John Edwards is reportedly a shell of his former perfectly coiffed, toothy, “Two Americas” self as he struggles to deal with the repercussions of his affair with Rielle Hunter (and Hunter’s subsequent pregnancy) and allegations that he used campaign funds to keep said pregnancy on the DL.  Once referred to as “Kennedyesque,” Edwards is now pretty much in hiding as he tries to avoid being served with legal paperwork involving Hunter’s lawsuit against his former aide Andrew Young.  Oh, how the mighty have fallen …

From The Daily Beast:

During the day, Edwards’ biggest work project, according to a former adviser who spoke with Edwards as recently as a few weeks ago, involves huddling with legal advisers, strategizing how to stave off a possible federal grand jury indictment surrounding up to $1 million in presidential campaign funds that he is alleged to have diverted to hide Hunter during her pregnancy.

I find John Edwards completely disgusting.  One the absolute basest level, the National Enquirer now has some degree of credibility.  That’s just wrong.  However, the biggest problem for me is that Edwards publicly denied paternity of Hunter’s daughter, Frances Quinn.  I mean, this child is one day going to be able to read.  She’s going to have the ability to do internet research (probably sooner rather than later—neither Edwards nor Hunter are reputable people, in my opinion, but both possess intelligence).  How the hell is the poor kid going to feel when she realizes that not only did her conception and birth ruin her father’s political career (and possibly marriage, although that has been widely disputed—it was reportedly kind of a sham in the first place) but the son of a bitch didn’t even acknowledge fathering her?  In fact, he had one of his freaking employees take responsibility.  This kid’s psychiatrist is going to have a field day.  I mean, just … wow.

And it turns out this story goes a bit deeper than one man’s infidelity … and it does not reflect well on Democrats.  Apparently, a grand jury found cause to bring forth an indictment against Edwards.  If this is the case, why the holdup?

North Carolina attorneys with knowledge of the case speculate the judge may simply be holding the sealed decision at the prosecution’s request. Why? One theory, which doesn’t bode well for Edwards, is that prosecutors want to see what Edwards might say under oath during his deposition in the Rielle Hunter-Andrew Young case before unsealing the grand jury’s findings.

But another, very senior North Carolina legal source, believes the results are far more favorable for Edwards. Specifically, this source says, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, George Holding, is a holdover from the Bush administration. The Obama team has signaled that it won’t replace Holding while he is actively investigating two Democrats, John Edwards and North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, in order to avoid any appearance of partisan favoritism. (Easley’s case also involves allegations of misappropriating funds) It would look too much like a partisan move to remove the U.S. attorney now.

“It’s to Holding’s advantage to keep this case as a pending case because it means he gets to hold on to his position that much longer,” says my source. “There isn’t any urgency for this U.S. attorney to finish up.” If an indictment has been handed down, this source believes the public would already know about it.

“John Edwards has such a big target on his back,” the source says, “if they had an indictment sitting there, I’d think they’d have come out and announced it to the world!”

If this source’s theory is correct, then the Rielle Hunter lawsuit against Andrew Young is actually giving Holding an excuse to drag out the investigation against Edwards.

Dirty Democratic legal laundry aside, though, let’s talk about Rielle Hunter for a minute.  What kind of woman allows her child to be a dirty little secret?  Poses in completely inappropriate ways with the poor kid in a popular magazine?  Screws around with a married man in the first place?  Oh, and makes completely preposterous requests in a court case that, if she had put her child where most of us do (namely, first), would have been filed years ago?

Among Hunter’s demands: That Young give up all profits from both his bestselling book, The Politician, and the movie adaptation—a deal represented by hotshot Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel and in partnership with acclaimed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and producer Scott Rudin of No Country for Old Men fame. According to a source close to the movie project, Sorkin is writing the script, in anticipation of a production deal in the near future.

As for Edwards, he’s just doing the hiding thing, allegedly going out on the town to pick up women once in awhile, and contemplating starting a law firm in North Carolina intended to help out “the little guy.”  Oh, and hanging out with his children, presumably those with Elizabeth Edwards and not so much Frances Quinn.

I think this guy is disgusting on a myriad of levels.

Your thoughts?

You Might Also Like ...

• Immigration Scuffle: Jan Brewer vs. Hillary Clinton