Did John Edwards Make a Sex Tape?

As reported last week, Andrew Young -- the former friend and aide to John Edwards who, at one point, claimed to be the father of Rielle Hunter's baby, and abruptly moved to Santa Barbara, Calif., with her, along with his own wife and their three children -- is shopping a tell-all book proposal. Now, thanks to the New York Daily News, we have a bit more on the specifics of what Young intends to write about:

Former Edwards aide Andrew Young says the ex-senator and his former mistress, Rielle Hunter, once made a sex tape, according to someone who has seen Young's book proposal.

Young says he discovered the tape shortly after Hunter had given birth to her baby, when she and Young's family parted ways. According to the Daily News, its existence "confirmed to Young that Edwards was even more reckless than he thought."

A few thoughts here. First, one should remember that Young is shopping a book. The more explosive the claims in the proposal, the more money Young can hope to see in the form of an advance. On the other hand, the existence of such a tape would not be difficult to prove, assuming Young still has it.

Second, until the alleged tape does see the light of day, one must assume that Edwards would not be so stupid as to have ever made it. On the other hand, Hunter was hired to make videos for the campaign, and Edwards never let something as trifling as common sense stand in the way of having the affair in the first place.

Despite efforts to discredit Young, the fact is that man and his family did take Hunter in at the height of the media storm. Did he do so out of a sense of loyalty to Edwards, or because he really was the one who impregnated Hunter? Young now claims the former. If Young was the father, one has to marvel at the forgiving temperament of his wife and children, who agreed to house Hunter through the birth of her child despite knowing that Young was the daddy-to-be.

And if, as Young and Edwards first claimed, the father of Hunter's child was Young, why has that line been left blank on the baby's birth certificate? Young's wife and children had, supposedly, come to accept this fact, so why not make it official?

Yes, in the absence of videotape and a DNA test we are dealing with circumstantial evidence. Hearsay. We should view the claims made by the principal actors in this drama with skepticism. There has been no shortage of lies told to the American public on this subject, and one can easily imagine more to come.

Tape or no tape, however, there's more than enough material for a book or two.


David at Paradigms Lost
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