The "Edwards Rumor" debunked.....

[Catchawave]

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/11/161518/89


National Enquirer, Wonkette, bullshit bucket
by Jerome Armstrong, Thu Oct 11, 2007 at 04:15:18 PM EST

Rielle Hunter released the following statement through a spokesperson:


"The innuendoes and lies that have appeared on the internet and in the National Enquirer concerning John Edwards are not true, completely unfounded and ridiculous.

My video production company was hired by the Edwards camp on a 6 month contract, which we completed December 31, 2006.

When working for the Edwards camp, my conduct as well as the conduct of my entire team was completely professional.

This concocted story is just dirty politics and I want no part of it."

Just a total bullshit story.

[rinsd]

1. K&R for a killed rumor

[babylonsister]

2. I hadn't even heard/read about that rumor until 1/2 hour ago.

And I thought I was 'informed'! I didn't put much stock in it considering where it was coming from.

[rosabianca]

5. dirty politics

Exactly. It's unbelievable the lengths some people will go to to undermine someone, and incredible what some people will believe. I have no doubt the Enquirer and other tabloids sometimes print the truth, but why anyone would believe them without getting confirmation is beyond me.

[Debi]

59. Welcome to DU rosabianca

:hi:

[judaspriestess]

3. this was one of the most stupidest rumors I have ever heard

"we met at a bar" I stopped reading it right there.

[Maribelle]

9. I agree it was the NYC bar thing that sent it over the top.

[ElizabethDC]

4. K&R. Glad they nipped this story in the bud. Hopefully it will go away quickly. n/t

[Mabus]

6. K&R

Because the truth needs to be out there.

[NV Whino]

7. kick for the debunked rumor!

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

8. Glad that's dealt with. I never really understood the "story" in th first place

[pioneer111]

11. Rovian tactics - attack the strength of the person

Edwards has a wonderful marriage with his college sweetheart.

They then want to destroy this part of his appeal.

The campaign did great by getting the woman, Rielle Hunter, to issue the statement
and hopefully squash this rumor quickly.

[Bitwit1234]

10. Ann Coulter started it on Tucker and it came directly from the Enquirer

Tucker enabled her. The squirrelly little S.O.B.

[sufrommich]

15. Gosh,I'm shocked! nt

[peacetalksforall]

16. Don't you mean the squirrelley MSNBC/GE?

(Hope you know how to spell squirrelly 'cuz I'm copying you.)

[Catchawave]

12. Glad we're all on the same page

:grouphug:

Wonder who started the rumor? I just hope it's Rove, not another Dem campaign.

[matcom]

13. i want more proof

not that I care one iota if it is true or not because I don't think it is our business but....

the Enquirer pays BIG $$ for these stories and frankly, MOST of their previous "outtages" (maybe all) have come to be true.

as much as I hate them and think it is a total rag, they have been right in the past

[Beaverhausen]

17. which of their 'outages' have come true?

Bush and Rice? Hillary being a lesbian? Laura moving out of the White House?

[Catchawave]

21. Hi Beav....

Some days my head explodes on DU too :hi:

[matcom]

23. didn't they "break" the monica/bill thing?

the hart/flowers thing?

I thought those scum had a pretty good track record?

[Beaverhausen]

25. I don't remember who broke those

but as someone pointed out in another thread about this crap, no other MSM outlet touched the story because it was so obviously false. It's not like they don't like a juicy sex scandal either.

[matcom]

26. i don't WANT it to be true

and frankly I don't care if it IS true. none of my business frankly as my personal life is nobody's business EITHER.

but...

I do KNOW they pay huge $$ for these things IF "they" think they have evidence. i BELIEVE they have been correct in the past.

i'm holding out

[waiting for hope]

45. Well, if you knew anything

about John Edwards and you read the story -

A source close to the woman, whose name is being withheld by The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, says that she confessed to having an affair in phone calls and emails, saying that her work with Edwards soon exploded into romance.

It was said a long time ago (by Elizabeth on DKos) that John doesn't "do emails", whenever he blogs, someone else is doing the typing because apparently, he sucks at it. I doubt very seriously this occurred. Take a look at the source, and figure if they are trying to smear him, they would go after his marriage. It's a false, manufactured story and if Ann Coulter had anything to do with it, you know it's crap.

[Inspired]

48. Not to mention the fact that he is NEVER alone.

He always has a male staff member by his side. Day and night. I've never seen him alone. Never. And I've seen him dozens of times. Dozens.

[waiting for hope]

50. My husband I joke with each

other all the time - when the phone rings and one of us answered, Honey, who were you talking to, your boyfriend/girlfriend? It's a joke with us because of the hours we work are crazy, have a 6 yr old and an almost 3 yr old and never are able to find time for ourselves, so, the point I'm making......Jeez, when would he have the time? Is he Superman? Can he stop time at will? If so, damn it, he SHOULD be President! (and he will ;-)

[Debi]

60. Ummmm...Didn't a certain President have SS around him at all times??

:shrug:

I doubted this story from the get-go.

But a presidential candidate (or even a President) can find a way to be with someone if that's what they want to do.

[Inspired]

49. Huh?

This story was ridiculous from the beginning. I am appalled that anyone is 'holding out' for more info.

The National Enquirer is published by the same folks who put out rags that state Bat Boy was campaigning to be John Kerry's running mate and Hillary is choosing Big Foot to be hers.

John Edwards having an affair with anyone, let alone a self confessed former cocaine abuser, is simply absurd.

You, of all people, are much smarter than this.

[JeanGrey]

44. Yeah, they did. I remember the picture on the front cover of the Enquirer,

with Gary Hart and Donna Rice in his lap next to the "Monkey Business". Like it to not, the Enquirer breaks a lot of stories. They are the ones that found the pictures that proved O.J. Simpson wore Bruno Magli shoes. They are the ones that published "I killed John Belushi" that got his drug dealer convicted, they broke the story about Michael Jackson marrying Lisa Marie (heck nobody believed that). They also broke the Gennifer Flowers deal.

They've been wrong but as the OP said, they're right much of the time.

[Beaverhausen]

58. And a broken clock is right twice a day

[morningglory]

54. How bout the giant man-eating clams in the Gulf of Mexico!!

[Catchawave]

18. Well, just post that *kerry* proof when you *intern* get it

I mean, I just love rightwing conspiracies as much as the next DUer :hi:

Of course, it didn't work out that well for Hillary, bummer :(

[huskerlaw]

56. Oh sure...

and Britney Spears is pregnant with an alien baby. :eyes:


Come on, Matcom...the National Enquirer is reputable? Surely you're kidding.

[saracat]

14. The author of the orginal crap this has been based on is a r regular contributor to

Slate, Micky Klaus(sp) He has also been a defender of our frontrunner since 2003. Coincidence? And the original "rumour was started on Page 6 the gossip section of the NY Post a Rupert Murdoch owned paper.Another coincidence? Psahaw!

[ChiciB1]

28. How Many Times Are They Going To Pull This Prank... I Too Heard

about the NY Post and this guy who has supported Clinton since 2003. Need to do more research, but I bet it's out there somewhere! I'm sure others are better than I and can dig it up!!

Doesn't anyone think if Edwards was a "hanky-panky" kind of guy, we would have heard stories about him long BEFORE now??

And why would someone who supports Clinton even spread this around?? Where's the "truth squad" and what's the proof??

[citizen53]

19. Maybe we will never know...

who did this. I'm sure it can go lower. It's the age we live in.

I hope this will be exposed, and the perpetrators will be held accountable. But I won't hold my breath.

[illinoisprogressive]

20. I said yesterday it was a plant to smear Edwards and not true.

I was told about it and when I tried to see what the story actually said, it was scrubbed. tip off it was not a real story. Besides, does anyone really think Edwards is not totally committed to Elizabeth?

[stellanoir]

22. I know this was stupid but I was out on the Cape

out of range in my car to get the signal for the NPR stations I normally prefer.

I stupidly listened to Jay Severin's show and he was ecstatic over the alleged dalliance and was declaring Ann Coulter a national hero for exposing it and saying all the corporate media presstitutes (liberal media in Jay speak) were not doing their jobs by not reporting it as vocally as they did Senator Craig's bathroom homosexual antics. He furthered that the media was protecting the Dems. Ahhh like they did with the Big Dog for the last two years of his administration. . .?

Severin actually said a couple of weeks after the selection of '04, when we were bombing Fallujah and he was watching the coverage probably on Fox that were melting babies in their pajamas with incendiary use of white phosphorous, that he had an erection.

I couldn't believe it.

Glad this nasty BS had no traction whatsoever especially in light of lovely Elizabeth's delicate condition.

Remember Coulter got called out by Elizabeth for her counter productive hatefulness a few months ago.

When Elizabeth had suggested something to the effect of toning down the hatred, Ann said, "what so I'm not allowed to speak?"

As if not expressing hatred, she would be rendered utterly speechless.

So be it.

[Hieronymus]

24. WHAT STORY?

[Catchawave]

27. From one of our DUers :(

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3599235&mesg_id=3599235

...and one of the threads that wasn't locked :(((

[TwilightGardener]

30. To be fair, that was from Slate, and mentioned HuffPo as a source.

There's nothing wrong about informing people that a rumor exists, if it's already known to the media.

[Catchawave]

32. Bullsh*t. Just Bullsh*t.....

"from Slate".....? Is this what DU is coming too....."rumors are ok if they come from Slate?....

Bullsh*t.

[TwilightGardener]

33. Um, how do you automatically know something is a rumor? I sure don't.

I don't have blind faith in ANY candidate. If there are rumors of Obama, then I would like to know, and can decide for myself that it's bullshit--but I hate censorship. Steve Clemons picked up on this story, too, apparently--and he seems a pretty responsible guy.

[AlCzervik]

34. how about that bullshit story Drudge had on Kerry? that was totally false

and yet Kerry had to come out and defend himself. That story was shit.

[TwilightGardener]

35. Drudge has always been iffy. Slate and HuffPo have a little more

credibility, because they're generally not trying to "scoop" other outlets--they usually react to news, not manufacture it. Now, the Enquirer is obviously bird-cage liner. But no matter what, once these stories or rumors hit the net, I read up on them and withhold judgment until I see more evidence. I can't do that as easily if common, usually-credible sources are not allowed on DU simply because they contain allegations that many may not want to hear.

[Catchawave]

37. Great, I'll remember that when they trash Obama next time...

...it's all about the site hits/ad revenue. Running it as truthiness, priceless :hi:

[TwilightGardener]

55. This isn't a candidate-rivalry thing, why get snotty about it?

[Honeycombe8]

42. I knew it was false the first time I read the post, and I'm not an Edwards supporter. How to tell..

All I did was take a look at the link to her image, and I knew. Call it intuition or deduction, whichever.

One look at the woman, and I could see that she would not be his type. Oh, she's attractive, I guess. But not to the level that Edwards would require to risk his family and the presidency....his two main reasons for living.

(Note that this is quite a different scenario from Bill Clinton, so don't bring up Monica's appearance. I happen to think she's very attractive, anyway. But Bill Clinton had...has....a tragic flaw, an addiction of sorts. He flies from flowerbud to flowerbud...not so much caring about the flower as the fact that the flower simply have pollen. Edwards would have a REAL affair or fling. She would be younger than this woman, for one thing.)

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

29. and sadly HuffPo gave this prime space

on their front page

[AlCzervik]

31. shame on them.

[2rth2pwr]

36. Debunked? She says it didn't happen.

ok.

[surfermaw]

38. Remember the Jennifer Flowers thing about Clinton

Remember his polls going up after the story, I would like to see data on when that story broke and when Bills polls started to go up...Same with Kennedy, themore the women stories were told the more popular Jack Kennedy became.

[2rth2pwr]

40. Yeah, maybe this didn't come from a rival campaign. nt

[Inspired]

46. What exactly is your point?

If you are going where I think you are......I'm not pleased. Can you explain in case I'm misunderstanding something here?

[JeanGrey]

57. But of course, Gennifer wasn't lying.

[beachmom]

39. Thanks. I knew it was crap, and of course, it was. n/t

[Generator]

41. Hillary has been busy, hasn't she?

Mmmkay?..I think we need Dana Carvey to do her justice.

[sufrommich]

43. You're blaming Clinton for this?

Based on what?

[saracat]

47. How about this? reaAnd there is more The Post is owned by Murdoch and the original "article' was

wrtten by Chaus who has supportted Clinton in Slate mag sice 2003. Read Below;
October 11, 2007
Read More: Newspapers

The Clintonite who owns National Enquirer

The political world has been holding its nose for the last twenty-four hours while peering at the weekly tabloid National Enquirer, which published a story yesterday alleging that presidential candidate John Edwards had an extra-marital affair.

What the tabloid's readers, in politics and out, may not know is that a key owner of the Enquirer is a prominent New York investment banker and one of Hillary Clinton's key backers, Roger Altman. Altman was an official in the first Clinton administration, and his name is often mentioned as a possible Clinton Treasury Secretary.

The investment boutique which Altman founded and chairs, Evercore Partners, bought a controlling stake in American Media, which publishes the Enquirer, in 1999, which it still holds with a partner. Evercore's president, Austin Beutner, sits on American Media's Board of Directors, according to Evercore's website.

The National Enquirer story was mirrored by a pair of stories in the Huffington Post -- whose public face, Arianna Huffington, is a harsh critic of Clinton. The Huffington Post stories implied that the Edwards campaign was concerned about its relationship with a film-maker, Reille Hunter, who had shot web videos for Edwards. The stories stopped short of directly suggesting the candidate had a relationship with her, something Mickey Kaus made explicit on Slate yesterday.

"The MSM seems to be strenuously trying to not report it," Kaus wrote, and indeed, aside from a disapproving link to Kaus's item on the website of the New Republic, and gleeful coverage on the gossip blog Wonkette, the story has mostly stayed out of the old-line press. But it's unclear whether that reluctance is the result of Clinton-era neurosis about the topic of sex, or a less fraught sense that there simply isn't much to report here, particularly in the case of a candidate who lacks the media wattage and poll numbers of his rivals.

The Enquirer story cites anonymous emails from the un-named woman allegedly involved to another un-named source.

But Hunter reportedly issued a disgusted denial of the stories earlier today, via a spokesperson quoted by the veteran blogger Jerome Armstrong on MyDD (Armstrong emailed Politico that the spokesman was her lawyer, Robert Gordon):

The innuendoes and lies that have appeared on the internet and in the National Enquirer concerning John Edwards are not true, completely unfounded and ridiculous.

My video production company was hired by the Edwards camp on a 6 month contract, which we completed December 31, 2006.

When working for the Edwards camp, my conduct as well as the conduct of my entire team was completely professional.

This concocted story is just dirty politics and I want no part of it.

A spokesman for American Media, Richard Valvo, promised to look into questions about American Media's ownership and Altman's involvement, but did not immediately call back. Altman didn't respond to an email seeking comment or to a message left with his secretary. The Edwards campaign has not commented on the Enquirer story, and declined to comment on Altman's involvement.

In a 2003 New York Times article, Altman said he had no involvement in the editorial side of American media. Slate noted at the time that the publisher's tabloids had continued to print lurid Clinton rumors.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith /

[sufrommich]

51. Please...

It proves absolutely nothing.A key owner of American Media which owns the Enquirer is a Clinton supporter. Big fucking deal,did you read the last paragraph.?

"In a 2003 New York Times article, Altman said he had no involvement in the editorial side of American media. Slate noted at the time that the publisher's tabloids had continued to print lurid Clinton rumors."

He has no involvement in stories printed in the Enquirer. He admits to part ownership of a rag that bashed Bill Clinton throughout the Lewinski ordeal and did not get involved.You selectively read into what you wish,it was only a matter of time before someone on this board tried to tie this to Clinton,no matter how absurdly the truth had to be stretched.

[Cameron27]

52. Thank you.

[Inspired]

53. Thank you Saracat.

I think this explains it very well.

Dirty politics? Yes...at its worst. And it makes me sick to my stomach.