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Friday: "99 Percent"?
posted at 2008-08-08 20:49 | Last modified 2008-08-08 20:55
John Edwards issued a written statement today, two hours after ABC teased his Nightline confession.
"In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough."
The full text of Edwards’ statement is here.
Politico’s Ben Smith had an excellent write-up of reactions from former Edwards supporters – the angry ones, like former campaign chair David Bonior, and some not-so-angry ones, too, like former political adviser Harrison Hickman, who said
(…especially when the Enquirer has photos that give him no choice, Hickman did not add but probably should’ve.)
The plot thickens
Edwards’ former campaign finance chair Fred Baron has admitted he paid Hunter and Young an unspecified amount to relocate from NC to CA. Baron says Edwards did not know about the payments. The Dallas Morning News' Gromer Jeffers Jr. has details.
Alas, he doesn't have the details I want: which account it came out of – Baron’s, or the campaign’s? - and just how many people were involved in covering it all up?
Elsewhere:
- CNN has an interview with understandably smug Enquirer editor David Perel.
- Jezebel’s Megan Carpentier ponders the affair/cancer timeline.
- Over at Slate's XX factor, E.J. Graff wonders why she ought to care about any of it anyway.
- The "MSM" commences handwringing. That was quick.
Edwards' Nightline interview airs tonight at 11:30. I’ll be watching. If you are, drop me a line.
