Baron story: John Edwards Scandal: Is Fred Baron the Enquirer ‘Hush Money Man’? and [Rumors Run Wild: Is Fred Baron the Wallet for John Edwards Scandal. The next day, Fred Baron began releasing his statements that he was involved in moving Rielle Hunter around the country.
Doug Ross was emailed in the early afternoon with our info; but was away at the time. In the meantime, a Radar commenter had posited the names of both Baron and ex-Dallas Mavericks coach, Don Nelson.]
DBKP knew Rielle Hunter had been in Eric Montross' house back in December: either as a guest or a lodger. Then, there was no way of knowing the particulars. Today, it's still not known if Eric Montross knew about it; in all probability, he didn't.
We're only happy that aspects of our stories were finally confirmed.
We just wonder what took so long for someone else to "get some feet on the ground" to check them out.
by Mondoreb
images: dbkp file; Radar
Who in the John Edwards Campaign Started the Rielle Hunter Cover Up?
Who Began the Attempt to Scrub the Web Clean of Rielle Hunter References?
Another Mystery for the Late-charging Media
Who in the John Edwards' campaign started the cover up of Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter? It was an operation that costs millions and involved a web of schemes that are still unraveling. It's a question the Mainstream Media hasn't asked yet, but it has to be on the agenda, now that they're finally covering the story.
The cover up began with erasing information about Hunter from the Internet; progressed later to moving Hunter from the NYC area to North Carolina within five miles of the Edwards campaign headquarters and setting her up in houses owned by Edwards' backers; and, at one point involved millionaire trial lawyer, Fred Baron, and the revelations that millions were spent jetting Hunter and Edwards' campaign operative--and fall guy--across the country to reside in multi-million dollar houses.
Hunter and Young, according to reports, have also been receiving hush money payments to keep their mouths shut.
Who initiated all of this? Where did that money come from?
[More background and Edwards scandal information: Over 80 stories since December on the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter Scandal and Cover up at DBKP in the John Edwards Love Child Library.]
John Edwards said he was unaware of any attempts to hide his affair with Hunter.
So did friend and big backer, Fred Baron, according to his statement: Baron was just helping out old friend friends and John Edwards didn't know about it. In light of the flood of information now coming out, Edwards' claims haven't held up very well. It's likely that Baron's statements will also have a hard time standing up under the increased scrutiny.
Hunter and Young aren't talking--yet.
Prediction: Andrew Young will be the first to crack. As a one-time Edwards campaign Director of Finance, he's on the hook for many of the improprieties--and he's likely, at some point, to be reminded of this unpleasant fact. In fact, the Equirer reported in December that Young vehemently denied that campaign money was being used for Hunter expenses. Doug Ross pointed out at the time, "What an odd denial! Who accused Young of funneling campaign funds to support Rielle in the first place? I wonder if any member of our crack mainstream media will bother to check into this interesting thread?"
Ross asked that question on December 27. It remained rhetorical in nature until eight months later.
DBKP's crack research department turned in a memo which made us drop all other items and get cracking on this story.
...went back and read Sam Stein's piece in the HuffPo about the missing campaign videos from Sep 27th of last year. Nobody in the MSM seems to be questioning the timeline on this aspect of the coverup. Stein published his piece reporting that the videos had been pulled two weeks before the Enquirer broke the affair story, and was getting the runaround from Jonathan Prince at the Edwards campaign with some bullshit about campaign finance law. Plus other people from the Edwards campaign were telling the worker bees at Midline Groove Productions to shut the hell up about the Hunter videos, according to Stein.
I guess one possible explanation is that the Enquirer was maybe already asking the campaign questions about Hunter before Stein published his story on 27 Sept, which got them antsy about the whole thing.
Which started a search through DBKP's John Edwards archives. We've been reporting since December on the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter affair and the twin real scandals: the Edwards' campaign cover up and the Mainstream Media blackout, which included a failure to investigate hard facts unearthed by the National Enquirer.
We'll deal with the media scandal another day.
References to Make Any Campaign Nervous
The scrubbing clean of all references to Rielle Hunter obviously began before Stein's piece, which came out at Huffington Post on September 26, 2007. Her "webisode" videos disappeared before the Stein story appeared. Stein relates some of the difficulties he'd encountered tracking down these videos from the people involved in making them.
Who else was involved? Credits from the webisode still on the Business Week site listed three additional production assistants. One of them, Sam Cullman, said he could not talk to me but lauded Edwards for his openness. Another assistant, Nick Chatfield, said on the first call to my editor that he wished the movies were available because he could use the publicity. On the second call (having evidently checked back with Hunter or the Edwards campaign), Chatfield said, "Don't call me again."
He also wrote about the stonewall he'd run into with the Edwards campaign.
Jonathan Prince offered to let me and my editor, Tom Edsall, watch the videos - apparently unaware that at one point his campaign claimed not to have access to them. But there was a proviso: we could only view the videos in Prince's presence.
When did the Rielle Hunter web cover up begin? The Edwards' campaign had to be as nervous as Don King in a barber shop when they saw the New York Post's now-famous blind item on August 27, 2007: [Last reported in John Edwards Scandal: Sister Asks Edwards to Stop Bad-mouthing Rielle Hunter - UPDATED"]
"WHICH political candidate enjoys visiting New York because he has a girlfriend who lives downtown? The pol tells her he'll marry her when his current wife is out of the picture."
DBKP speculated months ago--correctly, it turns out--that the Post could have only been referring to John Edwards and Rielle Hunter. The Post confirmed this on August 9, 2008 in EDWARDS BLIND NO MORE.
WE hate to say we told you so, and we normally never reveal the identities in our blind items, but in light of John Edwards' finally admitting he had an extramarital affair, we bring your attention to our "Just asking" item of Aug. 27, 2007...
Our best guess is that the Edwards campaign then got busy and was just one step ahead of Sam Stein. The webisodes disappeared, as did other Hunter info at the NY Screen Actors Guild.
But, in July, the Enquirer Editor-in-Chief, David Perel, referred to the Enquirer's "one-year" investigation [John Edwards Affair: Interview with David Perel, Editor-in-Chief of the National Enquirer, among others]. So, the Edwards camp most likely knew that questions were being asked about Hunter and her involvement with the campaign, before the Post piece appeared on August 27, 2007.
The Helpful Hand of the Disgruntled Employee
The DBKP Research Dept. weighs in again:
I'm also curious about who the YouTube user "MissingVideos" is. As you may have seen, HuffPo reported that, on Sep 27, the same day that Stein published his HuffPo piece [Note: actually a day later], a user named "MissingVideos" reposted the videos with the description "Before he was running for President, John Edwards made a series of awesome short documetaries (sic) that later vanished from the internet...until now." My gut tells me it was likely a disgruntled employee of Midline Groove.
Though the Edwards campaign was hustling to cover up, someone was helping thwart their efforts. Might that helping hand have come from Midline Groove's Nick Chatfield? Chatfield had at first wanted to talk to Stein--"he could use the publicity", remember?--and later, mysteriously at the time, clammed up.
NOTE to aspiring investigative MSM reporters: find Nick Chatfield before the campaign does and explore this possibility.
Oh, and remember where you heard it first.
Perhaps it was Nick Chatfield who also alerted Gawker in September 2007 with an email:
John Edwards is cheating on his wife.
This news must be revealed.
There was a blind item in Page Six recently… however:
My sources come from inside J.E’s little production group that was following him around to create “webisodes.”
There is a producer girl in that group (who lives in NYC) who John E. was - obvious to all - “close to.”
Mrs. Edwards was calling around in the group of production types - to try to get the number of this girl. (Perhaps to try to put a stop to the shenanigans.)
I could tell you my source but I don’t want to rat her out. She’s in that circle. She was there two times when Mrs. Edwards called.
I knew of this long before I saw the recent blind item in the post. (Page 6).
Therefore people know about it, and therefore you have a story to expose…
To those who point out that the email above refers to "her" as the source, Chatfield might have taken the elementary effort to conceal who he was. After all, he didn't know whether Gawker would print the email or not. CYA was in effect for more than just the Edwards' campaign.
Gawker apparently didn't print the email at that time--it was published a few days ago by ex-Gawker writer, Doree Shafrir, in "How Rumors Get Started".
The Edwards campaign had to be feeling the heat at that point and picked up their cover up activities. At about the same time, Hunter's "Being is Free" website disappeared.
In late July, Simon Scowl, of Deceiver, discovered a mirror site for the lost Hunter info.
(Note: As of 8/2, the site I discuss in this post has been replaced with a page that simply says “Blocked Site Error.” As for who’s blocking it, we can only guess.)
Looks like there are two Americas: the America where not-John-Edwards’-babymama Rielle Hunter has erased her web site from existence, and the America where someone else has put it right back up.*
The information on the mirror site later disappeared, as recounted by Deceiver.
WHODUNNIT?
Who oversaw the cover up, which was initiated by a disappearance of Rielle Hunter info from the web?
Was it Rielle Hunter, trying to "help out" the Edwards' campaign?
Was it Edwards campaign strategist, Joe Trippi?
Or, was it Jonathan Prince, Edwards' Deputy Campaign Manager, who told Stein that the he didn't have access to the Hunter videos, only to unwittingly admit later that he did?
Again, we asked our research department for opinions--in light of their intrepid digging.
Was it Prince?
Prince, the deputy campaign manager, already knew something wasn't right with Edwards and Hunter, and was actively covering up her involvement with the campaign before the Enquirer published anything. And I doubt that he personally was maintaining the campaign website, so other people knew something was going on.
Or Trippi?
I read the transcript of Joe Trippi's interview with Larry King. The transcript is here, and here is the video. Trippi came on board with the Edwards campaign in April 2007. He said he was "stunned" when Edwards confessed to the affair. I think Trippi is full of shit - there's no way, as campaign manager, that he didn't know about this when there was an active cover-up going on with the Hunter videos and Prince, his deputy, was giving the runaround to the press. If he had no idea about this, he would have to be the most incompetent figurehead of a campaign manager that ever lived - and he's not, Trippi is a professional, no matter what you think of his politics - he made Howard Dean.
Along the way, this interesting item, was uncovered:
"Interesting bit of trivia - did you know Trippi also worked for the Gary Hart campaign as deputy political director? After Hart got busted with Donna Rice, he became chief of staff to Hart's wife. Now he's out defending Elizabeth Edwards."
DBKP doesn't know who in the Edwards' campaign started a cover up operation that started with info disappearing on the Net and ended with Hunter and campaign operative, Andrew Young and his family, being jetted around the country on Fred Baron's jet, one step ahead of the Enquirer.
Since December, we've just been making observations and asking the questions no one in the MSM wouldn't.
Stein made a keen observation back in September 07:
"Not lost in the matter is the irony of Edwards' stance. After all, the videos were made with the apparent goal of bringing transparency to the political process."
We've said it before:
"It's ironic that the Edwards campaign webisodes made by Rielle Hunter, initially produced to bring the campaign publicity, made their biggest splash when the campaign attempted to hide them."
DBKP will be coming out with a story later today that began in December and was just confirmed by the MSM yesterday.
The Buzz
Media Matters: FLASH! Rush Limbaugh has an opinion on the Edwards' affair!
Media Matters is upset that Rush Limbaugh voices an opinion on his opinion/talk show.
On the August 12 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh said of former Sen. John Edwards' recent disclosure of an extramarital affair: "I've got a theory about the motivations. Well, I don't know that I could -- I don't know that I can put this one on the air." Discussing his "theory," Limbaugh said, "We know -- we've been told that Elizabeth Edwards is smarter than John Edwards. That's part of the puff pieces on them that we've seen. Ergo, if Elizabeth Edwards is smarter than John Edwards, is it likely that she thinks she knows better than he does what his speeches ought to contain and what kind of things he ought to be doing strategy-wise in the campaign? If she is smarter than he is, could it have been her decision to keep going with the campaign? In other words, could it be that she doesn't shut up? Now, that's as far as I'm going to go." Limbaugh later added, "It just seems to me that Edwards might be attracted to a woman whose mouth did something other than talk."
MM also provided a link to Limbaugh's website--which arguably, is the biggest service they've provided their readers since the Clinton "media watchdog" began operations.
It would be an interesting--though one suspects, fruitless--trip through the Media Matters archives to see what the "watchdogs" were watching while the Mainstream Media was blacking out the Edwards scandal for nine months. But, that's a job for another day at DBKP.
Meanwhile, we'll make an observation: the Media Matters "watchdogs" weren't barking about the Edwards scandal and the media non-coverage. All their barking is reserved for Limbaugh--whom they've targeted--when he comments on what they wouldn't for nine months.
by Mondoreb
images:
* pro corbis
* deceiver
* dbkp file
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