Celebrity Teen Idols

Apparently Rielle Hunter has the green light to start blabbing about John Edwards and their torrid love affair, because GQ has a feature on her in its new issue.

A feature showing Edwards' mistress - a woman of "serenity and spunk" - trying hard to look sexy and, fittingly, given what she's known for, wearing no pants.

The John Edwards sex tape participant and mother of the love child he denied was his for two years certainly is captivating, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

Luckily for us, GQ got Rielle Hunter half naked, propped her on a bed full of toys, and told her to recall in detail how it was love at first sight with “Johnny.”

One of her "unfiltered" observations: It's all Elizabeth's fault!

So many things are wrong with this, where do we even begin?

"I believe what happened in his marriage is, he could not go to his wife and say, 'We have an issue,'" she opines. "Because he would be pummeled. He had a huge fear."

"Most of [John's] mistakes or errors in judgment were because of his fear of the wrath of Elizabeth," the weird videographer adds. "He allowed himself to be pushed into a lot of things that he wouldn’t normally do because of Elizabeth’s story line."

"A lot of it relates to the spin that she wants to put out there. He was emasculated. And you know, the wrath of Elizabeth is a mighty wrath.” Oh, we so know. Totally.

So he knocked up Rielle, had Andrew Young take the fall and may have used campaign funds to cover it up because he was scared of his wife. Makes perfect sense.

She continues: “It’s beyond difficult to allow a man to be a man."

"The biggest mistake that I find is that women attempt to make men women. You know, we want them to be like we are. We want them to get it immediately and do things the way that we want them to do them. And men are men."

"I love him for being a man. But oh, my God, yes, it’s been infuriating so many times." So basically, Elizabeth is a banshee, and men will be men, eh, Rielle? Nut job.

Andrew Young somehow had (or still has) a John Edwards-Rielle Hunter sex tape, which a North Carolina judge ordered the former Edwards loyalist to hand over.

Having failed to do so, Young is being held in contempt and jailed.

The Raleigh News & Observer reports Chatham County Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones has ordered Young and his wife, Cheri, jailed up to 75 days.

Jones believes Andrew Young lied about how many copies of the sordid John and Rielle sex tape exist, as well as how many people have viewed that nastiness.

"There were things told to the court, under oath, in affidavits, in testimony that turned out to be inaccurate," the judge said, laying the smack down on Young.

Young, whose best-seller The Politician outlines his role in helping orchestrate and cover up Edwards' affair and love child with Rielle Hunter, said he found the John Edwards sex tape while cleaning out an house she lived in during the affair?

He said another copy of the sex tape was handed over to the FBI for its ongoing investigation into John Edwards alleged theft of PAC funds to pay off Rielle.

A grand jury indictment of Edwards is said to be imminent by some sources. Hunter, claiming theft of personal property, has also gone after Young in court.

Some suspect that the legal assault being waged by Hunter may be masterminded by a certain shrewd former trial lawyer behind the scenes - John Edwards.

John and Rielle teaming up? Wouldn't that be ironic.

John Edwards, his weird mistress and their lovely daughter.

John Edwards is already a walking disgrace, having cheated on his cancer-stricken wife with Rielle Hunter, knocking up his weird mistress, trying to cover the scandal up, and lying about it repeatedly while running for President of the United States.

Now a Federal grand jury may decide there was criminal behavior in there, too.

The former U.S. Senator may find himself indicted shortly, according to reports, for illegally using campaign funds to hide his affair with Hunter.

One-time aide Andrew Young and none other than Edwards' own estranged wife Elizabeth could help take the fallen presidential candidate, too.

Edwards is being investigated by FBI, IRS and election officials for myriad possible campaign violations related to paying hush money to Rielle Hunter.

The grand jury has been convened since April, and an indictment is imminent.

FALL FROM GRACE: There's truly never been one like this.

"John is terrified he's going to be indicted," a friend said.

"While he believes he's done nothing illegal in trying to hide his affair with Rielle and their daughter, he thinks the Feds are going to make an example out of him."

Right. Make an example of him. Because they do that. Sorry, John, weren't you a personal injury lawyer at one point? They never make examples out of anything.

Tell us, how's the view look from the other side? What's the saying? Do the crime, do the time, pal. All because you had to go and do Rielle Hunter.

So worth it right now.

After its relentless reporting blew the lid off the John Edwards-Rielle Hunter cheating scandal, the National Enquirer is in the running for a Pulitzer Prize.

Does it deserve to be nominated - or even win it?

Laugh if you want, but the Enquirer’s coverage of Edwards' double life is being considered for investigative reporting and national news reporting awards.

The story of his affair and love child with Rielle Hunter were ignored, dismissed, and ignored again until finally being vindicated by mainstream media.

The significance of the story, the New York Times notes, is the fact that Democratic Party came dangerously close to nominating this man for the presidency.

This would have been a disgrace of unparalleled proportions.

Yet only in the National Enquirer was the truth about John Edwards’ recklessness, and the grim reality behind his doting-husband facade, exposed.

The National Enquirer did us a favor exposing this loser.

The mainstream media's hesitation to run the story might be defended as the high ground, a means to a less sex-obsessed culture, which is somewhat noble.

But the celebrity gossip machine will grind on regardless.

If Americans aren’t reading about Edwards and Rielle Hunter, they’ll just read about Tiger Woods and Rachel Uchitel (also broken by the Enquirer, natch).

Better the former than the latter, right? Woods' apology made clear that we may be interested, but it's his business and he will talk only when he wants.

Tiger may have opened himself up to incredible scrutiny and criticism with his inappropriate actions, but to a certain point it's his problem to deal with.

Not so with John Edwards. Athletes and talk show hosts don’t work for us, but politicians' dalliances tend to interfere with, and often corrupt, their jobs.

Not all affairs produce corruption, and we don’t have to know every sin committed. But with Edwards, imagine if we found out only after it was too late?

We're just saying.

This story keeps on getting better and better. John Edwards is reportedly engaged to Rielle Hunter, his mistress and the mother of his love child, reports say.

Two weeks ago, Edwards finally admitted that he is the father of Hunter's two-year-old daughter. Since then, Edwards and wife Elizabeth legally separated.

According to the National Enquirer, who broke the Edwards love child scandal, he proposed to his mistress on the same day he came clean about paternity.

“John dropped the proposal bomb on Rielle shortly before he issued his statement that he was indeed Frances’ father,” a source told the celeb news tabloid.

“Rielle Hunter has been waiting for a proposal for two long years. She deserved to know he wanted to raise their child together, and wanted Rielle in his life."

If this is true, which we highly doubt but can't officially rule out, you know what's coming next: The John Edwards Sex Tape II: Honeymoon Suite Style!

Will Rielle Hunter become the new Mrs. John Edwards?

“John said that when his divorce is final, he’ll buy her a diamond ring. In the meantime, he’s getting them a house.” A $3.5 million beach house, allegedly.

The Enquirer says that Edwards expects his divorce from his cancer-stricken wife to be completed within a year, paving the way for a marriage to Hunter.

A spokeswoman for John Edwards denied this report, much like his people did numerous times about the affair ... and the love child ... and the coverup.

“It’s absolutely not true,” his spokesman said, adding that  Edwards and Hunter “only communicate through a third party,” to work out Edwards visitation.

“Everybody is trying to move on with their lives.”

It's probably not true. But given that Edwards is a deceitful human who lies about everything, he doesn't exactly have a lot of credibility left, does he?

All we know is that if we were Andrew Young, we'd start ordering only bottled water in restaurants, and make sure the valet turns his car on for him.

Andrew Young, the country's most famous campaign aide turned fall guy turned whistle blower turned absurd sex tape owner, is feeling the heat these days.

Young turned over the John Edwards sex tape to a judge, as ordered, but still faces questions about where the tapes were kept and what he did with them.

The former Edwards confidant struggled to answer why he said last week that the only copies of the sex tape he had access to were in an Atlanta lockbox.

He testified earlier this week that he also had a copy of the tape elsewhere and he recently showed the video to ABC News in preparation for an interview.

On top of potential legal action from Edwards' mistress Rielle Hunter, whose affair with the presidential candidate Young helped hide, Edwards is pissed too.

So is his wife. Elizabeth Edwards has threatened to sue him for contributing to the downfall of their marriage, according to a report in the Washington Post.

John Edwards whistle-blower Andrew Young with wife Cheri.

Young's attorneys turned over several items, including a tape marked "special" that purportedly shows John Edwards in a sexual encounter with Rielle Hunter.

Young personally turned over a copy of the sex tape as well. But questions over whether there are more copies - and whether he tried to sell them - linger.

"This is all disturbing to me, and it's not a comfort to our client," said Alan Duncan, an attorney for Rielle Hunter, who has said Young invaded her privacy.

Conceding he had made some errors in previous sworn statements, Young maintains he has tried his best to detail the location of items Hunter is seeking.

"I answered as honestly as I could," he testified.

He said Elizabeth Edwards threatened a lawsuit against him under the North Carolina statute that allows one to sue a third party for contributing to a marriage ending. A jilted spouse typically uses this to seek money from their partner's lover.

"We have powerful people coming at us," said Young, who vowed to fight to prove he is not a liar (even if he is a proven liar). "Are we scared? Absolutely."

A spokeswoman for Elizabeth Edwards declined to comment.

John Edwards is a bad person. He knocked up some weird videographer while married to his lovely, cancer-stricken wife, the mother of his three children.

He then tried to lie his way out of this, engaging in a huge cover-up potentially aided by funds donated to his campaign for President of the United States.

That's hard to top, but perhaps what goes around comes around. At the same time Rielle Hunter was doing him, she too was reportedly having an affair ...

... with Jeff Goldblum!

The Law & Order: Criminal Intent star met Rielle in 2006 at the Playhouse West acting school and repertory theater in N. Hollywood, where he teaches.

"Jeff said he was in love," a source says, and at this point, you can't discredit anything. "They were extremely close - totally, 100 percent, a major item."

This is the weirdest love triangle ever.

They were so serious that when the blonde nut job got pregnant in 2007, Jeff naturally assumed the baby was his - and Rielle Hunter even led him on.

“He asked her,” says the source. “She'd only say, 'Maybe.' She kept him guessing."

THG NOTE: Why the hell would anyone get involved with Rielle Hunter?

When it clear he was not the dad, Jeff, who now dates Tania Raymonde (a.k.a. Ben's daughter on Lost) ended the affair. Rielle was hardly heartbroken.

“Rielle really didn’t care that she lost Jeff,” says a source close to the bat$h!t crazy woman. “She knew he was just a fling. She cared more for John.” 

And his $18,000 a month in child support.

Not to worry, Jeff. Even if you did sleep with Rielle, at least you used protection or got lucky, and regardless, this rumor doesn't involve you being dead.

A John Edwards sex tape, made with former mistress (and current girlfriend?) Rielle Hunter actually exists.

No matter how many times we hear about this, no matter how many reliable sources confirm its existence, this will never cease to be a shocking development in an already-jaw dropping scandal.

Earlier today, Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones reprimanded Andrew Young, the ex-Edwards aide that played a major role in covering up - for awhile, anyway - his boss' affair with Hunter.

Jones ruled that Young has until Wednesday afternoon to hand over items "of a personal nature" that belonged to Edwards, according to The News and Observer. Young has said he's storing the alleged video in a safe deposit box in Atlanta.

John Edwards: Fake family man. Real sex tape star.

"These items are to be produced and turned over to the court. The court will put them under lock and key - and under seal - until the lawsuit is resolved," the judge said, referring to Hunter's temporary restraining order against Young.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Edwards and Hunter is STILL going on, confirms the latter's sister, Roxanne Marshall. She profited off it this week by telling Inside Edition:

"[Rielle] still believes they will be together. She is very happy. What mother wouldn't be, especially after his denying [fatherhood]?"

It's true. Just think of the role model Hunter's daughter now has to look up to. She might grow up to be a politician... that uses campaign funds to cover up a child she produced when she cheated on her cancer-stricken spouse.

We know John Edwards has no morals, but never took him for a petty thief.

While this latest piece of news is nowhere near as scandalous as the John Edwards sex tape, it is but another strange piece of the fallen politician's bizarre saga.

The Orange County, N.C., sheriff's office just released last week a copy of a report alleging a "domestic between spouses and larceny of wallet" in October 2008.

The location of the alleged theft? The home of John and Elizabeth Edwards.

In the report, Elizabeth describes how John came home to eat dinner with his children after a sports event. Elizabeth told him he had no business being there.

Moments later, John Edwards challenged his wife and said the house was his, too. Then Elizabeth Edwards said she saw her husband take her wallet and leave.

The train wreck that is John Edwards seems to worsen daily.

Elizabeth said her wallet contained $320, credit cards and a phone. John went down to "the barn," an adjoining structure that includes a full-size basketball court, for several minutes before beginning to leave, according to officials.

"As Mr. Edwards was preparing to leave, he was asked to give the wallet back,” the official police report notes, “and he advised that he did not have it."

The report ends by giving Edwards – a former U.S. Senator, two-time presidential candidate and Democratic V.P. nominee – a new title: "suspect."

The report had been kept confidential at Elizabeth's request, as the documents’ release "could endanger the victims physical or mental well-being."

So ... John Edwards was not allowed in his own home, and rebelled after being kicked out by ganking his own wife's wallet? Eh, we can see that.

After all, this is a guy who knocked up Rielle Hunter while running for President of the U.S., and after Elizabeth got cancer. Nothing is off limits.

Andrew Young claims he still has the alleged John Edwards sex tape depicting the former senator and his then-mistress Rielle Hunter, and that unlike John when he knocked up Rielle a few years back, it's quite well protected.

In a safe-deposit box, he says.

The ex-aide to the embattled two-time former Democratic presidential candidate, once his fall guy and now a whistle-blower, denies he tried to sell it for profit.

"We were offered millions for that stupid tape," he says of the tape he "found in a box of trash filled with crinkled paper and tapes" left behind by Rielle Hunter.

He says despite the lucrative potential of the risque video, they never shopped it around, which was reported last week, since "We couldn't live with ourselves."

Andrew Young has turned on former boss John Edwards.

Hunter filed a motion last week against Andrew Young in court, seeking the return of photos and videos, including one she made in 2006 while working for Edwards.

"In or about September 2006, I authored a personal video recording that depicted matters of a very private and personal nature," Hunter wrote in an affidavit.

"In 2006, I was also having an intimate relationship with Edwards."

This declaration is a bit confusing, as in Young's new book, The Politician, he says the naked woman depicted in the John Edwards sex tape was clearly pregnant.

Hunter had Frances Quinn in 2008, more than a year after she says her "private" video was made. Yet she acknowledges said video exists. It's all really bizarre.

Young won't comment on "ongoing litigation" with Hunter, except that "We may lose the battle because we don't have the money or power John and Elizabeth do."

John Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, and weird mistress, Rielle.

Young served as an aide to John Edwards for more than nine years and even agreed to publicly claim paternity of John's baby, being carried by Hunter, in 2008.

Edwards finally admitted last month that he fathered Hunter's 2-year-old daughter, Frances Quinn. John's wife, Elizabeth Edwards, is now separated from him.

Young said on ABC's 20/20 that when he and his wife Cheri first watched the sex tape – which was marked "special" – "we just fell on the floor. We were agape."

Adds Cheri: "It was disappointing to see the person you had such hopes and dreams for be so careless." Yup, that's pretty much the understatement of all time.

Andrew Young, John Edwards’ former campaign aide, confidant and co-conspirator, has made some shocking allegations about the politician in his new book.

Most notably, Young claims in The Politician that he found a John Edwards sex tape, showing the ex-Senator hitting it with his mistress, Rielle Hunter. Blech.

That's scandalous enough, but in an unexpected new twist, reports are surfacing that Young was trying to profit from a sale of the John Edwards sex tape.

“He was exploring options for the tape,” said a source close to the situation. “He had spoken to people about possible financial deals involving the tape.”

Andrew Young says he found the tape in the trash and it was marked “special.” Other sources say he was given the tape by Edwards and asked to hide it.

Either way, the Edwards sex tape remained with Young after Edwards admitted the affair with Rielle Hunter, and Young supposedly explored marketing it.

Rielle Hunter’s face is never shown on tape, though it is clear John is with a pregnant woman "wearing a bracelet" and a "thumb ring" typically worn by her. Oooookay.

Even more shockingly, today, Hunter won a temporary restraining order Friday prohibiting Young from disseminating the tape, implying he still has the thing.

She has sought an injunction demanding the very "personal video recording that depicted matters of a very private and personal nature" be returned to her.

Who knows if Andrew Young still has the tape or really tried to sell it, but as Edwards' lies began to unravel, he eventually turned on his boss in a big way.

But back in 2007, Young was so trusted by Edwards and believed in him so fervently, he claimed to be the father of Rielle's daughter (who is really John's).

Lying for Edwards used to be his purpose in life. Today on Good Morning America, answering machine messages left by Edwards on his phone were played.

In one, Edwards explains how he might sound different sometimes. Follow the jump to hear John Edwards' conspiring with Andrew Young via voicemail ...

"Andrew, it’s John,” Edwards said, plotting his cover-up. “I am gonna leave you this message just in case you get a call from me asking, ‘What's going on?’"

"The reason we're calling is because Elizabeth's standing there. So if I call saying, ‘What happened? How did this happen?’ - that's because Elizabeth's standing there."

Young says over $1 million was used to cover up the affair and pregnancy on behalf of Edwards. Simply stunning. Here's ABC's segment on it:

Two-time presidential candidate John Edwards has confirmed that he and wife Elizabeth Edwards are separated, but that he still cares deeply about her.

"It is an extraordinarily sad moment, but I love my children more than anything and still care deeply about Elizabeth," Edwards said in a statement.

A friend of Elizabeth Edwards also confirmed Wednesday that the couple is separated. Elizabeth's sister, Nancy Anania, said that she remains strong.

"She said, 'I've had it. I can't do this. I want my life back,'" Anania said. "I'm really proud of her. Somehow, she's doing as well as you could expect."

The statements from John and Elizabeth Edwards come ...

• A former aide to Edwards, Andrew Young, is preparing to release a tell-all book, The Politician, that gives an unflattering portrait of Edwards.
• One week after John Edwards finally made a public declaration that he fathered a child, now almost two, with his mistress Rielle Hunter.
• As Elizabeth continues her battle with incurable cancer, which she has had since early 2007, about when John was knocking up Rielle.
• As a federal investigation into his campaign finances, from which he is accused of funneling Hunter hush money, is ramping up.

Yup, it's pretty hard to see how you'd come back from that.

Young initially claimed that he fathered the child with John Edwards' mistress in the weeks leading up to the crucial presidential primaries in 2008.

John Edwards publicly declared only last week that he is the father of the child with Rielle Hunter, who worked as a videographer for his campaign.

Young's says Edwards tried to hide the affair, begging his "crazy slut" mistress to get an abortion and then wanting to have a fake DNA test done.

Disgraced politician John Edwards nailed mistress Rielle Hunter in his wife's bed, made a sex tape with her, wanted her to have an abortion and called her a "crazy slut" among other choice terms, a new book by his former aide claims.

At this point, do you doubt any of that?

In The Politician, Andrew Young, who once claimed Edwards' love child was his own to protect his boss, portrays John as more of a disgrace than we thought.

We didn't think much of him, either.

A self-obsessed, all-around creep, the ex-senator stopped at nothing to hide his indiscretions, including urging "crazy slut" Rielle Hunter to abort their child.

In 2006, Hunter began having sex with the man she called "Love Lips" and became increasingly demanding as she went into hiding to bear Edwards' child.

Young describes Edwards as "barely under control" when Hunter's pregnancy first came to light, with John questioning who could have fathered the baby.

He tried to talk her into abortion, but she wanted the baby, "which she believed to be the reincarnated spirit of a Buddhist monk who would save the world."

You cannot make this $h!t up.

When the National Enquirer first broke the story, Andrew Young writes, Edwards pleaded with him to claim he fathered the child and take off with Hunter.

Hunter initially resisted, but soon signed on to the plan in which she would vanish into a life of luxury (very possibly paid for with John's campaign funds).

Edwards met up with Rielle Hunter and the baby, but still asked Young to swipe a diaper and discussed having a fake DNA test "prove" he wasn't the dad.

By mid-2007, Young clashed with his boss about exiting the bizarre scene, then found a John Edwards sex tape left behind in Hunter's California hideout.

Young popped in the tape and was treated to footage of a pregnant lady believed to be Hunter "right in the middle of a sexual encounter" with Edwards.

Edwards, who initially denied all of this, went into free fall when the Enquirer ran pictures of him visiting Hunter and their child at a Beverly Hills hotel.

A tearful Edwards called his longtime aide, reporting: "They caught me. It's all over." The moron admitted the affair, but denied the love child was his.

He admitted paternity only last week.

Rielle Hunter with John Edwards' daughter, Frances Quinn.

Even as he cheated on his wife Elizabeth, Edwards refused to consider a divorce - partly because he still loved his wife, and partly because voters did.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Young says he went along with the paternity scheme out of a cultish loyalty to the candidate - and because he believed Edwards would save his career.

But, in short, he writes, "I was f---ed."

The former aide who helped John Edwards cover up his affair and love child with Rielle Hunter is dismissing his former boss' long-overdue confession yesterday as mere "empty words" that are nothing more than a desperate PR campaign.

Andrew Young is lashing out at the two-time presidential candidate in an exclusive interview with ABC News hours after the former Senator released a statement Thursday admitting he is the father of mistress Rielle's two-year-old daughter.

"I think those were words, empty words," Young said. "If that is what he wanted to say, he should have said it two years ago. I think it's just a PR campaign."

Edwards' confession comes two weeks before a book by Young, called The Politician, will be released - and will detail his account of the Edwards sex scandal.

Family friend and lawyer Harrison Hickman responded that Edwards waited to admit paternity until arrangements for child support were finalized. Puh. Lease.

Young claims Edwards proposed an elaborate cover-up - faking a paternity test - in a failed attempt to conceal that he fathered a baby with Rielle Hunter.

It was Young, of course, who initially tried to protect his boss' reputation and political career by publicly stating that he was the father of Hunter's infant.

Rielle Hunter did not dispute this, and the story died down ... until Edwards was busted visiting her in an L.A. hotel. Then the heat was on him tenfold.

"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 to publicly claim I was the father."

Young said Edwards asked him to steal one of his daughter's soiled diapers in a strategy to confirm he was the dad, then get a doctor to fake DNA results.

The aide ignored the request, but says it speaks volumes about the man Edwards is, and the lengths to which he would go to perpetuate his double life.

Rielle Hunter with John Edwards' love child, Frances Quinn.

Edwards admitted matter-of-factly in his Thursday statement that "I am Quinn's father" and said it was "wrong" to ever deny he was the father of the infant.

Landing in Haiti to work on earthquake relief with actor Sean Penn, Edwards told reporters, "I've said what I have to say for now. I'm here to help people."

As for scorned wife Elizabeth, she did not answer questions about their marital status and would not speculate on where she and John will go in the future.

"If somebody has a crystal ball, they can let me know," said Edwards, who is still fighting cancer. "My marriage shouldn't be on anybody's radar except mine."

This morning, former presidential candidate John Edwards finally admitted that he fathered a love child during an affair with his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

After years of denials, he admitted today that he is the father of the almost two-year-old girl. "I am Quinn's father," John said in an obvious statement.

"It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter ... I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves."

Such a sincere apology from an upstanding guy. Yeah, right.

The former U.S. Senator from North Carolina had an affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter, who later give birth to Frances Quinn, in 2007.

He denied the affair took place until he was busted visiting her in mid-2008, then confessed the affair but still denied that he could be Quinn's dad.

No doubt John would've preferred to keep lying about that, too, were it not for former aide Andrew Young and the release of his new tell-all book.

Young originally claimed he was the father of Hunter's baby, taking the fall for Edwards. But when investigators began probing John's finances, well ...

Dude sold Edwards out. Which he had coming at least. Then he wrote a book. In an exclusive interview on 20/20, he previews it with a bombshell.

Young alleges that Edwards asked him to arrange a fake paternity test: "Get a doctor to fake the DNA results," Young said Edwards told him.

"And he proceeded to ask me ... to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."

Can you imagine if this guy had been elected President?

John Edwards has finally admitted what we have suspected for years - that he is indeed the father of a two-year-old daughter with his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

The former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate said today in a statement that he’s taking responsibility for the child, Frances Quinn Hunter:

“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves. I have been able to spend time with her and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately."

"It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me. [I've] been providing financial support for Quinn and have reached an agreement with her mother to continue providing support."

"I understand that to all those I have disappointed and hurt, these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry.”

Edwards is not speaking publicly on the subject, in part because of an ongoing federal investigation into whether campaign money was used to try to cover up the affair.

He has denied wrongdoing, but then again, he also denied the affair with Rielle Hunter, and fathering the child with Rielle Hunter, so who knows with this guy!

Edwards' attorneys say he's been seeing Quinn and providing financial support for about a year, and just signed a new child support agreement with Rielle.

A spokesperson for John's cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth Edwards, says she learned last year that Quinn is John's child. Yet this is the first formal admission.

John Edwards’ personal and political troubles began after the National Enquirer began reporting in late 2007 about his affair with Hunter, which he denied.

In 2008, after his failed presidential bid, Edwards was caught visiting Hunter in a hotel and eventually confirmed to ABC News that he had an affair with her.

Still, he vehemently denied on the air that he was the father of her child. Dude lies a lot and will only come clean when his hand has been forced, basically.

Today's admission comes on the heels of the political expose Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, which sent shock waves around D.C.

A portion of the book about the 2008 election, which ran in New York Magazine, dealt with details of Edwards’ affair and his relationship with Elizabeth.

The admission also comes in advance of a tell-all book by Andrew Young, a former Edwards aide who originally claimed to be the father of Hunter’s child.

Basically, he would have kept on denying it if he had any choice, and had no interest in actually coming clean for morality's sake. Pretty typical, John.

He’s been speculated to be the father of mistress Rielle Hunter’s 2-year-old daughter for awhile now, and finally John Edwards publicly admitted his paternity.

The two-time Democratic Presidential candidate says he’s been providing financial support for Quinn for the past year and has signed a child support agreement with Ms. Hunter.

The 2008 U.S. presidential election is over and done with, but a new book called Game Change by New York Magazine's John Heilemann and Time's Mark Halperin has stirred up a lot of interesting gossip about the most recent White House race.

While not providing that much truly new or startling, the book has offered tremendous fodder for national political conversation. Some of the broached topics:

• That Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) referred to Barack Obama as “light-skinned” and having "no Negro dialect unless he wanted to.”
• That the affair between John Edwards and Rielle Hunter, his campaign videographer, was known about and kept quiet by three of his aides early.
• That John Edwards is a delusional egomaniac whose aides called his wife Elizabeth "an abusive, intrusive, paranoid, condescending crazy woman."

• That former President Bill Clinton was involved in an affair in 2006 that many thought would derail Hillary Clinton's 2008 run for the presidency. The woman is not named in the book, but it wouldn't be Bill's first cheating rumor.
• That Clinton offended Ted Kennedy deeply while trying to win his endorsement for his wife's campaign by saying the following about then-candidate Obama: "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee."

• That John McCain's vetting of Sarah Palin was so woefully inadequate that no one from his campaign even interviewed her husband or opponents.
• That Sarah Palin believed Saddam Hussein to be behind the attacks on 9/11, and did not understand that North and South Korea were separate.
• That Palin is a mentally unstable person prone to wild mood swings, and was hopelessly lost in a "catatonic stupor" at one point in the campaign.

True? We may never know. But we certainly can debate - and agree that Edwards and Palin create the most entertaining reading material.

John Edwards is on the verge of divorcing wife Elizabeth and trawling for other women, according to reports. Inclined not to believe that? We don't blame you.

However, when the Enquirer reported that John was having an affair with Rielle Hunter and got her pregnant in 2007-2008, that seemed ridiculously absurd.

We know how that turned out.

The same celebrity gossip tabloid that outed his previous affair and sank Edwards' career now reports that he has embarked on a "sex-and-booze bender."

While still publicly not admitting paternity of (or financially supporting) his love child - who turns two in February - the disgraced politician is on the prowl!

Before booting her shameless husband from their home after Christmas, Elizabeth Edwards screamed at John that she was "finally signing" divorce papers.

Edwards fled to the couple's vacation home near Wilmington, N.C., where he drank and attempted to bed Stephanie Breshears, an attractive bartender.

Stephanie says that Edwards tried to get her to go back to his house for sex "for four consecutive nights" after meeting her at the Kornerstone Bistro, where she works.

"I think he's absolute scum," Stephanie said. "He was definitely looking to pick up women when he came in here - and he wanted me to go back to his house with."

"He said he'd been thinking about me since he and his wife were in last summer. He said I had run through his mind 'time and time' again. He said I was 'attractive.'

"He asked what I was doing after work and I told him I had plans with friends. But he told me he was staying on Figure Eight Island, and that I should join him."

Incredibly, minutes after giving Stephanie his phone number, Edwards started flirting with another woman. "He told her he was 'separated, soon to be divorced.'"

Elizabeth Edwards wants cheating husband John to support his love child with Rielle Hunter, and even wants to meet the little girl personally, sources say.

Surprisingly, Elizabeth wants John to fully support the baby and even wants to meet John and Rielle's love child in person, The National Enquirer says.

While she's heartbroken over John Edwards' “second family,” Elizabeth is determined that the former presidential candidate avoid an ugly court battle.

“Elizabeth feels that above all else, John and Rielle need to put their differences aside,” a close source told The Enquirer. "This is very difficult for her."

“As much as she hates that John has a second family, she can't stand the idea of Rielle Hunter going public with all of their dirty laundry in court."

"She instructed John to have his lawyers call Rielle's people and say they're giving her what she wants. She's also going to meet Rielle's little girl.”

THIS IS AWKWARD: If Elizabeth Edwards meets Rielle Hunter and her daughter, that could lead to a lot of tense conversation. And hopefully a reality show on MTV.

Rielle is reportedly seeking $17,000 a month in child support from John, who she has never formally acknowledged is the father of her daughter.

John has admitted sleeping with Rielle but denies he is the father of Frances, who will turn 2 on February 27. But come on, most people think he is.

Elizabeth is apparently one of them.

“Despite her anger at Rielle, who she calls a stalker and a home wrecker, Elizabeth knows Frances didn't bring any of this about,” said a source.

“Elizabeth sometimes breaks down in tears when she talks about Frances. Once she said, ‘She needs a daddy. All children need their father.'”

Even if their father is a guy who knocked up some weird videographer while his wife battled breast cancer and he was running for president?

Maybe single motherhood is best sometimes.

Elizabeth Edwards wants cheating husband John to support his love child with Rielle Hunter, and even wants to meet the little girl personally, sources say.

Surprisingly, Elizabeth wants John to fully support the baby and even wants to meet John and Rielle's love child in person, The National Enquirer says.

While she's heartbroken over John Edwards' “second family,” Elizabeth is determined that the former presidential candidate avoid an ugly court battle.

“Elizabeth feels that above all else, John and Rielle need to put their differences aside,” a close source told The Enquirer. "This is very difficult for her."

“As much as she hates that John has a second family, she can't stand the idea of Rielle Hunter going public with all of their dirty laundry in court."

"She instructed John to have his lawyers call Rielle's people and say they're giving her what she wants. She's also going to meet Rielle's little girl.”

THIS IS AWKWARD: If Elizabeth Edwards meets Rielle Hunter and her daughter, that could lead to a lot of tense conversation. And hopefully a reality show on MTV.

Rielle is reportedly seeking $17,000 a month in child support from John, who she has never formally acknowledged is the father of her daughter.

John has admitted sleeping with Rielle but denies he is the father of Frances, who will turn 2 on February 27. But come on, most people think he is.

Elizabeth is apparently one of them.

“Despite her anger at Rielle, who she calls a stalker and a home wrecker, Elizabeth knows Frances didn't bring any of this about,” said a source.

“Elizabeth sometimes breaks down in tears when she talks about Frances. Once she said, ‘She needs a daddy. All children need their father.'”

Even if their father is a guy who knocked up some weird videographer while his wife battled breast cancer and he was running for president?

Maybe single motherhood is best sometimes.

Rielle Hunter wants John Edwards to pay a lot of money to help support the child the two-time presidential candidate has never admitted he fathered.

How long before he's finally forced to come clean?

The National Enquirer makes up a lot of crap, but not regarding Edwards. They exposed the scandal in 2008, and appear to have proof this time too.

New documents prove beyond any doubt that John Edwards knocked up Rielle Hunter, with whom he had an affair as wife Elizabeth battled cancer.

Rielle is seeking more than $17,000 per month from the former U.S. Senator, who was forced into admitting the affair in the summer of last year.

Rielle Hunter and Frances Quinn are always on John's mind.

He still to this day hasn't admitted getting her pregnant, but his former aide and "fixer," Andrew Young, rolled over on him and all but confirmed it.

Court files from earlier this year (the case has still not been resolved) are pretty much the nail in the coffin, as Edwards is named in the litigation.

Child support documents show John has a house for Rielle and their daughter, Francis Quinn, but is battling over monthly child support payments.

Her attorney also sent her a “Family Part Case Information Statement,” which spells out Rielle Hunter is the plaintiff and Edwards the defendant.

Follow the jump to see said court document ...

The fact that John Edwards cheated on wife, and almost definitely fathered a son with Rielle Hunter, would be reason enough for Elizabeth Edwards to leave her husband.

But the scored better half of the former Presidential candidate has stood by her man... until now, sources indicate.

The National Enquirer, which actually broke the Hunter affair last year, claims Edwards cheated on his wife with multiple women; and Elizabeth - who is battling Stage 4 breast cancer - has had enough.

"Elizabeth had always sworn she wouldn't divorce John," an insider told the tabloid. "But every person has a breaking point, and Elizabeth's friends believe she's reached hers.. [she] made it clear to John that she will take him for everything he's got. She will divorce him and claim their $53 million fortune."

This isn't the first time a separation between the previously adored couple has been reported. In August, magazines actually claimed John was moving in with Rielle, an allegation that seems outlandish, even for this depressing, sordid story.

As for what has truly set Elizabeth off, friends claim she's read portions of tell-all by Andrew Young - the campaign aide that Edwards allegedly paid off to claim paternity of Hunter's child - and was sickened by what she learned.

"Elizabeth was read portions of Young's book proposal, and she flipped out," said the source. "What really pushed her over the edge is Young's allegation that John had other affairs with women on the campaign trail."

This insider says Elizabeth is prepared to expose all of her husband's secrets in court. Stay tuned. This story is far from over.

By now we all know the facts. Former presidential candidate John Edwards was caught two-timing his wife of 30 years, Elizabeth, with Rielle Hunter.

There are rumors he also fathered the daughter of the weird videographer. He has adamantly denied this up until now, but his word means nothing.

Given that he's a proven liar, and every piece of circumstantial aligns perfectly, the assumption is that Edwards is the father of Frances Quinn Hunter.

But is an official admission of paternity finally imminent?

According to the New York Times, the disgraced former U.S. Senator from North Carolina may be on the verge of acknowledging what we all know.

Not because he's a good guy or anything - he's effectively being forced to. His former aide Andrew Young, who first claimed to have knocked up Rielle Hunter to cover his boss' a$$, is preparing to publish a book filled with revelations.

Young, who once signed an affidavit stating Frances was his daughter, only to later rescind the claim, testified before a grand jury investigating the use of Edwards' campaign funds. It is theorized that he came clean under oath.

John and Elizabeth Edwards remain married, although how close they are these days is debatable. Among the bombshells reported by the Times:

• Andrew Young says Edwards pleaded with him to claim paternity of Rielle Hunter's daughter in an attempt to "make the scandal go away."
• Edwards told Rielle he would marry her after Elizabeth died at a rooftop ceremony at an NYC hotel with the Dave Matthews Band performing.
• Young claims that he set up meetings between Hunter and Edwards over the course of a year so they could keep their relationship a secret.
• That Hunter's daughter's middle name, Quinn (similar to the Latin prefix for five) was chosen because the girl is John Edwards' fifth child.

So when's he going to admit it, if at all? Wade Smith, a Raleigh lawyer who represents Edwards, issued a statement about the paternity rumors:

"There may be a statement on that subject at some point, but there is no timetable and we will see how we feel about it as events unfold."

Elizabeth Edwards said on CNN this summer that she hoped any DNA test and results would be private, "for the sake of this child ... in a quiet way."

The former John Edwards aide who claimed it was he, not the former U.S. Senator and presidential hopeful, who knocked up Rielle Hunter in 2007, now says in a book proposal obtained by the New York Times that Edwards is the father.

Andrew Young says he and Edwards worked with his campaign finance chairman to hide that secret, and he helped facilitate the affair between John and Rielle.

According to the newspaper, Young wrote that Edwards told Hunter they would get married after Edwards' wife, who has terminal breast cancer, passed away.

Edwards told Hunter that the ceremony would be held on a rooftop in New York and the Dave Matthews Band would make an appearance, the Times said.

Because Dave Matthews has nothing better to do than to play a wedding for a disgraced politician marrying his baby mama after his first wife just died.

Rielle with John Edwards' daughter (come on, you know it is) Frances Quinn.

In May, federal investigators began looking into how John Edwards used campaign funds, which he may have used as hush money to buy off Rielle Hunter.

Edwards adamantly denied last summer that he had fathered a child with Hunter, though he initially denied the affair just as adamantly until he was busted.

Edwards says the affair with Hunter ended in 2006. Andrew Young said in 2007 he was the child's father. Hunter said at the time that Young was the father.

The birth certificate does not list a father's name.

In 2006, Edwards' political action committee paid Hunter's video production firm $100,000 for work. She filmed four web videos for his campaign website.

Then the committee paid another $14,086 on April 1, 2007. Edwards has said the latter payment wa for 100 hours of unused videotape Rielle Hunter shot.

Not only did John Edwards have a mistress, he may have paid her off.

The same day, the Edwards presidential campaign had injected $14,034.61 into the PAC for a "furniture purchase," according to federal election records.

Andrew Young, who fell off the face of the earth after admitting paternity, is thought to be rolling over on Edwards after being forced to testify under oath.

He recently signed a book deal with St. Martin's Press. There was a confidentiality agreement, and how the Times obtained the proposal is unknown.

Amid reports that two-time presidential hopeful John Edwards is gearing up to announce and admit paternity of his former mistress Rielle Hunter's 18-month-old daughter, Elizabeth Edwards says she expects a DNA test will take place.

During a Wednesday appearance with CNN's Larry King to debate health care reform, Elizabeth was asked about DNA testing of the child of Rielle Hunter.

"My expectation is that, at some point, something happens," she said. "And I hope for the sake of this child that it happens, you know, in a quiet way."

Numerous reports, including some from real news sources, say a DNA test already proved Edwards is the daddy. Rumors that an admission of paternity is imminent have arisen amid a grand jury inquiry into Edwards' campaign finances.

In any case, Elizabeth Edwards says things are quiet around her house, contrary to gossip and speculation regarding her moving out in a fit of rage.

John Edwards with wife Elizabeth; Rielle Hunter with daughter Frances.

Despite a tabloid cover story this week that claims she recently packed her bags in anger over John's alleged decision to move Hunter and their love child into a home near his North Carolina beach house, Elizabeth Edwards told King:

"Things are actually going fine. We're getting the children ready for their new school year. Everything seems to be going pretty smoothly at my house."

As for her health, Elizabeth, who was diagnosed in early 2007 (right around when John probably knocked up Rielle) with incurable breast cancer, says:

"The numbers don't look that optimistic, but I feel good. And I've had recent tests that show me to be in pretty good health, all things considered."

And, she added, "I'm still out here fighting."

John Edwards is in the process of moving Rielle Hunter love child into his North Carolina neighborhood, where he will help raise their love child.

That's today's John-Rielle gossip from the National Enqurier.

Absurd as this sounds, we have to mention with every story that the Enquirer has been right every step of the way regarding Hunter so far. So they get a small sliver of leeway here. At least enough for us to reproduce this nonsense.

In a stunning change of heart, the celebrity gossip tabloid claims the former presidential hopeful has embraced parenthood of baby daughter Frances.

The Enquirer also says John's cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth exploded in a rage when he told her of his parenting plans and that he's moving Rielle Hunter and her baby to Wilmington, N.C., near his $2.6 million waterfront mansion.

The bombshell comes on the heels of reports that John Edwards underwent a DNA test which proved he fathered the love child with Rielle.

"John is definitely behind Rielle's move to Wilmington," said a supposed insider. "There's absolutely no way that [Edwards] didn't approve or arrange her moving closer to him - it's all part of his new plan to do the right thing."

Rielle Hunter is moving in! Or nearby! Or not moving at all, who knows.

So when he cheated on his terminally ill wife with a weird videographer who he knocked up, paid hush money out of his campaign war chest, then denied any knowledge of, that was the wrong thing. This is the right thing. Just checking.

"John's admitted to his family and close friends that he's the father of Frances. He says he wants to be a part of her life and help raise his daughter."

According to reports, Edwards has made a decision to publicly announce the DNA test results before the conclusion of a grand jury investigation into his possible violation of campaign finance laws. He has yet to actually do this, however.

As for Edwards' long-suffering wife Elizabeth, she is apparently livid that John intended to help raise the toddler and have Rielle as a neighbor.

"Elizabeth was hit with an overwhelming one-two punch," a source said.

"She's always figured the child may be John's, but the positive DNA result really floored her. And as if that wasn't bad enough, John told Elizabeth he needed to be in his daughter's life - and that Rielle was moving to North Carolina.

"He told Elizabeth he was tired of all the lies, and that's why he was ready to publicly admit Frances is his baby. That's when Elizabeth exploded! In a fit of rage, she just grabbed a suitcase and started packing her things..."

John Edwards is the father of Rielle Hunter's child.

So says Fox and WRAL News in Raleigh, N.C. If you don't believe those news outlets, are you going to bet against the National Enquirer and Washington Post?

You may scoff. But the Enquirer, after all, was the source that broke the Rielle Hunter story in 2007 and 2008, and it has been right every step of the way.

Even the Washington Post says he's the daddy at this point, reporting Saturday that medical evidence shows Edwards fathered the baby he denies is his.

"Multiple sources confirm the bombshell development, and reveal that lawyers for the disgraced presidential candidate are privately hammering out child support payments with his former lover Rielle Hunter," says the Enquirer's report.

"John Edwards - who hotly denied he was the child's father when he publicly confessed his affair with Rielle on ABC's Nightline a year ago - has broken the news to his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth Edwards, sources say."

Hopefully Motel 6 offers good monthly rates, John. Sources say Edwards will admit paternity soon in some public manner. That ought to be something.

John Edwards and Rielle Hunter are totally parents!

With his paternity over Frances Quinn Hunter all but established, the debate now shifts to whether anyone cares. John is already washed up politically, having cheated on his terminally ill wife and knocked up a weird videographer.

That's bad, even as political sex scandals go, so there was really no coming back from it for him, and most people assumed the kid was probably his anyway.

But Edwards is etching his legacy in the annals of the country's greatest hypocrites. He lied and denied the affair with Rielle Hunter. He then acknowledged it when he had no choice, but denied the kid was his. That was a lie too.

A lot of people believed in the guy and his "two Americas" message. Imagine the Democrats' plight if he had won Iowa in 2008 instead of finishing second.

Politicians, like the rest of us, are flawed human beings, and perhaps they should not be placed on a pedestal. But one has to wonder about the judgment and character involved in hooking up with a woman who is filming web videos for you.

And allegedly paying her hush money out of your campaign funds.

The cumulative effect is to chip away at public confidence in all elected officials, which is a shame. If Edwards wants to salvage an ounce of credibility, he should come clean about his relationship with Rielle Hunter and put this to rest.

North Carolina's WRAL News says it expects former U.S. Sen. John Edwards to admit that he is the father of former mistress' Rielle Hunter's daughter.

This report comes on the heels of a Thursday article that claimed a DNA test proves Edwards is father to Frances Quinn Hunter, who is 18 months old.

Edwards, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate, confessed last August to an affair with Rielle Hunter, a videographer on his 2008 campaign.

John has denied fathering her daughter, saying his relationship with Rielle Hunter ended before the child was conceived. However, he was busted visiting Rielle in a Beverly Hills hotel last summer after the little girl had already been born.

This incident forced him to admit the affair, which he initially denied as well. The name of Frances' father is left blank on her birth certificate.

Andrew Young, a long-time Edwards campaign aide, initially claimed to have knocked up Rielle Hunter, then promptly disappeared from the planet. But Young is reportedly now writing a book in which he will claim Edwards is the father.

Rielle Hunter spent nine hours last Thursday at the federal courthouse in Raleigh, N.C., where the grand jury was meeting. She brought Frances Quinn along.

One likely reason for Young's change of heart? A federal subpoena.

A grand jury is investigating whether John Edwards' campaign funds were illegally paid to Rielle's "production company" to keep her quiet about the affair.

Andrew Young was at the federal courthouse in July when the grand jury was meeting. It is unclear if Edwards will face criminal charges for the payments.

Sources said Edwards' public admission of paternity could come before the end of the criminal investigation, however, as he's being backed into a corner.

The shady politician would almost certainly prefer to keep lying, as he did about the affair for quite awhile, but the investigation may be forcing his hand.

If Elizabeth Edwards hasn't already kicked her cheating, lying husband of the house, this ought to be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back.

Sources say a DNA test shows what we already knew - that former presidential hopeful John Edwards fathered former campaign aide Rielle Hunter's baby.

The National Enquirer, which last year broke the story of Edwards' affair with the weird campaign videographer, said the test was taken after Hunter tried to get financial help from Edwards for her 18-month-old daughter, Frances Quinn.

Rielle Hunter agreed to testify to a federal grand jury investigating John Edwards for allegedly paying "hush" money out of his campaign coffers to Hunter and another former aide who claimed paternity of the child, Andrew Young.

Fall guy Young is rumored to have turned on Edwards. Rielle Hunter was spotted last week in Raleigh, N.C., entering a federal courthouse and staying nine hours.

John Edwards adamantly denied during a confessional interview with ABC News that he fathered the child with Hunter, saying he welcomed a paternity test.

Conveniently, Rielle said at the time she would not allow it.

Rielle Hunter's daughter Frances has her daddy's eyes, doesn't she?

Also convenient for John Edwards? Andrew Young has said from the start that he was the child's father, and fell off the face of the Earth. Problem solved!

Until the feds got involved, that is.

Investigators want to know the real reason Edwards' political action committee paid Hunter's "production company" $100,000 for "work" in 2006, then paid her another $14,086 on April 1, 2007. Suspicious for four brief web videos, no?

Grand jury proceedings are kept secret until charges are filed, and the U.S. attorney's office in Raleigh has declined to confirm or deny there is an investigation. However, Edwards has already acknowledged his finances being scrutinized.

Andrew Young hasn't spoken publicly since saying he was the father in 2007. He is rumored to have possess a Rielle-John Edwards sex tape, too.

John Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, showed up a federal courthouse this morning in Raleigh, N.C. Her reason for being there was not immediately clear.

We do know that Edwards acknowledged he is under federal investigation over payments to Hunter's video production company, though he denies wrongdoing.

Robin Zier, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney, declined to comment on Hunter and why she was at the courthouse, or whether a grand jury was meeting there.

John Edwards admitted last August that he had had an affair with Rielle Hunter, in 2006, when he was running for the Democratic nomination for president.

His big admission came after his affair was first exposed in 2007, at which point he denied it, only to get busted sneaking into a hotel with her in mid-2008.

Rielle's one-year-old daughter Francis Quinn, born last year, is rumored to be the love child of John Edwards and Hunter, though he has denied such claims.

Rielle Hunter and Frances Quinn Edwards Hunter arrive in court.

Rielle Hunter was hired to make a movie about Edwards as he made a second bid for the Democratic presidential nomination eventually won by Barack Obama.

Edwards is under scrutiny over making $114,000 in payments to Hunter's company. Using money from a political action committee for personal issues? Illegal.

His former aide Andrew Young, believed to be their go-between, and who claims to be the father of the baby, is rumored to be involved in the investigation.

He may also have a John Edwards sex tape, depending on what you read.

"I am confident that no funds from my campaign were used improperly," he said in May. "However, I know it is the role of government to ensure this is true."

"We have made available to the United States the people and the information necessary to help get the issue resolved efficiently and in a timely manner."

John Edwards' former aide, Andrew Young, appeared before a Federal Grand Jury Investigation last night at the Terry Sanford Federal Building in Raleigh, N.C.

Young, a longtime Edwards loyalist, met with the Feds regarding how his former employer spent the funds earmarked for his 2008 presidential campaign.

Yesterday, we reported how Andrew Young has been shopping a tell-all book about John Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter and the cover-up surrounding it.

The book supposedly will detail how Edwards is the father of Hunter's baby  girl - not Young, despite his initial public claim of paternity - as well the alleged Rielle Hunter-John Edwards sex tape Young recently uncovered.

Sex tape or no sex tape, it now appears Young has greater motivation to come clean about the cover up than book royalties - he's out to save his own ass.

The National Enquirer reports that the cover-up was allegedly bankrolled by the late Fred Baron, an Edwards supporter who had been instrumental in making hush money payments to Rielle Hunter in the aftermath of her affair with John.

With John Edwards now under investigation for possible misuse of campaign funds funneled to his mistress, it is believed that Young, who originally took the fall for the politician, may be willing to spill the beans in exchange for immunity.

Conspiracy to misuse federal campaign funds for personal use is a felony, and with Young, the former fall guy, revealing what he knows now, he would not be liable for perjury if called to testify in a Federal Grand Jury investigation.

The Edwards campaign is alleged to have paid Hunter to leave town after the affair became public, as well as for her to keep quiet about DNA testing.

Despite being forced to admit sleeping with Rielle after the Enquirer busted him red-handed, Edwards has denied paternity and financial wrongdoing.

Mark Sanford has taken the political baton of infidelity from John Edwards and run with it well. But the latter isn't about to give up without a fight!

According to reports, former Edwards aide Andrew Young says the ex-presidential candidate once made a sex tape with his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

St. Martin’s Press just inked a deal with Young, who also says in his book proposal that, contrary to his public statement last year, he is not the father of Rielle’s adorable baby daughter, Frances Quinn. Rather, John Edwards is.

John Edwards has denied this.

Young says that his belief in Edwards ran so deep that he agreed to be the fall guy for the Democratic candidate, even going so far as to invite the pregnant Rielle Hunter to live with him, his wife, Cheri, and their three kids.

After Hunter delivered the baby, Young and his family moved to a different home in California. While he was unpacking, Young discovered an odd videotape - one that involved Edwards taking positions that weren’t on his official platform.

The purported Rielle Hunter sex tape confirms that Edwards was even shadier than thought. Then again, it's hard to beat hiding in the can from the Enquirer.

Andrew Young, right, and John Edwards on the campaign trail.

Sex tape or no sex tape, Rielle Hunter confided to Andrew Young that she and Edwards talked about getting married should his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth die.

Elizabeth Edwards is said to hold Young partly to blame for her husband’s affair, since Young knew about it and used his cell phone to conference John and Rielle.

Young says that, in revenge, Elizabeth arranged for the media to learn about a youthful misdemeanor in which Young was busted for stealing a sign from a bar.

Elizabeth Edwards also suspects Young stole the baseball card collection of her late son, Wade, according to a source who says that she told Young in an e-mail that some other former staff members “have passed lie detector tests.”

Young also contends that Edwards and 2004 running mate John Kerry clashed often, and that before he owned up to his affair with Hunter, Barack Obama promised he’d make him attorney general if he didn’t pick him as his 2008 V.P.

Rielle Hunter and baby Frances Quinn, whose father may be John Edwards.

It's a good day to be John Edwards.

Now that Mark Sanford's affair with Maria Belen Shapur has officially replaced his weird relationship with Rielle Hunter as the political scandal everyone is talking about, maybe the two-time presidential candidate can rebuild his career and reputation.

Or not.

Despite the surprise unveiling of Mark Sanford's affair doing heavy damage to the South Carolina Governor's political future, he did not knock her up at least.

Not that we know of, anyway. For John Edwards, his extramarital boinking of Rielle Hunter is said to have resulted in a love child, and an adorable one too.

Check out this adorable picture of Frances Quinn Hunter, born in 2008, along with that of her alleged former U.S. Senator dad (who denies the allegations).

Rielle is said to be pushing for a DNA test. We don't expect Edwards to agree, but if he's somehow forced to by a court, will it show him to be Frances' pop?

Right now, no one can answer that definitively. But Edwards has been beyond shady, and she has the nicest eyes, much like a certain handsome politician ...

Is Frances Quinn Hunter John Edwards' love child? Will admitted mistress Rielle Hunter attempt to prove this and thus create more controversy? We can only hope so.

John Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, has agreed to a bombshell interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, according to the National Enquirer.

"Rielle will break her silence for the first time with Barbara Walters. The interview will air on ABC in June," a source told the celeb news magazine.

It was as inevitable, as the reason is obvious: Rielle is pissed that she went out of her way to vanish and protect John Edwards last August, only to have his wife, Elizabeth, bash her repeatedly in a new memoir and in the press.

"Rielle is so angry with Elizabeth Edwards for trashing her repeatedly while promoting her book," says the Enquirer source. "She's decided to break from John. She's going to defend herself and tell her side of the story!"

In deciding to go public with her side of the story - whatever that is - John Edwards' weird mistress was debating between Walters or Diane Sawyer.

"[Rielle Hunter] thinks Barbara will relate to her better because she admitted to a long-ago extramarital affair in her memoirs," the source revealed.

Moreover, sources say Rielle wants a DNA test to legally establish that her 1-year-old daughter, Frances Quinn, is in fact John Edwards' love child.

Last year, when Edwards admitted the affair, he still denied paternity and Hunter insisted that there would be no DNA test. A former Edwards aide, Andrew Young, claimed to be the father and promptly fell off the face of the Earth.

If baby Frances Quinn is the spawn of John Edwards, she could inherit $10 million of his estimated $40 million fortune. The two-time presidential candidate and Elizabeth have an adult daughter, Cate, and two younger children.

The Enquirer says Rielle is working with a lawyer to take legal action.

"Rielle is going to work with an attorney to make sure her baby is entitled to a share of the Edwards' family wealth," a source close to Hunter divulged.

Hunter decided she wanted a paternity test done after the release of Elizabeth Edwards' new book, Resilience, which labels her "pathetic" and worse.

John Edwards' marriage is over.

So claims the National Enquirer, the publication that first broke the story of his affair with Rielle Hunter in late 2007, then caught him red-handed visiting his mistress in August 2008, forcing him to publicly admit the stunning liaison.

In its new issue, the celebrity news tabloid says his terminally ill wife, Elizabeth Edwards, kicked John out of their bedroom more than two years ago when he confessed to cheating on her, and the two are now officially living apart.

While the disgraced two-time presidential candidate occasionally spends time at their sprawling North Carolina mansion for the sake of their two younger children, the couple - who married in 1977 - have slept apart for years now, insiders say.

That's the true state of the Edwards' marriage - even as Elizabeth and John recently told Oprah Winfrey that they're working to rebuild their broken union.

Edwards' secret affair and likely love child with Rielle Hunter led to a blockbuster story - and for whatever reason, Elizabeth seems intent on trashing John and Rielle with her memoir, Resilience, and subsequent media tour.

On Oprah's May 7 broadcast, amid rumors that Hunter wants a paternity test, Edwards meekly echoed his wife's claims that they were working on things.

KICKED OUT: Like Kate Gosselin and Steve Neild, John Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter has resulted in severe marital woes for the former U.S. Senator and V.P. nominee.

People close to the fallen political heavyweight say he has little choice but to accept the public punishment his cancer-stricken wife is doling out.

"John has no choice than to follow Elizabeth's lead," says a source. "He has completely destroyed her and their lives by repeatedly lying."

"His betrayal was so severe that there is no marriage to go back to. They are staying together for the sake of their children and reputations. But if things were different, if Elizabeth wasn't sick, she would divorce him in a heartbeat."

Elizabeth told Oprah the couple is working to rebuild their trust, but according to the Enquirer, the reality is she banished John Edwards from their bedroom when he first admitted his affair with Rielle to her in December 2006.

She was rumored to have tossed him out of their Chapel Hill, N.C., home, back in August when he publicly admitted the affair: "After John was caught, Elizabeth told him to simply, 'Get out of the house!'" a source divulged.

John Edwards with the woman who broke up his marriage.

Elizabeth Edwards may have terminally cancer, but she's not fading away into the sunset quietly - she's apparently determined to take down Rielle Hunter.

On Thursday's Oprah Winfrey Show, Elizabeth once gain slammed the mistress of her husband John - this time on television. The gloves are coming off.

Elizabeth recalled to Winfrey how Rielle Hunter - whom she never mentioned by name picked up her husband in a hotel, telling him, "You are so hot."

It was as awkward hearing the terminally ill, scorned wife recall and try to say this as it probably was to have witnessed it happen in the first place.

"There is no excuse for women to do this," said Edwards, whose book, Resilience, is coming out soon. "Women need to have respect for other women."

"You can't just knock on that door and say you're out, I'm in," added the mother of three. "If you admire that life, you can't just take it. Build your own."

Elizabeth also discussed whether John Edwards is the father of Hunter's one-year-old daughter. Rielle now reportedly wants a paternity test after basically taking the fall for John and falling off the face of the planet after the story broke.

"I've seen a picture of the baby," she told Oprah. "I have no idea. It doesn't look like my children, but I don't have any idea."

John and Elizabeth say they working on repairing their 31-year marriage.

Asked if they are in a better place, John told Winfrey, "I feel like we're getting to it. It's not over, but we're getting to it. I love her. I care about her."

Says Elizabeth, "It's an ongoing process of finding your feet again. You know, finding, sort of retelling your story to yourself. There's a lot of adjustments to make. And when you talk about trust, I think that's probably the most difficult hurdle."

Follow the jump for some video highlights of Edwards' interview ...

Elizabeth Edwards on Oprah

As if Elizabeth Edwards' book tour - one seemingly designed only to humiliate John Edwards and Rielle Hunter - the former presidential candidate's furious mistress is demanding he submit to a DNA test, according to National Enquirer.

NOTE: Before discrediting this report based on the source, do recall that it was this very celebrity gossip tabloid that broke the story of his affair - and the possible love child that Rielle gave birth to in February 2008 - in the first place.

When Edwards finally came clean regarding the affair last August, he said the father was his former aide, Andrew Young, and Hunter declared that there would not be any paternity testing on her daughter, Frances Quinn. Quite convenient.

But now, the Enquirer says she wants proof that John Edwards is the father of her 14-month-old love child and is working with a lawyer to take legal action.

The blonde divorcee, 41, has been derided as pathetic in the new book, Resilience, written by the ex-senator's cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth Edwards.

Rielle's sudden move to determine paternity is a clear signal that she is no longer willing to protect the philandering politician, according to sources. 

Having been thrown under the bus by Elizabeth Edwards in her new book, an enraged Rielle Hunter is apparently trying to take John Edwards down with her.

Edwards is also the subject of a federal investigation into the possible misuse of campaign funds in payments made to Hunter's "production company."

"Rielle - probably naively - now realizes she had held onto a false promise that if she continued to take part in the cover-up John had engineered, they'd be together in the future," a source close to Hunter told The Enquirer.

Of the likely fabrication that Andrew Young is the father, the source adds:

"[Rielle Hunter] was willing to protect John for the sake of the child. She agreed to allow a crony of his to claim publicly that he is the baby's father, and she even kept the name of the father blank on the birth certificate."

"But now she can see there's never going to be a future with John - and she feels he's lied about his promise to keep Elizabeth from trashing her in the book."

"Rielle is so infuriated by his and Elizabeth's actions that she's throwing her loyalty to him out of the window! Rielle wants the paternity of her daughter Frances finally established. She knows it could ruin John for good."

Ruin him how? Quashing a third presidential run?

Seems like he's pretty ruined as is, but why not pile it on? He's still probably lying about the child, after all, and we'd hate to see him get away with that. Seriously, who cheats on their cancer-stricken wife while running for president?

Think a small part of Elizabeth Edwards is loving this right now?

In a new interview with Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Edwards says it's "complicated" when asked about the state of her marriage to John Edwards, a former presidential aspirant whose affair with Rielle Hunter torpedoed his career.

"Neither one of us is out the door," said Elizabeth, who has terminal breast cancer. "So I guess it's day by day, maybe it's month by month."

Elizabeth Edwards - who spoke to Winfrey from her family's home in Chapel Hill, N.C. - says they're "still living together." But asked if she still loves her husband, she replied, "You know, that's a complicated question."

Denise Richards can sympathize with such complicatedness, though the federal investigation into John's suspect payments to Rielle take it a step further.

Days after declaring his second run for president in 2006, John confessed that he had an affair. The National Enquirer broke the story about a year later.

Looking back on their marriage, Elizabeth tells Winfrey she asked John Edwards for just one gift before her wedding 31 years ago: "I wanted him to be faithful to me. It was enormously important to me." That's gotta hurt.

Having long denied it publicly, Edwards confessed to the affair in an August 2008 interview after getting busted visiting Rielle Hunter and their alleged love child. He still denies paternity of her daughter, Frances Quinn.

Asked about the baby issue, Elizabeth says, "I've seen a picture of the baby. I have no idea. It doesn't look like my children, but I don't have any idea."

As for how John met Rielle Hunter, Elizabeth offers this:

"What John said was that this woman spotted him in the hotel in which he was staying. He was meeting someone in the restaurant bar area, and [Hunter] verified with someone who he worked with that it was John," she recalled.

"John went to dinner at a nearby restaurant and when he walked back to the hotel, she was standing in front of the hotel. She said to him, 'You are so hot.'"

Choosing not to address Rielle Hunter by name, Elizabeth continued, "This person is very different from me, and really very different from him. So, this was a pretty big leap for him. Maybe it's being so different is what was attractive."

Asked about her mortality, Elizabeth says it's not "frightening," but she prays for an "ever-after. I would be leaving part of my family, but I can do [that] and join another party and wait for that day when we're all together again."

"In some ways, it's something you yearn for."

IT'S COMPLICATED: John Edwards' marriage to Elizabeth is certainly murky after his boning of Rielle Hunter. His political future is quite clear, however - there is none.

John Edwards' probing of Rielle Hunter torpedoed his political career and nearly his marriage. Now a federal probe into his finances is throwing gasoline on the fire.

The two-time presidential candidate is being investigated over his use of campaign funds - a subject that could carry the married Edwards' now-infamous affair with videographer Hunter from celebrity gossip tabloids to the courtroom.

The subject of federal scrutiny is the more than $100,000 Edwards' political action committee paid Hunter's firm for production of online campaign videos.

"I am confident no funds from my campaign were used improperly," Edwards said, addressing the matter in a carefully-worded statement.

"However, I know that it is the role of government to ensure that this is true. We have made available to the United States both the people and the information necessary to help them get the issue resolved efficiently and in a timely matter."

A range of other Edwards fundraising organizations - two non-profits and a poverty center at his alma mater - have also come under greater scrutiny.

Chief among them? The PAC that paid the company owned by Rielle Hunter for web videos documenting John Edwards' travels and advocacy in '06.

The committee also paid her an additional $14,086.50 on April 1, 2007.

At the time of that payment to Hunter, the PAC only had $7,932.95 in cash, according to the Federal Election Commission. That day, Edwards' presidential campaign paid the PAC $14,034.61 for what is listed as a "furniture purchase."

Willfully converting money from a political action committee for personal use is a federal crime. Edwards has said he was unaware of the payments.

Since being forced to admit the affair after being busted visiting Hunter and his possible love child with her last August, Edwards has been largely MIA.

His wife, Elizabeth Edwards, who is terminally ill with cancer, will soon be releasing a book, Resilience, talking about the affair. In it, she writes that news of the affair made her vomit. She also describes Rielle Hunter as "pathetic."

In her new memoir, Resilience, Elizabeth Edwards reveals she vomited in a bathroom after learning of the affair between her husband, former U.S. Senator and presidential hopeful John Edwards, and weird videographer Rielle Hunter.

When she heard, "I cried and screamed, I went to the bathroom and threw up," wrote Elizabeth Edwards, 59, who is battling terminal breast cancer.

She says that John Edwards admitted to having an affair with Rielle Hunter just days after declaring his run for president in late 2006 - or nearly a year before the National Enquirer broke the story in December 2007.

Elizabeth does note that when John initially admitted the affair, he "left most of the truth out." Like the part about possibly fathering her kid, maybe?

To protect her and their three children from scrutiny, Elizabeth says she urged John to quit the race, eventually won by Barack Obama. He did not.

In August 2008, the Enquirer again reported he was the father of Rielle Hunter's daughter, but this time busted him visiting her secretly at an L.A. hotel.

John was pretty much forced to admit that he hit that after that incident, though he still denies paternity. Elizabeth does not address this in the book.

Elizabeth also takes aim at Rielle, whom she never identifies by name, in writing that Hunter initially seduced her husband outside a fancy New York hotel by giving him the time-honored compliment, "You are so hot."

What politician could say no to that?

She says Hunter - who was paid $114,000 from his political action committee to produce web documentaries - was nothing more than a sad groupie.

While her own life may be tragic, Elizabeth says, Hunter's is "pathetic."

Although she long struggled to cope with her husband's affair, Elizabeth suggests she forgives John - who she was rumored to have kicked out of the house - and says that they are now on much better terms.

"I lie in bed, circles under my eyes, my sparse hair sticking in too many directions, and [John] looks at me as if I am the most beautiful woman he has ever seen," the accomplished attorney reflects. It matters."

THE WOMEN OF JOHN EDWARDS: His cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth Edwards, his weird mistress / ex-employee Rielle Hunter, and his likely love child Frances Quinn.

Has former Presidential candidate John Edwards finally confessed to cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth that he fathered a child with mistress Rielle Hunter?

Yes, according to the National Enquirer, which broke the story if his infidelity and hounded him for a year until he was caught and forced to admit it.

Edwards made the belated admission to his wife in an effort to stop ex-lover Rielle from going public, according to the celeb gossip tabloid's sources.

While John Edwards admitted to having an affair with Rielle last August right before the Democratic National Convention, he denied fathering her child, one-year-old Frances Quinn, despite alleged evidence to the contrary.

One of his campaign workers, Andrew Young, claims to be the dad, but has gone almost entirely off the grid. Rielle Hunter has refused any DNA testing.

But is John Edwards now admitting it, at least in private?

The former U.S. Senator sprang into action when he saw how upset Rielle became over Elizabeth's forthcoming book, entitled Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities, which is due out in May.

"Rielle became extremely edgy, and John's afraid she might go public before Elizabeth's book comes out so she can put her story out first," a source said.

"These concerns led to John sitting down with [Elizabeth Edwards] and admitting being the baby's father. This is something Rielle had been pushing John to do for a long, long time because he initially told Elizabeth he was not the father.

"The last thing John wants is for Rielle to go public before Elizabeth's book comes out, make headlines and trigger a nasty battle between the two."

Elizabeth is rumored to have kicked John out of the house late last year over this, but that was never confirmed. Not that anyone would blame her.