John Edwards--May to June 2007
Bill Long 8/28/08
Where Was He, Anyway, When Rielle Got Pregnant?
Conclusion: No, He Most Likely ISN'T The Father
Because Rielle Hunter's baby girl was born February 27, 2008 we can assume that Rielle was impregnated sometime between May 15 and June 10, 2007. Of course, the baby could have arrived prematurely or very late, but I would say that there is a 95-98% chance of her having become pregnant during that nearly four-week stretch. What I did was decide to comb the Internet to learn where Edwards was during this time. I have not accounted for every day of his itinerary, but I have many of the days below. I think we can assume that if Hunter (who lived in the New York City area at the time) was travelling with him or met up with him while "on the road" outside of New York, that someone would have said something by now.. So, with that having been said, let's go through his itinerary as I have it today (it can be added to, if you have more or more precise information) and see what the probabilities were for them to "link up." I need more information from the beginning of this chronology....
May 15 (Tues)-June 10 (Sun), 2007 Chronology
May 15-- Des Moines IA, setting up, ironically, "Women for Edwards," an organization with 1500 members.
May 21 (Mon)-- Keene, NH and town meetings in NH. Overnight in NH.
May 22 (Tues)-- Hanover, NH in a.m.; afternoon policy event in Montclair, NJ and then NJ fundraiser.
May 23-- Edwards in NYC to speak to Council on Foreign Relations. So, where did he spend the night of May 22? May 23? See below.
May 24-- 10:00 a.m. address the Alabama State Legislature; later in day fly to Wisconsin.
May 25 (Fri)-- From Wisconsin back to Iowa, with a lot of town meetings.
May 30 (Wed)-- Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View, CA--meeting on technology.
May 31 (Thurs)-- Appearance in Menlo Park, CA, where the rich people live.
June 3 (Sun)-- Democratic Presidential hopefuls debate at St. Anselm's College in NH.
June 4 (Mon)--in Washington DC (George Wash. Univ) for a CNN-Sojourners discussion on faith. One of the ironies also of this event was a question that was put to Edwards in this forum. It was, "What was the greatest sin you ever committed?" If indeed he is the father of little Rielle's child, then the "act" of impregnation would have happened around the time of that question. Indeed, I have wondered whether an "off the wall" question like this might have just thrown him "over the edge"--see the entry a few days below.
June 6 (Wed)--with Danny Glover at Horne's Country Buffet in Florence, SC. Later in the day he went with Glover to Bishopville, SC.
June 7 (Thurs)-- back in New York to receive the "Father of the Year" award. His wife, Elizabeth, was in the audience, and he (predicatably, and probably correctly) said that she was the better parent. He told a moving story of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his late son Wade in 1995.
June 8 (Fri) --back in New Hampshire. Here is info from another website on that trip: "June 8 he attended a house party at the home of Jack & Abigail Collins in Rochester; held a town hall at Books & Beyond Bookstore in Derry; did an OTR on Main Street in Nashua (walked a couple of blocks up the street and stopped in at Martha's Exchange, a popular restaurant, and shook hands for about 10 minutes); held a town hall at Amherst Elementary School in Nashua; and held a town hall at Victory Park in Manchester; and did an OTR, joining NH staff and interns on "Team Elizabeth" in walking a lap on the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Manchester."
"On June 9 (Sat.) he spoke at Democracy Fest at the Wayfarer Inn in Bedford; attended a community barbeque at the Historic Green (outside Seufert Law Offices) in Franklin; OTR stopped in for about 15 minutes to shake hands at Puritan Backroom in Manchester; stopped for coffiee at Me & Ollie's Coffee Shop in Exeter; and held a house party at the residence of Julie & Greg Gilman in Exeter. He then proceeded to Wakefield, Mass. where he was the keynote speaker at the North Shore Labor Council Awards Dinner."
That is what I have at this point. One further irony in all of this was that he and his wife Elizabeth had a "very private" and "very intimate" recommitment to each other on their 30th wedding anniversary, July 31, 2007. But, as was probably predictable, the Edwards campaign "leaked" the pictures to People Magazine. What do you think about that?
Reflection on Schedule and Possibilities of Fatherhood
John Edwards, in his August 8, 2008 televised interview, stressed that he gave up his relationship with Rielle Hunter in 2006 and that he didn't see her again until July 21, 2008, when he was found out by some reporters from National Enquirer. If he was actually the father of the baby born on February 27, 2008, and if we can assume that Rielle was in NYC or its environs for the nearly four weeks I have reviewed here, he would have had to connect with her during one of his two trips to NYC--May 22/23 and June 7. Since he was with his wife during the June 7 award ceremony, the chances of his trying to "reconnect" with Rielle at this point are too mind-boggling to consider. If it happened during the May 23 visit, it would have had to be the night of May 22. I don't know his plane schedule, but it would have been most logical for him to fly from NYC to AL on the night of the 23rd, to be ready to address the AL Legislature at 10:00 a.m. the next morning. So, could it have been May 22? Well, we don't know yet where he spent the night on Tuesday May 22. It could have been in NJ after his fund-raiser; it could have been in NYC. We know he was on the Today Show with Matt Lauer n the morning of May 23. He delivered an afternoon speech at the Council of Foreign Relations. Then, probably that evening, we was off to AL.
Conclusion
If we subject John Edwards' campaign schedule 9 1/2 to 8 1/2 months prior to the birth of Rielle Hunter's child to serious scrutiny, we discover that he would have had very few "windows" for connection with her. Though almost anything is possible, it appears that a connection during either May 22, 23 or June 7 is highly improbable. He was a candidate for the Presidency; his wife had just had her recurrence of cancer (March 22). I think he is being on the level in saying that he isn't the father of the child. I think he had "reformed" in 2007. His visit in 2008 was to try to see what Rielle wanted to keep her quiet....
The more I look at this, then, the more I tend to believe him that he cut things off with Rielle at the end of 2006. He decided to try to get things back together with Elizabeth. He did have a longer relationship with Rielle in 2006 than he let on. And, he may have had more than one contact with her in 2008. I don't see it at this point as a romantic tryst; I see him as trying, ultimately unsuccessfully, to limit damage. The only problem is that because he lied and covered up, and misrepresented the length of the liason with Rielle (I think it lasted a good five or six months, at least; maybe nine months from the time of the first meeting), his credibility has forever been damaged. I bet he wishes he could now rewind the clock and start again, probably around early 2004.
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