John Edwards

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.

** UPDATE: The National Enquirer reports that the FBI is now in possssion of the sex tape. It's gonna be a fun, popcorn-filled night in DC, we bet!

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 ...

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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 ...

• As a former Edwards aide, Andrew Young, is preparing to release a tell-all book, The Politician, that gives an unflattering portrait of him.
• 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 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.

Rielle Hunter with John Edwards' daughter, Frances Quinn.

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.

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