Superluxe Democratic Fundraiser: Yeah, I'm Such an Amazingly Awesome Buddy I Paid Rielle Hunter to Go Away and then Didn't Tell John About It

Uh huh.

There are Two Americas... and I want to live in Fred Baron's America, babyyyy!

Mr. Baron, who was chairman of Mr. Edwards’ presidential campaign finance committee, said he paid money for Rielle Hunter to move from North Carolina to another location.

He said she and another campaign aide, Andrew Young, who claimed paternity of Ms. Hunter’s child, were being dogged by tabloid reporters who believed she had an affair with Mr. Edwards and fathered the child.

Mr. Baron would not say how much money he provided for the couple's move. He said Mr. Edwards did not know about the arrangement.

“The money was purely and simply to get them out of North Carolina and to get them into a stable place,” he said. "They were unable to afford a second home. It was to give them the ability to live somewhere where they wouldn't be harassed."

From the article Allah has:

Baron insisted Edwards never knew what Baron did for Young and Hunter; he believes Edwards didn’t even have an inkling that Baron was doing this…

“My role is to be supportive of these two families,” he said.

Hush money? “Of course it wasn’t hush money!”…

“Personal funds only — no campaign funds,” he writes.

He's like some kind of deep-pocketed superhero or something. I think he might be Batman.

I'm thinking this semi-confession arrives just before the National Enquirer article naming him one of Rielle's benefactors.

Thanks to DrewM.

Questions: 1) How likely do you think it was that John Edwards didn't notice that the itinerant bohemian semi-employed "documentarian" Rielle Hunter was suddenly flush with cash? If he did notice, did he ask where all the loot was coming from? If he did ask, do you think she said, "I can't say, it's a secret?"

2) Do you think that this super-duper fundraiser paying big money to John Edwards' mistress (and probable baby-mama) disclosed his donations on relevant filings?

3) Do you think that this rich fatcat might maybe kinda-sorta have had some extra-special influence over John Edwards, should he have become President? Think maybe Edwards would have had to have maybe agreed with any requests this Mr. Baron might have made on behalf of the rich folks giving him money? Or any request Mr. Baron might have personally? Do you think the Talented Mr. Edwards would have had the integrity to refuse such corrupt requests and said, "Sir, expose my failings if you like, but I answer to a cause higher than self, and that cause is the office the American people entrusted to my care"?

Yeah? You think he would have said that?

Me too.

He's the son of a mill worker, you know. He's got values.

Bonus: See Allah's post on this. Turns out Edwards copped to this in order to protect the Hunter and Young families from further harassment from tabloids. Son of a mill worker.

Also, Elizabeth Edwards has released a statement which, um, mentions her breast cancer in defending her husband.

John made a terrible mistake in 2006... But he did tll me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007.

She's got the timeline down too, I see.

I Know Who I'm Writing In For President... The Draft Fred Baron Movement starts now, up at the top of the left sidebar.

posted by Ace at 07:36 PM

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