Mainstream media headlines claim John Edwards admitted during his ABC Nightline interview that he lied and that he had an affair. And yet, after watching Edwards’ interview and reading the statement Edwards released to the press, DBKP came away with a different conclusion: Edwards, a former high-powered civil attorney, never used the word, “affair”, nor did he admit to lying.

During the interview and in his press statement Edwards never mentioned the word, “affair” nor Rielle Hunter. Instead he used the terms, “a serious mistake” and a “mistake I am responsible for”. In his statement he calls the affair a “serious error in judgment”, misconduct”, and once again, a “mistake”.

The MSM claimed Edwards “fessed” up to “lying” about the affair.

“Edwards: Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public.”

“I did not tell the public” is an omission, not an admission of lying. Remember, Edwards knew exactly the impact each and every word he chose to use when arguing his case before the public on Nightline.

“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 percent honest is no longer enough.”

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Edwards never said he lied, he said he “denied”, but mitigated the denial by trashing the National Enquirer, saying it “contained many falsities”. Edwards never expounded on any of the “falsities”. Edwards also chose to defend himself by claiming he was “99% honest”. In fact, the only claim about “lying” was from Edwards in his interview, who charged it was the Enquirer who was lying:

“Nothing’s been done at my request, so if the allegation is that somehow I’ve participated in the payment of money, that is a lie. Absolute lie.”

Even though Edwards went out of his way to paint supermarket tabloids as publishing “outrageous allegations” and “falsities”, he admitted the Enquirer got it right when they reported on July 21 that Edwards had met with Rielle Hunter at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

“I was at the Beverly Hilton. I was there for a very simple reason because I was trying to keep this mistake from becoming public.”

Edwards never explained as to what lead him to believe “this mistake” would become “public”. He was fairly adamant that he was not the father of Hunter’s baby and that he “welcomed” a paternity test. He also denied he paid “not one dime of hush money” nor did he know anyone who had.

Edwards refused to issue an apology saying it was “inadequate” to say he was “sorry” to the people who “believed in him” and to the people “who loved him”.

Edwards seemed entirely unapologetic to the public. Instead he defended his actions by talking about people “not knowing what goes on inside other people’s marriages”, his love for his wife, Elizabeth, and trashing the supermarket tabloids.

Edwards never mentioned the National Enquirer by name, instead he referred to them as “supermarket tabloids”. He played the supermarket tabloid credibility card to trash his nemesis, the Enquirer. The Enquirer was the sole tabloid to report on his affair, the purported love child, allegations of hush money, and the meeting with Rielle Hunter at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

“When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it.”

“Can I just say everything you’re saying, there are reports, there are allegations, these are all things from supermarket tabloids to make the most outrageous allegations every week. Anybody who walks by and looks at them knows that that’s true, you know a huge percentage is completely false.”

“Nothing’s been done at my request, so if the allegation is that somehow I’ve participated in the payment of money, that is a lie. Absolute lie.

Woodruff: But you’ve..

Edwards: It’s typical in these types of publications.”

“Edwards: No. Not true. Not true. Published in a supermarket tabloid, but no, that is absolutely not true.”

“When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it.”

Edwards claimed in the interview that he was 99% honest about his “mistake”. And yet Edwards was being 100% dishonest on October 11, 2007, when he told AP reporters in Summerton, South Carolina, that the October 10 Enquirer story that he was having an affair, was “untrue” and “false”.

“The story is false. It’s completely untrue, ridiculous.” He (Edwards) said the story was “made-up.”

Edwards made a second denial in November:

On November 29, the Daily News’ Rush and Molloy published “Tabloid’s affair rumor dispelled, says John Edwards”. The article wrote that “John Edwards believes he’s stared down the National Enquirer”.

The article mentioned the Enquirer’s promise to follow-up the initial Edwards affair story on October 10. The Daily News cited an Enquirer insider who admitted “there’s a lot of smoke, but no smoking gun”. The Daily News also quoted Edwards who claimed the story “disappeared because it’s made up”.

Instead of coming before the public and falling on his sword, Edwards spent his time bemoaning his “mistake”, claiming it was the “supermarket tabloids” who lied and made up “outrageous allegations” while he, Edwards, was 99% honest.

“I have given a complete interview on this matter and having done so, will have nothing more to say.”

Edwards, in his statement, said the interview was the final say-so on the matter leaving the public with a lot of unanswered questions. If this was Edwards’ closing argument it left a lot to be desired. He managed to achieve what we believe was one his goals, to try to paint the Enquirer as a cheap trashy tabloid and a source of “outrageous allegations” and “falsities” in potential jurors’ (the public) minds.

Edwards wanted to leave the lasting impression that he had merely made a “mistake” and that he had asked “God for forgiveness”. And yet, if we used Edwards’ own rules, using stereotypes when attacking the Enquirer, we could label all men who cheat on their wives while running for public office, especially when their wife is battling terminal cancer, as trashy, tawdry, and none too trustworthy nor believable.

By LBG

Source – LA Times – Breaking news, John Edwards denies affair with campaign workerSource – ABC Nightline
Image – John Edwards