WASHINGTON – Former US presidential candidate John Edwards admitted yesterday that he fathered a child with his former mistress, Rielle Hunter, while campaigning for the Democratic Party’s White House nomination.
The former US senator from North Carolina, who was among early front runners in the Democratic field in the race eventually won by Barack Obama in 2008, acknowledged two-year-old Frances Quinn Hunter as his daughter in a statement to US media.
Mr Edwards had previously denied he was the father of the child.
He made the admission less than two weeks before the launch of a former aide’s book that was expected to name him as the father.
“I am Quinn’s father. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves,” Mr Edwards said in the statement, which was reported by US television networks yesterday.
“It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me.”
When the Democratic presidential race got under way, Mr Edwards revealed that his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, had developed cancer for the second time in three years.
His personal and political fortunes changed after the National Enquirer tabloid began reporting on his affair with Ms Hunter, a campaign videographer, in 2007.
Mr Edwards, a wealthy lawyer, at first denied having an affair with Ms Hunter, acknowledging the liaison only after his presidential campaign had come to an end in 2008.
The admission was widely seen as destroying his political career for good.
But he continued to deny that he was the father of Ms Hunter’s child.
“To all those I have disappointed and hurt, these words will never be enough, but I am truly sorry,” Mr Edwards said in his statement.
“I have been able to spend time with her [his daughter] during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace.”
Media reports have said Mr Edwards is facing a federal grand jury investigation into whether he misused campaign money in an attempt to keep Ms Hunter and word of their affair quiet. – (Reuters)