Andrew Young's Criminal Record And The John Edwards Scandal

Andrew Aldridge Young is the former Edwards campaign worker and assistant who has claimed to be the father of John Edward's mistress Rielle Hunter's baby. Young has a wife and three children. Dallas attorney and John Edwards supporter Fred Baron recently confirmed that he financed Young, his family, and Hunter's move to Santa Barbara, claiming to have financed the move and living expenses without the knowledge of Edwards. Young's name does not appear on the Hunter baby's birth certificate, which has kept open questions about whether Young is actually the father.

Now public records searches reveal a history of criminal charges and convictions that paint a potentially different picture of Young than that of a typical campaign worker. The records, published on the website WebOfDeception.com, appear to list over twenty different criminal offenses and a tax lien. The earliest offense listed is a traffic offense from 1983 but also include more recent charges including a August 2006 court disposition of July 2006 Possessing Beer On City Property offense and guilty pleas in 2007 for several DWI Level V offenses that occurred on September 12th, 2006. A Level V offense is the least serious DWI level under North Carolina state law.

In the middle of December 2007, Andrew Young made the following statement through his attorney.

"Andrew Young is the father of Ms. Hunter's unborn child," declared his Washington, D.C.-based attorney. "Sen. Edwards knew nothing about the relationship between these former co-workers, which began when they worked together in 2006."

"As a private citizen who no longer works for the campaign, Mr. Young asks that the media respect his privacy while he works to make amends with his family."

I spoke to Joseph Culligan,the author of several books on investigation techniques including When In Doubt, Check Him Out : A Woman's Survival Guide for the 90's and webmaster of WebOfDeception. Culligan said that all the information was gained though public records searches.

I was able to confirm much of the information on WebOfDeception through a public records search using the service PeopleFinders.com.

(Note: Culligan's site did not work properly in Firefox on my Windows XP machine but showed up fine in Internet Explorer.)

Crossposted at Stranahan.com.

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Comments

[tedbear]

Oh, a really BAD criminal! Get serious. The guy drinks and gets caught just like what - hundreds of thousands of Americans? Americans like George W. Bush who was elected President of the U. S. although it has been an unfortunate mistake as we all now know.

[lectora]

Okay, so the Edwards campaign found the perfect fall guy to take the bullet. This guy, for money, of course, will say that he fathered the child.. but Edwards mistress did not even bother putting his name on the birth certificate.. I mean, come on, how obvious can this get? Is just such an insult to everyone's intelligence.. And Edwards keeps talking about the Enquirer as "Tabloid trash'.. gee.. so what is he? just trash? because all they have said.. is just true.. actually, is worst..

[didleijoe]

Now your just wasting time! Who cares?

[jsinclair]

Do we really need to smear Young for drinking beer in public, a driving ticket and some DWIs as if he's some sleazy criminal?

The bad thing is it appears (from Hunter's family's comments and Edwards' himself) that Young didn't have a relationship with Hunter at all and was just covering for his boss (friend?).

He seems to have done very well financially from this arrangement

Young is married and a father of three. If he's being paid to cover up Edwards' adultery (still ongoing, imo), that's more morally sleazy and arrogant of Edwards' to me than the affair itself.

I feel sorry for the Young family and the Edwards' family, and for the Hunter (+Edwards) baby. But I don't feel sorry for Edwards and Hunter (or even the campaign manager who knew he was doing something unethical).

Money-wise, the sh*t will soon hit the fan and ALL the truth WILL come out. It won't be pretty.

A cautionary tale.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Oooh, a traffic ticket and drinking beer on city property. Sounds like a hardened criminal.

[Lee Stranahan - Huffpost Blogger]

Please check the links to see the extent of the record. I never referred to Mr. Young as a hardened criminal but his run-ins with the law are numerous.

[dora rice]

The Edwards story is so sad and dirty, that the average person doesn't even want to read it anymore. The man is politically done, and even as a lawyer I would have my doubts if I would still use him, He might would make a deal for his pockebook and me falling between the cracks. In other words I wouldn't trust the man anymore. Sorry his wife also got pulled into this nasty situation and helped to keep this story secret, which doesn't say much about her being a lawyer and all. Edwards got took in a very nasty way. That this woman loves him is ridiculous, because very likely her or her co inhabitant tipped the magazine of. In any case I am sure his feelings died for her and not even viagra could revive them.

[Michale32086]

@dsbh

It's hypocritical when you use the "yea but..." defense to justify or mitigate a DEMOCRAT scandal, knowing that, if it was a REPUBLICAN scandal, you would be demanding full disclosure on every sordid little detail...

Michale.....

[dsbsh]

You somehow know what I think, and it just happens to be 180 degrees different from what I've written.... Sorry, but your telepathic powers are failing you. My criticism of Edwards, yet disgust over the excessive coverage of this story, is hardly a "yeah but" defense-- and certainly not "yea but" (as there was no cheering involved). I guess you really do equate Edwards' affair with (my two examples) allegations that a sitting president's administration forged documents to lead us into war, and the outbreak of a war between Russia and Georgia. In your effort to find bias, you apparently missed the fact that one of these isn't even a "scandal," just another war involving a nuclear power... hardly worth diverting attention away from the tabloids, eh?

[Michale32086]

@dsbh

If Edwards is so "irrelevant" now, why was he going to have a Prime Time speaking spot at the Democratic Party convention???

Michale.....

[rachelwebster]

where did you hear that? its not going to happen...

[Killa4luv]

The word criminal record is bandied about pretty loosely in this article. DWI is bad, but lets not make this guy into a career criminal, unless you can deliver more than some frat boy type arrests.

[Lee Stranahan - Huffpost Blogger]

My reporting was fair. Click the links to see - there's a lot of stuff. It's all minor but there's a lot.

[todayslies]

So Andrew Young's a drunk who has some DWI's? And that proves......?

What exactly does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

It will be interesting to see if a SENTIENT "spokeman" like Edwards can earn some kind of public redemption and make the kind of worthy contribution of which he is capable and seemingly inclined.

[Nebris]

NEXT....

[w8aminute]

my sentiments exactly.

[tenayaca]

Is anyone else as sick as I am over hearing about Edwards and his loose trousers?
MOVE ON ALREADY!!! He's history.
We have SO MANY more important stories that the Huffington Post COULD BE covering instead of this one. Seems like the sex and celebrity stuff gets too much coverage on this website for my taste.

[Hufferton]

Read the rest of the Huffington Post. Many, Many other issues are being discussed in detail.

Suggestion: do not read and post to sections you do not want to appear.

[ReckingBall]

You should try the Christian Science Monitor, they dont do fluff pieces. Me, I cant get enough of this story.

[nutty4tahoe]

While you people are busily picking away at this, searching the internet for clues, etc. etc., why not also find out where the heck is Vicki Iseman, the lobbyist who John McCain was apparently "being inappropriate" with and who mysteriously disappeared after her name (briefly) appeared in the tabloids? (I need to wash my brain out with soap at the though of being inappropriate with John McCain). HuffPo, since you say you were one of the first to break the Edwards story and therefore have experience in this sort of thing, are your bloodhounds on Iseman's trail?

It's a slam dunk that John Edwards is not on anybody's VP short list....

[Cherubim]

Ask yourself this question who has the most to gain from revealing the Edwards affair?

Consider this fact. Roger Altman, one of the Clinton's biggest financial supporter owns
the National Enquirer.

Answer this question. Will the Clintons, ( who are not without sin), now, each have prime time speaking slots at the Democratic National Convention?

So, there you have it kids. Down and Dirty politics.

If John Edwards is smart, he will take his family somewhere far away and live a simple life.
But, we all know he is not that smart.

[presto]

That was a bizarre connection of dots. How to get from A to B by way of Z.

[Jezreel]

Wow. That was a stretch.

[myhomeo]

If The National Enquirer had a pro-Clinton agenda i don't think they would have put Bill and his latest mistress on the cover a few weeks ago.