Last night on the Larry King show, National Enquirer Editor David Perel dropped another bombshell -- that John Edwards has had three meeting with Rielle Hunter at the Beverly Hills Hilton. Perel has previously claimed that there were two meetings with Hunter, the one that Edwards has confirmed happened in July and one around the beginning of June.
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.
In his ABC interview that aired this past Friday, Edwards gave an unusually parsed answer when asked about the photo.
EDWARDS: The picture in the tabloid. I have no idea what that picture is.WOODRUFF: But you've seen it right?
EDWARDS: I did see it and I cannot make any sense out of that. When I went to this meeting you've already asked me about, uh, I was not wearing a t-shirt, I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. I don't know who that picture -- I don't know if that picture is me, it could well be, it looks like me. I don't know who that baby is, I have no idea what that picture is.
I've spoken with sources close to the Edwards camp who told me that Edwards hadn't worn the light blue shirt seen in the baby photo 'in months' and who said that the photos of the baby was also months old. Significantly, these sources didn't deny that the baby was Rielle Hunter's, just that it was an older picture. This would be consistent with a March 20th meeting date.
Wikipedia says that Rielle Hunter's birthday is March 20th.
I spoke with National Enquirer editor David Perel who stated that the Enquirer has dates for all three meetings and plans to publish them in upcoming issues. Mr. Perel said he would neither confirm or deny my speculation about March 20th as being the date of a meeting between Hunter and Edwards.
UPDATE: I was just a guest on The Young Turks radio show. 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.
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FYI .. Gov. John Corzine paid over $350,000 in gift tax when he forgave a loan to his girlfriend the head of a teachers union. He knew about those taxes. I wonder if Sen. Edwards did.
First, Kos is mostly about electoral politics, not tabloid journalism. They speak to actual really important issues not about who is sleeping with who and what celebrity decided to go commando. Next it is not unusual for folks who may feel some sympathy and understanding for what Elizabeth is going through to find Lee's opinionating objectionable. The woman is dying. Put yourself in her shoes. Of course neither he could or most of you could...you're not dying.
When Bill Clinton was going through his even worse violation of the public trust by having sex...in the oval office and other locations in the White House with Monica Lewinsky..most liberals and Dems defended Bill. In fact MoveOn.org was formed to defend the Clintons. We all screamed 'it's a private matter'...why is it a private matter for the Clintons but not for the Edwards? Where are the Hillary supporters supporting Elizabeht for the same damn thing?
There are respected left leaning political blogs like TalkingPointsMemo.com that not only haven't banned me, they've had their reporters talk to me to get background on the story.
But head right back over to Kos - they've got Kool-Aid waiting for you!
Edwards on the other hand, ran in the primaries, as a wholesome family man and basically that attracted the voters. We are not to be the judge and the jury, but this is still about election and the voters needed to know to make their decision.
..I will refrain from saying what could have been, it the affair was known early on....
We know all about other past politicians' and political activists' personal lives, most after the fact, and it hasn't seemed to diminish their standings in history, their accomplishments or had a lasting impact on government policy..FDR, Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Bill Clinton all have legacies beyond the "naughty-naughty" business. Let it go already..there seems to be some kind of vendetta mentality on this. What's the end-game strategy? How will this make us or the country any better for the knowing? Our knowledge won't change the outcome for the parties involved and shouldn't influence the positive contributions John Edwards has made to this country!
Yes, he's not a candidate anymore, but a serious contender for attorney general. I seriously doubt that will play out despite his many accomplishments (really sad). Edwards needs to come forward before the tabloids really chew him up during the DNC. This whole mess could end up hurting the man who is our Democractic candidate.
As for the Enquirer, they have something dirty up their sleeve and it doesn't take a genius to figure out when they are going to release the rest of their information. Are you willing to bet it's 8/25?
There may issues that need to be looked at, but at heart--the reason this story is still around--is because it's about sex.
Not that the possibility of misusing campaign funds is not an issue, but I look around--John McCain's ties to lobbyists and subsequent influence peddling, Russia/Georgia, the illegal firing of federal prosecutors, the CIA possibly making up documents to get us into a war in Iraq, the sudden quiet around the anthrax investigation, White House officials ignoring subpoenas and refusing to testify--these matter a heck of a lot more. Will these stories have the same legs as Edwards story? No, because the Edwards story revolves around sex.
If reporters went after the big stories like they are going after John Edwards, we'd have some real change in America. But they'll never do it.
Remember how the press went after Clinton?
It's always about sex.
I think those who want to pin it on sex miss how deeply the Edwards family ingrained themselves as an ideal family, supportive and close, and very real. (which, in the last part, may be the case) Even if we weren't voting for them, the less cynical among us very likely believed that. I preferred Obama, but Edwards was always a close second - and stupidly on my part, the family story factored in more than I might like to admit. When I reflect on his actual policies, his light-weight history as a Senator, his methods as an attorney, and the sanctimonious nature of his speeches, I wonder what I was thinking. It was an image - a false one - but it held a lot of people entralled. Let's hope Obama has more substance.
So What? Edwards is done. Done. Done!
Is there a columnist at Huff Post that hasn't written a column on the Edwards affair?
Seriously, why aren't reporters going after McCain? It's not sexy enough for them, I bet.
All this is doing is diverting attention away from real issues that actually affect Americans.
My goodness, we're doing the republicans work for them.
Somewhere Karl Rove is laughing. Once again, we're eating our own.
Edwards is done, but McCain may very well be our next president. Sleep tight.
If Edwards had been a Republican, everyone on the hysterical Left would be BEGGING for new information instead of begging everyone to forget it and move on...
Michale.....
This is fodder for readers of the National Enquirer seeking vicarious titillation through the misadventures of others and for Republicans desperately looking for a scandal that does not involve them.
This whole exercise is like beating up a D-List celebrity. Fun for the cruel and disgusting to everyone else.
Keep it up!!!
Remember MEDIA-(AND BLOGS) this is ONLY important if he was in office (HE'S NOT) or running for office (HE'S NOT), other than that no one cares.
BUT BUT BUT... HE LIED ETC.
Yeah, AND HE ADMITTED IT, AND HE WAS SORRY
SO STOP CHURNING IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As well they should...
Michale.....
Mistress probably recorded meetings as insurance for future "income." The lure of additional tabloid $$ assured an Edwards panic and ET-TMZ bonanza. Just too tempting for Lisa.Rielle.Druck.Hunter.and associates.
Surely she told her adulterous lover she wasn't using birth control.
Wonder how much the non-paternity test cost Edwards.
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Oh and Mr. Hypocrite, would YOU care about this story if he were a REPUBLICAN?
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Abso-fracking-loutly...
ESPECIALLY if I was an Edwards supporter who donated to Edwards, only to learn that my donation may have gone to support his mistress and other co-conspirators...
Michale.....