John Edwards tells why he went to the Beverly Hilton

In light of John Edwards' record of lying in public with his previous denials of an extramarital affair, it was natural that when word surfaced Friday of his admission of a relationship with Rielle Hunter, skepticism greeted his assertion that it had lasted only for a short period in 2006.

Indeed, one big question clouded that claim -- if that was the case, why had he met with Hunter late last month at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills (only to be surprised by a National Enquirer stakeout)?

In the exclusive interview that aired Friday evening on ABC's "Nightline," Edwards said there was "a very simple reason" for the get-together: he still wanted to make sure his indiscretion remained a secret.

"I was trying to keep this mistake that I had made from becoming public," the former Democratic presidential candidate told newsman Bob Woodruff.

Recalling that he had been in Los Angeles that day for an event with the city's mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa (himself a confessed adulterer), Edwards said that when a friend of Hunter's called and said she was at the hotel and wanted to meet with him, he initially declined.

But he eventually acceded to the request, he said on Nightline, because he was told Hunter "was having some trouble" and "she just wanted to talk."

Elaborating on his comment that his main goal was to keep a lid on their liaison, he added: "I wanted her not to tell the public what had happened. Very simple. That's the reason I went."

ABC News has posted a transcript of lengthy excerpts of the compelling interview.

Asked at the end of the session whether he expected his marriage to Elizabeth Edwards to survive, he said, "Oh yeah, oh yeah."

That would seem likely, based on s short comment Elizabeth Edwards issued Friday afternoon. The texts of her statement and her husband's are available here. Hers concluded: "Although John believes he should stand alone and take the consequences of his action now, when the door closes behind him, he has his family waiting for him."

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[bill]

Oh come on, how stupid can this guy and the public be...this Rielle called him on short notice and needed talk...she set him up with the National Enquirer for sure!

Wonder how much she or her friends were paid for that?

[Leo Leahy]

I hope you also refer to John McCain as a confessed adulterer who has a record of lying in public about his history of extramarital affairs.

[Scootmandubious]

I was an Edwards supporter and I am extremely disturbed and angered by this.

It's bad enough what he did to his wife and children, but that is entirely between them.

However, had Edwards become the nominee, and if this got let out of the bag shortly before the election, he would have handed the White House over to John McCain on a silver platter.

In a post-Lewinsky political landscape that is simply unforgiveable.

[Michael Fairbairn Cordova]

Pathetic that the National Enquirer had to break this story and the MSM avoided it like the plague.

[apollo]

I cant believe anyone is surprised by this scumbag liar. He's been lying forever, ie his claim to be fo the common man....most common men i guess are multi millionaire ambulance chaser / hedge fund thieves...

[shrink]

Q. Why did John Edwards go to the Beverly Hilton overnight?

A. With his wife dying of cancer, he obviously needed a little stress relief.

[Richard Carpenter]

How do you know when a democrat is lying?
His lips are moving!
Obama never heard any hateful sermons, Ted Kennedy wasn't drunk and he really did try to save Mary Jo, Kwame K. didn't lie or try to mislead investigators... blah, blah, blah
and of course John just screwed this gal for a little while in 2006 so it's really OK....Right?

[Moose in the Tree]

Leo Leahy, are you saying that since McCain did it, it is okay for John Edwards to do it or that we should just forget about it.

[mark]

All you haters are just jealous that you don't have wonderful hair like Johnny.

[NinaK]

I believe Mr. Edwards is telling another none truth. He says Hunter's friend called him to tell him she wanted to see him, he declined, but when he was told she was having some trouble, then he agreed to go. BUT, the main reason he went was because he wanted her to keep a lid on their affair?? Come on, we weren't born yesterday. I believe this gal was blackmailing Edwards. Why was Edwards campaign's finance anager "GIVING" her money without Edwards' knowledge? He had to be paying her off to keep her quite. I believe that after Edwards suspended his campaign and there was no more campaign money being "GIVEN" to her, Hunter then began to blackmail Edwards. To Edwards it was critical the truth would remain hidden, inspite of the Enquirer's reports of the affair early on in the compaign. Remember, after he endorsed Senator Obama, he was asked if he would be his VP and Edwards stated he would be willing to "consider" it if asked. Edwards used extremely poor judgement in getting involved with this woman and I am afraid he got into a bigger and more cynical situation than for which he bargained. I believe this is probably getting uglier than having an affair.

[Scootmandubious]

Sometimes, things are spelled out right before us and we are just too naive to see it.

Think about it, here you have a woman who was able to get a job as an Edwards videographer simply by approaching him at a bar. And then, when the story about her project gets told, we learn that the camera is lingering on Edwards' butt. In retrospect, shouldn't that have rung any bells?

I came across the following from Newsweek (12/25/06):
"The Webisodes are the brainchild of Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker who met Edwards at a New York bar where Edwards was having a business meeting. "I didn't think it was John Edwards," Hunter recalls, "because the public persona did not mesh at all with the person who was sitting in front of me." Hunter pitched Edwards on the documentaries as a medium for bringing the "real John Edwards" to the people.

"Edwards still has a ways to go. In the midst of a short theme sequence that begins each Webisode, the camera lingers over the former senator's behind as he tucks a starched white shirt into his pants."

If that isn't a telling paragraph!

I'm just glad this is happening during the Olympics.

The link to the full Newsweek story is:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/44245

[liberal in louisiana]

i was a john edwards supporter. i always wondered why he quit the race days before super tuesday. that's like training for the olympics for years, and, then, quitting at the opening ceremony.
and now this affair comes out - he must have known it would come out sooner or later.
he's just another politician. what a betrayal to everyone committed to the causes he supported.
i want my campaign contribution money back.
oh, and by the way, yeah, i believe him now. i know we've all experienced those late-night meetings with old flames in hotel rooms, so we could "talk"... uh, yeah, right....
what a loser.

[Dr. Fill]

Yes let's not lose sight of the fact that Republicans cheat n their wives also....some in airport rest rooms

[ssharpe]

I think it is just wonderful how all of you are soooooo perfect. No sins, no mistakes. Gee you all should be running this country. Oh but you aren't , so please pray tell why aren't you.

[Jean in Washington State]

Mr. Leo Leahy, I see no need to attack John McCain's personal life in retaliation for disclosures about John Edwards. The McCains have both stated that he was separated and heading to divorce when they met and I take them at their word. I'm not pleased with Mr. Edward's conduct at all, but tit-for-tat remarks add noithing to the discussion. And all of this distracts us from the real issues of the war in Iraq, the economy, our continuing national debt that our grandchildren will be paying for, etc. As Democrats and Independents we should not reduce ourselves to this level. We're smarter - let's show it.

[Jean in Washington State]

I had great difficulty trying to read the coded words to post a comment. But it certainly was interesting to learn that automated robots post comments - I had absolutely no idea such things existed.

[VJ Machiavelli]

The Democ"rats' from Gary Hart to Bill Clinton to Elliot Spitzer to John Edward and all those other in between.

i did not have ..........................

VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com
ps Obama vacation to Hawaii aboard "APPEASEMENT ONE" is the cover they are using to pick the VP.

[NinaK]

Oh come on, how stupid can this guy and the public be...this Rielle called him on short notice and needed talk...she set him up with the National Enquirer for sure!

Wonder how much she or her friends were paid for that?

Posted by: bill
--------------------
Bill, your comment certainly makes a lot of sense; otherwise how would the Enquirer "gotten wind" that Edwards and Hunter would be meeting that night? And at 9:00 pm? How long before 9:00 pm were the Enquirer photographers and reporters waiting for Edwards to show up?

I wrote in my previous post I thought Hunter was blackmailing Edwards since the guy in charge of his campaign finances stated he had "GIVEN" money to Hunter, without Edward's knowledge, during the campaign. Once Edward suspended his campaign, there would have been no more campaign funds the money stopped being "GIVEN". I am pretty sure she was blackmailing Edwards as well. Maybe she wanted to raise the ante and he balked at the idea, thus the set up with the Enquirer. We must remember that after he endorsed Senator Obama, Edwards did say he would consider the VP job if asked.

John McCain should be brought to task about his own AFFAIRS and shacking up with Cindi before even divorcing his CRIPPLED WIFE. John McCain and Cindi couldn't wait, they got their marriage license BEFORE the divorce was final!! While McCain was not running for president at that time, his morals and ethics are NO different that Edwards'. If anything, McCain's behavior is even more putrid than Edwards since he engaged in various affairs before settling on Cindi. McCain's wife was still recovering from a very bad accident required major surgery resulting in her legs being shortened by 4-5 inches and having to be in a wheelchair for a long time. Yes, McCain's ethics are much worse than Edwards' and he should be taken to account!! Why should he be given a "PASS" for his outrageous behavior? Didn't the NY Post have an article of McCain messing around with one of his female lobbyists during the campaign as well?

[McCain's affair story]

As usual, the American media leaves Republicans alone on their hypocritical sexual issues. You have to read it from the foreign press.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1024927/The-wife-John-McCain-callously-left-behind.html

[tiddle]

edwards is toasted.

[Dennis Myers]

Regarding the comment by "Scootmandubious" that if Edwards had been nominated it would have doomed the Democrats' chances for the presidency, I would argue that it would have permitted the public to make its own judgment about media keyhole peeping rather than today's media smugness being the last word about this matter. In a contest between two candidates who had affairs, who's to say the Democrats would have lost? All I know is that as a journalist (I'm news editor of a Nevada newspaper) our profession has nothing to be proud of this week.

[primarywatcher]

Wha???! Let's see: Lie, lie, truth. LIe, lie... Nah. OK, I "used" to be an Edwards fan as well. Now? He's definitely TOAST!

[Tom Thompson]

I sincerely do not understand why this is a matter for public debate. I am sorry for Elizabeth Edwards but even that feeling is an invasion of her privacy.

If John Edwards "lied" about this affair, he is not the first human to lie about sex. My Christian savior, Jesus, admonished us that only he who is without sin may cast the first stone. The stone throwers, including the ever so righteous Don Frederick, are either lying, have amnesia or have not lived a normal life so far. "Was that as good for you as it was for me? Yeah, baby!".

[NinaK]

Senator Obama is the ONLY candidate with strong moral ethics and who has been truthful with us.

McCain has his own lurid history of multiple affairs and that needs to be taken into consideration and into account. If Edwards' affair means the end of his political involvement; then the same should apply to McCain. McCain is a big liar and we do NOT need an adulterer and adultress and LIAR in the White House. We have been through that the last 16 years!! We do not need more of the same!!

[Grapeguy]

Adultery seems to be extremely common among elected officials of both parties. Politicians are just fallible people under pressure. Still, McCain's record in this area is more odious than most.

[Benny Han]

Hmmmm. Spy camera set up and everything. Whadda bet the Inquirer paid Ms Hunter a pretty penny to pull our fine American politician over to the Beverly Hilton that night?

Treachery? Maybe, but nothing's too sneaky to pull on one of our typically corrupt politicians.

[A.]

I wonder if the LA Times puts the snarky vitriol into their reporting of McCain and his adultery, divorcing his first wife when an accident took her beauty from her, his presant wife's stealing from a charity she ran and her drug abuse, and the fact she was messing around with a married man (McCain) before he was divorced.

Why can't the sad facts of a politition's personal life be reported without the hatred?

(If you read those items you would know.)

[Marko]

McCain's first marriage was virtually over when he started his affair and I believe his first wife and him parted on good terms. Regardless, Edwards is a nobody and this story is stupid. He destroyed his career by lying to his voters repeatedly.

[Marko]

Its not the affair that is the extraordinarily bad thing about this scandal. Its the repeated lies to the public that Edwards spouted out on a daily basis. I knew he was lying when he started ducking out back doors to avoid the media.

[Sonya]

Yes, we cannot believe that an affair that started and ended in 2006 would compel John Edwards to see his former mistress and child in the middle of the night.
John Edwards obviously takes us all for fools now.
If Andrew Young and Rielle publically said the child is their's then there is no reason to leave his name off of the birth certificate now.
The story, as told by John Edwards, stinks of lies to this day.