Ex-Aide 'Skeptical' John Edwards Now 'Doting' Father of Mistress's Baby
Andrew Young Says Edwards Admitted Paternity Because of Upcoming Book
By NADINE SHUBAILAT and MARK MOONEY of ABC 20/20
Jan. 22, 2010
John Edwards' former aide said he is "skeptical" that the former presidential contender is now a "doting, loving" father of his mistress's toddler after trying for so long to hide his paternity.
Andrew Young also suggested that Edwards finally admitted his fatherhood this week because an upcoming book includes evidence of Edwards' attempt to hide his paternity.
"It's been 2½ years" Young told ABC News, referring to the amount of time that Edwards first began denying an affair with Rielle Hunter and later denying that her child, Frances Quinn, was his daughter.
"For it to come out a week before my book is coming out ... I've expected it a long time. I expected they were going to do a public relations campaign to promote him, which I'm very skeptical of. All of sudden he's a doting, loving father of Quinn. I'm skeptical of it," Young said.
Young is an ex-aide to Edwards, who was so loyal to the Democratic presidential wannabe that he initially agreed to publicly claim he was the father of Quinn to protect Edwards' reputation and political career.
Young wrote his account of the sex scandal in a book titled "The Politician," which will appear on book shelves Feb. 2.
"He is doing this a week before my book comes out where there is going to be stuff that he cannot, you know, there are voice mails. In his voice. And voicemails in Elizabeth's voice that absolutely contradict almost everything that he has said," Young said. "I think that he is trying, that he is going to do everything he can to deflect that."
Edwards flew to Haiti with actor Sean Penn to work on earthquake relief Thursday, the same day he released a statement saying, "I am Quinn's father."
"I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves," Edwards' statement said. He added that it was "wrong" that he denied he was the girl's father.
Tune in to ABC News' "20/20" and "Nightline" Friday, Jan. 29 to see Andrew Young's exclusive groundbreaking interview. Then tune in to "Good Morning America" on the following Tuesday, Feb. 2, when Young will appear for his first live interview.
Family friend and lawyer Harrison Hickman told ABC News that Edwards made his announcement Thursday because the arrangements for child support were only finalized in the past few days.
But in other comments to ABC News, Young cast doubt on Edwards' sincerity in coming forward now.
"I think those were words, empty words," Young told ABC News. "If that is what he wanted to say, he should have said it two years ago. And there has been plenty of time. ... Now I think it's just a PR campaign."
In an interview with ABC's "20/20," Young detailed what he claims was an elaborate effort by Edwards to conceal the fact that he had fathered a daughter while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination and while his wife was battling breast cancer.
"The senator made the full pitch," Young said. "Not just for me. I mean he didn't just have to convince me that I was going to take paternity. He also had to convince Rielle that she would publicly claim that I had been the father."
Young said Edwards asked him and his wife, Cheri, to steal one of his daughter's soiled diapers as part of a DNA strategy.
"Get a doctor to fake the DNA results," Young said Edwards told him. "And he asked me and Cheri to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."
Young said he ignored the request.
John Edwards has had little to say about the fresh revelations. Asked to comment while in Haiti Thursday, Edwards said only, "I've said what I have to say for now, and I'm here to help people."
Elizabeth Edwards told The Associated Press "the whole family is relieved" by her husband's admission of his paternity.
She did not answer questions about their marital status and would not say where they will go in the future. "If somebody has a crystal ball, they can let me know," said Edwards, who is still fighting breast cancer. "My marriage shouldn't be on anybody's radar screen except mine."
Edwards' admission this week caps a long string of blatant denials. Edwards at first denied reports in the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer that he had had a fling with Hunter. After admitting to ABC News' Bob Woodruff that he had lied about the affair, he adamantly denied that he was the father of her baby and said he would welcome a paternity test.
It wasn't until Thursday that Edwards finally publicly admitted that he had fathered Quinn. Edwards has three children with his wife, Cate, 27; Emma, 11; and Jack, 9.
Mark Halperin, the co-author of a book that came out earlier this month called "Game Change," has also leveled allegations of bizarre behavior by John and Elizabeth Edwards, as well as other candidates.
Halperin noted that Edwards is under pressure because a federal grand jury is looking into whether payments Edwards' presidential campaign made to Hunter after she stopped working as the campaign's videographer were illegal payments. Young has testified before that grand jury.
Halperin said that Edwards was in a complicated situation, facing "legal jeopardy," negotiating child support for Quinn, getting slammed by two new books, and increasingly under pressure from Hunter to come forward and claim paternity.
"It's probably best for him to stay quiet until he sees where the grand jury investigation is going," Halperin said.
He said Elizabeth Edwards has been a force in her husband's public acceptance of paternity.
"She's come to terms with it," Halperin said. "She wants her husband to do the right thing. Now that she's accepted that it's his child, I think it's important to her that the child have a father, that John Edwards step up and to the right thing."
The author said that, as he reported in "Game Change," that Edwards was negotiating with then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama during the early stages of the scandal to be his vice presidential running mate. When that didn't pan out, Edwards sought to be appointed Obama's attorney general, Halperin said.
"This is not a guy who gives up political opportunity easily," Halperin said.
Edwards' friend David Kirby said Edwards still has a future.
"I know this man can rise from the ashes," Kirby said.
Halperin, however, said it's unlikely Edwards can return to elective politics.
"I think it's impossible," he said.
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John Edwards admits paternity ahead of new book release
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