Editing John Edwards (section)

===Extramarital affair===
{{main|John Edwards extramarital affair}}
In October 2007, ''[[The National Enquirer]]'' began a series of reports alleging an [[Adultery|adulterous affair]] between Edwards and former campaign worker Rielle Hunter. By July 2008, several news media outlets speculated that Edwards's chances for the vice presidency as well as other positions such as the attorney general were harmed by the allegations, which now included that he fathered a child with Hunter and had visited her and the baby girl at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in [[Beverly Hills, California]]. The story was not widely covered by the press for some time, until, after initially denying the allegations,<ref name="MC073108">{{cite web |date=July 31, 2008 |last=Zagaroli |first=Lisa |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008/story/46066.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128163414/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008/story/46066.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 28, 2013 |title=Birth certificate of child linked to Edwards lists no father |publisher=[[McClatchy Newspapers]] |access-date=August 1, 2008}}</ref><ref name="FoxNews">{{cite news |title=Guard Confirms Late-Night Hotel Encounter Between Ex-Sen. John Edwards, Tabloid Reporters |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/guard-confirms-late-night-hotel-encounter-between-ex-sen-john-edwards-tabloid-reporters |publisher=[[Fox News Channel]] |date=July 25, 2008 |author=Fox News (unsigned) |access-date=July 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215000122/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html |archive-date=February 15, 2013 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Independent">{{cite news|title= Love child and mistress claims hit Edwards |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/love-child-and-mistress-claims-hit-edwards-878277.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=July 27, 2008 |author=Guy Adams |location=London}}</ref><ref name="TheTimes1">{{cite news |title=Sleaze scuppers Democrat golden boy |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4406814.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007174835/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4406814.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 7, 2008 |work=The Times |date=July 27, 2008 |author=Sarah Baxter |location=London}}</ref> Edwards admitted the affair.<ref name="RT080108">{{cite magazine |date=8 August 2008 |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2008/08/08/its_mainstream_now_edwards_adm/ |title=It's Mainstream Now; Edwards Admits Affair |last1=Poniewozik |first1=James |magazine=Time |access-date=1 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=August 9, 2008 |last=Hoyt |first=Clark |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10pubed.html |title=Sometimes, There's News in the Gutter |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 3, 2008}}</ref>

In an August 8, 2008, statement,<ref name="Aug8statement">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/08/AR2008080802738.html | title=Statement of Senator John Edwards |newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 8, 2008 | access-date=August 8, 2008}}</ref> and an interview with [[Bob Woodruff]] of [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]], Edwards admitted the affair with Hunter in 2006, but denied being the father of her child. He acknowledged that he had been dishonest in denying the entire ''Enquirer'' story, admitting that some of it was true, but said that the affair ended long before the time of the child's conception. He further said he was willing to take a paternity test, but Hunter responded that she would not be party to a [[DNA]] test "now or in the future".<ref>Lois Romano and Howard Kurtz, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110131094402/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/09/AR2008080901298_pf.html "Edwards's Ex-Lover Rejects Idea Of DNA Test: Hunter Requests Privacy For Herself, Her Child"], ''The Washington Post'', August 10, 2008</ref> Initially, campaign aide Andrew Young claimed that he, not Edwards, was the child's father.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5441195&page=1 |title=Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate |author=Rhonda Swartz |author2=Brian Ross |work=ABC News |date=August 8, 2008 |access-date=August 8, 2008}}</ref> Young later renounced that statement, instead alleging that Edwards always knew he was the child's father and had pleaded with him to falsely accept responsibility.<ref name='Edwards-Denouement'>{{cite news |first=Neil |last=Lewis |title=For Edwards, Drama Builds Toward a Dénouement |date=September 19, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/us/politics/20edwards.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 20, 2009}}</ref>

Young further claimed to have set up private meetings between Edwards and Hunter, and that Edwards once calmed an anxious Hunter by promising her that after his wife died he would marry her in a rooftop ceremony in New York with an appearance by the [[Dave Matthews Band]].<ref name='Edwards-Denouement' /> Young also maintains that Edwards asked him to "Get a doctor to fake the DNA results ... and to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/john-edwards-admits-fathered-child-affair/story?id=9620812 |title=John Edwards Admits He Fathered Rielle Hunter's Child During Affair  |work=ABC News |date=January 21, 2010 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref>

On January 21, 2010, John Edwards issued a press release to admit that he fathered Hunter's child.<ref name="APAdmits">{{cite news |date=January 21, 2010 |title=Edwards admits he fathered videographer's child |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/john_edwards_admits_he_fathere.html |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> On February 2, 2010, Young released a book detailing the affair. Young also began working with [[Aaron Sorkin]] on a movie about the affair based on the book ''The Politician''. On February 23, 2012, an Orange County, North Carolina, judge ruled that Young and his wife could not publicize the movie. The judge also ruled that an alleged "sex tape" of Edwards and Hunter be destroyed by the court. The judge also allowed only the materials already in the public domain to be used for public purposes. All other photos and materials not yet released can be used for family purposes only.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/23/justice/north-carolina-edwards-sex-tape/index.html |work=CNN|title=John Edwards sex tape to be destroyed after settlement reached |date=February 24, 2012}}</ref>

Reports surfaced in late 2011 in ''The National Enquirer'' and ''RadarOnline.com'' that Edwards asked his former mistress to move into his North Carolina home, where he had once lived with his wife.<ref>{{cite web |last= Tereszcuk |first=Alexis |title=Disgraced John Edwards Asks Mistress Rielle Hunter to Move in with Him |date=2011 |url=http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/12/john-edwards-asks-mistress-rielle-hunter-move-together |publisher=Radar Online |access-date=December 15, 2011}}</ref> In 2012, Rielle Hunter announced her breakup with Edwards the same day she released a book about their relationship.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/356563/20120626/rielle-hunter-john-edwards-book-breakup.htm |title= Rielle Hunter, John Edwards Breakup Announced Same Day As Book Release |date= June 26, 2012 |publisher= Ibtimes.com |access-date= December 17, 2012}}</ref>

In response to the scandal involving Edwards's extramarital affair and attempts to cover it up, he has stated "I am a sinner, but not a criminal."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Severson |first1=Kim |date=13 June 2012 |title=No New Trial for John Edwards |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/us/politics/john-edwards-charges-dismissed.html |access-date=5 October 2014 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>