Next up on our scandal series:
This guy was busy! Check out the chronology of the scandal that unfolded during the 2008 presidential campaign of former US Senator John Edwards:
2004 – N.C. Senator John Edwards runs for POTUS with the support of his wife, attorney Elizabeth Edwards, but does not win the nomination for the Democratic party. Instead, he is chosen as John Kerry’s VP running mate. George W. Bush wins the election.
2006 Dec – Edwards announces his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election. Filmmaker Rielle Hunter is hired as a member of Edwards’ political entourage. The Edwards campaign paid Hunter’s production company, Midline Groove, over $100,000 for a series of short documentary films that ended up on YouTube.
2007 Mar – While campaigning with husband, Elizabeth Edwards announces the return of Stage IV breast cancer. Tabloid National Enquirer publishes a report that former US Senator John Edwards was involved in a long-standing illicit affair with Rielle Hunter. Huffington Post and New York magazine publish similar stories within days.
2008 Jan 30 – Edwards suspends his presidential campaign.
2008 Feb 27 – Rielle Hunter gives birth to a daughter. Both Edwards and Hunter deny Edwards’ paternity. However, Edwards asks political ally Andrew Young to 1) get a doctor to provide bogus DNA results, and 2) steal a diaper from Hunter’s baby for DNA evidence to confirm if Edwards is, in fact, the sperm donor. Edwards pays Andrew Young to claim publicly to be the father, but Young later recants.
2008 July – Mainstream media publishes details of Edwards’ affair; after the DNC Convention, the media identifies him as a potential Obama VP or AG candidate.
2008 August – David Letterman and Jay Leno allude to the Edwards affair in their respective opening monologues. Edwards admits to extramarital affair but denies paternity of Hunter’s child but is seen in a newspaper photograph holding the baby; Hunter’s sister publicly discloses that Edwards is the father and demands he take a DNA test to verify, while apologizing to Elizabeth Edwards for her sister Rielle’s behavior.
2009 – Federal grand jury investigates Edwards’ use of campaign funds to support Hunter and to cover up their affair; Hunter testifies before the grand jury.
2010 January – Edwards admits to paternity; Elizabeth Edwards files for legal separation; an explicit Edwards/Hunter sex tape emerges.
2010 Mar – Announcement that Elizabeth’s cancer has returned and is incurable.
2010 Dec 7 – Elizabeth Edwards loses her battle with cancer.
2012 – Edwards stands trial for using campaign funds to cover up his mistress and love child; he claimed the money was used to hide the affair from his wife, not from the government. He escapes a 30-year prison sentence with a hung jury decision.
2012 June – Rielle Hunter publishes her memoir, What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter, and Me.
2013 Oct – Rielle Hunter publishes her REVISED memoir, In Hindsight: What Really Happened…
What did really happen?