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>> no figure embodies the american political process quite like the presidential candidate at their best candidates represent and ideal the overcoming obstacles or hopes for a better future protecting the people from the powerful. >> let's intoxicating stuff and they can sometimes get too wrapped up in-- an army volunteers, donors, political operatives, and lincoln sometimes get too wrapped up in the law. the legend which brings us to the story of johnny read edwards and american success story crusading trial lawyer, family

man, the senator from north carolina was seen by millions of americans says the future of the democratic party candidate john edwards was inspirational. people seemed as if they would go to the ends of the earth for him. and in some cases he made them because in reality, john towards the person. well, he was no savior party. i will give you back the white house, and i will give you back your country. tapper: who could ever forget this handsome face? john edwards. being honest and changing course in iraq is the first step in trying to restore america's moral leadership in the world. crowd: [chanting] edwards! edwards was hot stuff and within striking distance of the white house for years. [cheering] he had been john kerry's vice presidential pick in 2004,

and even though that didn't work out, it made him an early favorite entering the 2008 democratic presidential primary. he was a good talker. he was good-looking. he had the right politics. yes, edwards was the dream candidate-- perhaps even the "dreamy" candidate. that beautiful head of hair just stole my heart. [audience laughter] thank you. john edwards was able to articulate john edwards was able to articulate the economic issues and >> like this country, able to talk about the two americans that was his famous speech. >> we can build what america, where we no longer have to healthcare systems. >> edward stated mission to bridge the gap between rich americans and poor americans still seems progressive, more than a decade later he was young smart, married to his law school sweetheart. though he'd made a fortune as a trial attorney, edwards proudly champion the working class. andy was from a southern state

>> they called him bill >> clinton without the tonight, john edwards' political career lies in shambles-- his personal life and lies laid bare. he lied about an extramarital affair when he ran for president this year. reporter: john edwards now admitting he is the father of the child born to campaign aide rielle hunter. andrew young, a former aide to john edwards-- young had initially taken the fall for saying he was the father of the baby. reporter #2: and what about edwards' wife of 32 years--elizabeth? she's not only had to deal with her husband's betrayal. she's dealing with a cancer that threatens to take her life. tapper: yes, it was as bad as it sounds. edwards cheated on his cancer-stricken wife, had a baby with his secret girlfriend/employee, and then tried to pass it off as a key campaign staffer's kid. for years, edwards followed the three simple rules for unfaithful men-- deny, deny, deny. i have no idea what you're asking about. i don't respond to these lies. so when the truth came out, he looked like the most untrustworthy politician

in the united states. here's the statement john edwards issued today... the scandal torpedoed his career, and with it, the dreams of so many people who had believed in him. -it's very shocking. -this is a man i was willing to vote for as president. why would he do a thing like that? why would he do that? he had to know that his personal failures would detonate his political career? yet he still seemed to believe that he was destined to transform the united states. and it wasn't just him. so many smart people surrounding him accommodated his lies, believing that the ends justified the means. this story's 15 years old, but it burned so many people, including many staffers who still work in politics and refuse to talk about the scandal to this day. john edwards isn't talking either,

and his ex-wife elizabeth, sadly, died in 2010. thankfully, i was able to find answers and understanding in kentucky, sitting and talking with someone who once, fairly or not, was the most infamous woman in the united states-- rielle hunter. the image of john edwards was, you know, this john grisham hero come to life-- crusading southern lawyer, had some difficulties in his life, wants to fight for you. we held him responsible for not being the image that he had given us. and held me responsible for that, too. -we did in the media? -yes. it--it's hard talking about it, even, you know, 15 years later. i-i don't wanna hurt anybody. or him. i don't wanna hurt john, either, you know? well, we're here to get your side of the story. by february 2006, rielle hunter had lived many lives. she was an actress with bit roles in films such as "ricochet,"

where she played a reporter alongside denzel washington... mr. styles, are you all right? ...a new york party girl and muse for her ex-boyfriend jay mcinerney's novel, "story of my life," a self-described spiritual healer, and, finally, an aspiring documentary filmmaker. john edwards, by contrast, was soft-launching a presidential campaign and a leader of the democratic party. so let's just start with the very beginning. -you're at the regency hotel... -oh, god. [laughing] ...in 2006. were you there to meet him? being there was a-a fluke. tapper: was he by himself? who was-- hunter: yeah, he was in a business meeting. i was with my friend. we're at a table, and, uh, john edwards was behind her, and he kept looking at me as though he knew me as well. and then we got up and left, and when we were standing on the corner, john edwards turned the corner and saw me there, and he literally, like, almost jumped into my arms.

and my response-- what came out of my mouth was, "you're so hot." and w-what did he say back? [laughs] "why, thank you." i said, uh, "i can help you," and he said, "i wanna hear." he said, you know, "can you come over?" -so you went up to his room? -mm-hmm, i did. -and then-- -'cause then i didn't feel like it was sexual, either. -you didn't? -no, i did not. -'cause it sounds like there was an attraction. you said, "you're so hot." -[laughs] that was-- -i know, i know, i know. -i mean, that's inherently... -no, i get--no, i-- -...a little sexual. -no, i get it, yeah. did your intimate relationship with him begin that night? yes. i was in love very quickly. not because he was john edwards. no. not at all. make no mistake, like, all of that, like, added to the package, you know? -sure. it's just like, i'm human, you know? -right. -so he's a good-looking guy. -he was very charismatic. -yes, he-- and he was, like, john edwards. he hit all the boxes... except he wasn't single. that's a...that's a box.

[laughs] it's a big one. ♪ clearly, john's marital status was no barrier to pursuing rielle, and the feeling was mutual. ironically, at the same time, the country seemed infatuated with john edwards' picture-perfect marriage and his wife, elizabeth edwards, a former attorney herself turned healthcare reform crusader, who was said to be edwards' secret weapon on the campaign trail. my value is that people trust me. they trust me to say what's on my mind and be direct. the election was still two years away, but elizabeth and john seemed like they were everywhere, pushing john as the next great democratic hope. it was the beginnings of a 21st-century presidential campaign, which created a unique opportunity for rielle and john's relationship. at what point does he start talking about figuring out a way for you to come on board the campaign? i pitched him the idea of doing a webisode series, because my entire thing about him was who he really is did not translate onto the camera,

and i wanted to help him capture that, 'cause i thought he was pretty cool. ♪ in hours of behind-the-scenes footage, rielle captured more than maybe even she imagined at the start. she showed who john edwards really was as a person, for better or for worse. you think most people have any idea what we're doing when we're not on the stage? you're trained to be careful. we're conditioned to say what's safe. we're conditioned to be political. i actually want the country to see who i am, who i really am. i'd rather be successful or unsuccessful based on who i really am, not based on some plastic ken doll that you put up in front of audiences. i...that's not me. be careful what you wish for, john.

in 2006, john edwards was preparing for his presidential run. he'd also brought his extramarital affair with rielle hunter on the road by hiring her as campaign documentarian. people were starting to notice. there were pretty weird episodes, right? like, the footage was, like, clearly you love this man. you're not even holding the camera steady. you guys are flirting here. -that's my speech. -[laughs] oh, my goodness. [laughs] it's a great speech.

[rielle laughs] can you read it? -yes, i can read it. -you can? yes. the webisodes-- did they suggest anything? maybe when he was-- like, he was a little flirty, but he flirted with everybody. -mm-hmm. i wasn't-- that wasn't unique to me. but everyone read into it, that oh, he's so flirty, you know? -that is a great speech. -[rielle laughs] i'm so glad you like it. [laughs] i like it. at the time, rielle's larger-than-life presence on the campaign trail had some staffers and journalists talking, but it was just that--talk. and even though he had not officially announced he was running yet, there was so much heat behind an edwards candidacy. it was really about this sense of the--the failed george w. bush administration. we're coming out of katrina. we were heading into an economic crisis. the war in the middle east was so badly managed and prosecuted.

with so much at stake, elizabeth had the idea to target young voters as a break with politics as usual. i was hired by the campaign because they were looking for bloggers. blogging was really new, and that was the edwards campaign trying to stand out from the more traditional campaigns at the time. elizabeth had been out front. she had joined the blogosphere. she was writing about universal healthcare and progressive policy, generally. for the first time in 15 years, we're actually trying to fix a broken healthcare system and deal with the twin problems of the, uh, status quo, which are skyrocketing healthcare costs and millions of americans living without healthcare coverage. i first met elizabeth edwards, um, on the campaign trail, and she was at the front of the bus working on something. by the time we get to our campaign stop, um, elizabeth says, "i have this for you," and it was a sketch of me. and i was just so sort of impressed, and, like, what a nice gesture. she didn't have to do that for me. and she was good.

i knew then she was... a phenomenon. she was the brains of this mission. she knew how to make it look soft when it felt hard. she really was the all-american fabric. part of what made the edwards campaign so riveting and why so many people rooted for john and elizabeth was the story behind their relationship. tragedy had compelled them to get into politics. my oldest son wade died in an automobile accident seven years ago, and, uh, this is his outward bound pin, so i wear it. they began getting involved with a community in new and different ways when their son died as a way to try to have some good come out of his death. good morning. um...i'm here in new orleans to announce that i'm a candidate for the presidency of the united states, uh, in the election of 2008. by early 2007, john had made his official announcement for the presidency.

rielle's webisodes, which revealed a little more truth than edwards was perhaps ready to admit, disappeared from the internet, but their relationship continued. how often were you seeing john at this point? every week? every couple weeks? -a lot. -or more? i went everywhere. the staffers knew who i was, so, like, for me to get into his hotel room was challenging. john edwards believed he could outsmart anyone, but someone has to be complicit here in this. the person rielle and john say enabled their affair was campaign staffer andrew young. andrew denies that he was doing anything more than following john's orders, so keep in mind this is a history full of unreliable narrators, and opinions differ. and, of course, the only person cheating on a spouse and lying to voters about who he was was the candidate himself. they had a separate phone they called the batphone. whenever john would wanna talk to rielle, they'd start humming the theme from "batman," and that was kind of the cue for andrew to flip him the phone,

uh, to talk to rielle, so it was quite elaborate. why would andrew young do that? well, in his book he wrote, "i joined in the deception, and at the time, amazingly, i believed it was the right thing to do. i did this for one primary reason-- i believed in john edwards and all the things he said he stood for." how much was he involved in helping... this relationship to happen? oh, it wouldn't have happened without him. every time we reached some sort of obstacle or hurdle, andrew would clear-- clear that, remove it. one of the things that's--that's hard to get across to folks is how much it was really possible that john edwards was going to be the next president of the united states. in my personal opinion, i didn't think he should run for president. you didn't think he should run for president because of the relationship? -yeah. -yeah. -well, there... [chuckles] -did you tell him that? -yeah. you know,

i was the only one. everybody wanted him to run. what did he think was gonna happen? like, it's all based on a lie. -right. -you know, it's like, how--this is not gonna end well.

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i think many traditional journalists ended up in the tabloids. putting together a story was the easy part. getting the information-- that was the hard part, and that took a certain type of journalist. barry levine was executive editor of the "national enquirer" when a tip came in on john and rielle. previously, the juiciest gossip about john had been the price of his haircuts. levine: it was right before the iowa caucuses. he was running right with obama and hillary clinton. i thought, wow, if this story is true, the rug would really be pulled out from under him. in march 2007, a few months after barry started looking into the affair rumors, the edwardses received devastating news. elizabeth's breast cancer, which had been in remission since 2004, was back, and this time, the doctor said it was not curable. the candidate says he'll be there for his wife

anytime, anyplace despite the presidential campaign. yet, john edwards says that campaign will continue. ♪ elizabeth was sick, and elizabeth had found out about me at the same time. you know, she called the-- the--the cellphone that we had together. there was only one number on the cellphone, and it was mine, and she called it, and i answered the phone, and she hung up. he ended up confessing to her that he had had an affair with her, but it was over, and he was never gonna do it again, so and she believed-- she actually believed that. at this point, editors and executive producers in the mainstream press seemed to have no stomach for digging into rumors that john edwards was cheating on his dying wife. we had heard rumblings. we were all sort of thinking about how we would report on it. there just was no evidence of it. tabloids in the u.s. play by different rules than mainstream reporters.

they use checkbook journalism-- paying for information, for access, for photographs. the standards may seem lower, but in this case, the "enquirer" was going to do whatever it took to break the story. i went into my battle mode in the sense of we're gonna go full-court press. the first thing we're gonna do-- try to find out a little bit more about who this woman is. we went to a home in new jersey where we believe that rielle hunter was living. the "national enquirer" ended up on my doorstep, so i bought a ticket, and i flew, and andrew picked me up at the airport and took me to his house in north carolina, where cheri and the kids were. i stayed with him, and then he rented me my own house. but the "enquirer" was still circling, and levine had enough to start publishing. ♪ hunter: october 2007 was when the first piece came out from the "national enquirer," and they didn't name me. he gets asked about this,

and he denies it on camera in front of everybody. he's on the campaign trail. he's still running for president. yeah. reporter: ...the-- the "national enquirer" story. i-i don't talk about these tabloids and they'll-- they're--they're tabloid trash. it's full of lies. i'm here to talk about helping people. what was your response when you heard that? you got mad? you got--you cried? sad. i mean, it's just sad. it's-- -because he's denying your love. -correct. so he's still--he's still in the relationship. -yes. -you're still in the relationship. -yes. edwards' campaign staffers all saw the articles, and many of them knew or at least suspected the rumors had merit. what's remarkable is no one inside the campaign blew the whistle at this point. john's political machine kept going full throttle, even as barry levine and the "enquirer" were getting ever closer to blowing it all up. subsequently, we were able to develop the source now closer to rielle hunter, who says that not only is the affair true,

but she's pregnant now with john's child, and they're...freaking out. so when did you find out you were pregnant? july 2007. how do you tell john the news that he's about to have a kid with you? -he knew. -he knew-- like, he knew before i knew. -really? -i--he--he-- he just sensed it, yeah. he said, "this is your choice. whatever you wanna do with-- with this, i support you." i was 43 years old and never been pregnant in my life. i was, like, i'm having this baby. like, this is my shot at being a mom. levine: through the source that we had developed, we found out that john edwards had moved her to a gated community in chapel hill, north carolina. she's five or six months pregnant. she has to be traveling to an obstetrician nearby. that's right. barry and the "national enquirer"

staked out every ob/gyn in the area and waited for rielle to come in for an appointment. she left the doctor's office to a grocery store. we attempted to question her then and said, "rielle, we're told through multiple sources that john edwards is the father of your child." what we have to remember is rielle hunter doesn't really exist until the "national enquirer" says she does, and when she does, everything changes really fast. [camera shutter snaps] that day changed my life. you know, suddenly i had to become aware of my surroundings all the time, cameras popping up out of weird vans parked down the street with their windows cracked. now with physical proof of rielle's pregnancy, a plan was hatched to get the media off of john edwards's scent. [telephone rings, receiver picks up] levine: what happened after that went into a scenario that i had never experienced. we began receiving phone calls from various lawyers saying

this is a case of two campaign workers in john edwards' campaign who are having a child together. andrew young is the baby daddy of rielle hunter's child. now this is when the story... gets invented that it's actually andrew young's baby. -yes. -whose idea was that? andrew young's. and his wife was cool with it? he sold her on the idea. i'm not sure she was cool with it. nobody was cool with it. to be clear, andrew young flatly denies that he was the architect of the plan to pass off john and rielle's baby as his. in his book, young recalls john edwards convincing him to lie by saying, "it's going to be a one-day story, andrew. no offense, but the press doesn't give a shit about you. they want me. but if we give them a story they can understand, a story about two staffers, they'll go away." levine: we then published a page one cover story-- "john edwards love child scandal!"

and we reported edwards' response-- "this story is false. it's ridiculous." at this point, the scandal almost starts to feel like watching a horror movie. i wanna cry out to john edwards-- "just stop! don't go into the basement." don't layer a lie upon a bigger lie. just stop. go home, man." but the potential to somehow get away with it, maybe even win the election, kept john edwards and his enablers going. deluded as it was, they went into the basement, and the "national enquirer" was waiting there for them.

what do i see in peter dixon? i see my husband... the father of our girls. i see a public servant. a man who served under secretary clinton in the state department... where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. i see a fighter, a tenacious problem-solver... who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. because he sees a better future for all of us. i'm peter dixon and i

approved this message. unless and until we have a president who's willing to stand up to these people, nothing will change. we will never have the america that all of us dream of. in january 2008, rumors of edwards' affair had been published and were dogging the campaign. in a surprise upset, barack obama won the iowa caucus, where john had been heavily favored previously. but at least, outwardly, edwards remained hopeful. what people want in new hampshire is they wanna see change. they wanna see something different than they see now. but the political tides had turned. a few days later, edwards lost the new hampshire primary... john edwards a distant third-- must be a disappointing 17%. ...and a few weeks later, the south carolina primary. he's only winning two counties, including where he was born-- seneca. obama broke out as the party favorite just as edwards began to implode.

it's time for me to sep-- step aside so that history can blaze its path. and john edwards is still chasing his political career. even though he is not a candidate for president, he's looking for a role in the obama white house. he could still emerge as a vice presidential candidate or, uh, attorney general, but right at that moment, still has rielle and the kid over there, trying to keep this at bay. if you were involved in a heated political scandal, the best thing to do is admit it, confess, and move on with your life. john edwards didn't do that. someone someday will have to explain to me how a man can cheat on his cancer-stricken wife, have a baby with his girlfriend, and somehow think he can still be vice president or attorney general. a month after edwards dropped out of the race, rielle gave birth to their daughter in california without him. john was still trying to keep his growing secret in hiding,

but the "enquirer" was watching his every move. levine: big tip came in that john was gonna meet rielle and their daughter at the beverly hilton. we were subsequently able to obtain a spy photo of john holding his child. [camera shutter clicks] and as john was leaving the hotel, our reporters sprang up to him and said, "mr. edwards, we're from the 'national enquirer.' what are you doing here visiting rielle hunter and her baby-- we believe your baby?" at that point, it all caved in for john edwards. he was panic-stricken. he ran into a bathroom, and our reporters were on the other side, trying to get in, and security came, and john edwards was escorted out without making any comments, but we knew that we had him. we wake up to the "national enquirer" interview. i was with abc news, and what i found out is that john edwards had brokered a deal to sit down with abc news.

i worked at abc news at this time, and when edwards agreed to a sit-down, it was a huge deal. everyone in the news room tuned in to watch our colleague bob woodruff hold edwards' feet to the fire. he'd have to tell the truth now. he was on national tv. but then...this happened. let me ask you the question. did you have an affair with miss hunter? in 2006, two years ago, uh, i made a very serious mistake-- a mistake that i am responsible for. is this affair completely over? oh, yes, it's been over a lo-- for a long time. edwards, ever the skilled trial attorney, was being very slippery with the truth here, but what came out next was an unbelievable, outright lie. and that picture is absolutely you, and you are holding that baby. -the picture in the tabloid? -yes. i have no idea what that picture is. but you've seen that picture, right? i did see it, and i cannot make any sense out of it...

this is the part of john edwards that you have to really say, "my god, turn it off already. just stop." he admits to the relationship but not the fatherhood. yeah. i mean, i don't even understand... -thank you. -...the hair splitting. the deny--the interview denying paternity really changed things. i-i-i had a really had a hard time with that one. at that juncture, why did he not do the right thing? why do i think that? from fear. of elizabeth? probably multiple things. hurting his kids, elizabeth, the embarrassment and the shame, um, just fear. but i think you're being very charitable by not thinking that a good chunk of all these bad decisions was, "i wanna be president" or "i wanna be vice president" or "i wanna be attorney general." -was his ambition. -yes. um, i--no-- you're attributing it to his love and to protecting his family, and i'm saying-- more, more than ambition. i don't think he's that ambitious.

i'm not so sure his political career was him a hundred percent. you think elizabeth was pushing him? i think that she wanted it more than he did. it's tough to know what to think about rielle's theory, because elizabeth is not here to tell us her side of the story. what we do know is that just like the rest of his staffers, elizabeth edwards supported her husband's campaign unceasingly for him as well as for herself, even as his affair tore her apart. the biggest explosion is when elizabeth edwards is waiting for john at an airport hangar, and she literally rips her shirt and her bra off, and she says, "don't you see me?" it is the hardest moment in her life. and edwards responded by continuing to dig in on these lies, which takes us back to the abc news interview.

bob turned the topic to money, and edwards just dug that hole even deeper. there has been evidence, or we've been told that there-- about $15,000 a month had been paid to miss hunt--hunter, uh, so that she could actually live out in california. in fact, that money was from fred baron, who was your national finance chair. -is that correct? -i don't know. this is when you can first see fear in edwards' eyes. he seems to turn from a guy plausibly trying to protect his family into a lawyer trying to cover his ass. our tentacles began moving out into chasing down the money trail. john edwards was relying on at least two very wealthy donors that we were able to publicly identify. one of those donors was heiress rachel mellon, known to friends, family, and those seeking political contributions as "bunny." bunny mellon--she also found john edwards to be

insanely attractive, and a part of you thinks, like, "you know what, john? you are no good, not you hitting on a 90-year-old woman," but it worked. they got nearly, i think, $750,000. what they were supporting ultimately was keeping rielle and their child under wraps. if fred baron and bunny mellon's contributions were being used to keep rielle quiet so that john edwards could win, that would make john edwards more than a philanderer. it would make him a federal criminal. wow, this is...this is big.

♪ by 2010, the walls were closing in on john edwards. thanks to the reporting of the "national enquirer," a grand jury had started investigating whether edwards' campaign funds had been used to hide his affair with rielle. and while those chips were already down for edwards came another blow-- andrew young, announcing he was going public with a tell-all book. andrew young finally broke from john edwards and wrote a book in which he came out and he acknowledged the cover-up. more than that, he named john as the mastermind of it all.

what it is, is politics is almost cult-like. i worked for john edwards for 10 years, and here we were, on the verge of a possible presidency. the senator called me and said, "my wife's about to die. will you consider helping me cover this up so this is not on the front page of every newspaper in the world?" so as federal investigators circled, john edwards was out of options except one. reporter: john edwards now admitting he is the father of the child born to campaign aide rielle hunter. it's sort of "maury povich" for the upwardly mobile. "you are the father." larry king: for all those i have disappointed and hurt, these words will never be enough, but i am truly sorry." reporter #2: and what about edwards' wife of 32 years--elizabeth? she's not only had to deal with her husband's betrayal, she's dealing with a cancer that threatens to take her life. tapper: john edwards' confession to elizabeth was reportedly done privately. she added an afterword to her memoir, "resilience,"

recalling the horror she felt on learning the full depths of john's betrayal, writing, "i simply wanted to be away from all of the things i had tried to accept." i wanted to take a long shower and be away from the lies my husband had told me and the woman he told me about and the awful couple who helped him live the lies." elizabeth edwards separated from john in january 2010, the same month that he came clean in the press. john edwards finally confessed to being quinn's dad in 2010. he had wanted to come out for a very long time. the issues were, you know, internal family issues. trying to hide it from elizabeth and the kids. yeah, trying to hide it, trying not to hurt anybody. you know, he didn't wanna hurt elizabeth or his family. ♪ it appeared edwards wanted his lie to outlive elizabeth and may have thought it would be better for everyone. instead, as elizabeth's cancer progressed, she was left with the knowledge that not only had her husband gaslit her for years,

a team of people had known the truth and stayed silent or rationalized it as the right thing to do. severson: elizabeth edwards died on december 7, 2010, from breast cancer. ♪ it was a very cold and rainy day in raleigh. ♪ john had his two youngest kids' hands, and just, i remember him leaning down and saying, "you guys all right?" yeah, it was-- it was a very heavy day. [sighs] when she could barely speak anymore, uh, my dad and i sat at her bedside and held each of her hands, and she just kept looking at us back and forth, saying, "i'm okay. i'm okay." she was way more worried about us than we were about her. ♪ elizabeth...died, and--and i'm wondering what you felt when that happened.

did you think when she passed away, that finally you and john could be together? mm...i don't think so. -when did-- -i'm no certain i ever thought john and i would end up together. yeah. -the thing about all of it... -yeah. i-i never would have gone down this road. -why? -because i'm a parent. i'm a mom. i just would never have an affair and do that to a family. so you...maybe understand elizabeth edwards a little better now? oh, yes, absolutely. -do p-- -and the denials of, like, your--the person you love going, you know, denying that. you know, like, your whole reality's turned upside down. -yes, i get it as a woman in a-- -you can understand it intellectually but not emotionally. -correct. -yeah. by 2011, the ongoing federal investigation into the edwards scandal came to a head. john edwards, the one-time vice presidential nominee of the democratic party is looking at the possibility of 30 years in prison. reporter: prosecutors contend that edwards used campaign donations to cover up an affair and pay his mistress.

reporter #2: he is accused of conspiracy, making false statements, and violating campaign finance laws. tapper: remember those two donors, fred and bunny? by using their money to fund his cover-up, edwards was now facing the biggest trial of his life. what about all that money from, like, bunny mellon and... that... [sighs] i knew nothing about this money. i mean, but who paid for your groceries or-- -andrew young had claimed... -yeah. ...that he was paying for it out of his own pocket. -right. -and then fred reimbursed him. [camera shutters snapping] their argument was this money was not going directly to tell people, "vote for john edwards." this was going to kind of support him, the family. it was sort of, you know, um, auxiliary. from there, the details just got seedier, including the testimony that andrew young and his wife cheri had kept a very...personal type of recording of john and rielle. how did you end up with a sex tape of john edwards and rielle hunter?

there was a sex tape that cheri young, andrew's wife, found in a pile of things that rielle had left behind in a house they had rented for her, and they kept it as a kind of an insurance. you did, though, at one point, consider selling it. when somebody comes up to you and says, you know, "here's millions of dollars. will you sell it?" you know, i'd be lying if i didn't say, "hmm." but did we ever seriously consider selling it? of course not. it was a crazy, juicy trial for something about finance. there's no question that i've done wrong, and i take full responsibility for having done wrong. and i will regret for the rest of my life the pain and the harm that i've caused to others, but i did not break the law. they ended up deliberating for nine days, and it was like, is the train gonna crash?

♪ -man: morning. -morning. good morning. we have this 4-week trial, and then you had nine days of deliberation just deadlocked. there were just a couple of hardcore people who didn't think that it was a campaign finance violation and thought the government didn't prove their case. at the end of the day, they came back with a hung jury, and the justice department almost immediately realized they weren't gonna retry the case. and so john edwards avoided prison. he walked free but into a world that found him guilty of being a liar, a cheat, and in the end,

a uniquely terrible presidential candidate. i did an awful, awful lot that was wrong, and there is no one else responsible for my sins. after the trial, edwards retreated from public life. he returned to his home in north carolina, where he declines media requests to this day, including mine. he and rielle stayed together for a while after the trial, but now maintain a relationship as co-parents. he liked the attention, and he had a lot of people pushing him in that direction to make a difference, and he was conflicted about it. -mm. and he did not wanna hurt anybody. and he loved elizabeth. he loved his kids. and he was also in love with me. you know, like, it's-- humans are complicated people. -sure. -it's not just black and white. and you thought that if you didn't go along, you'd lose it? no. i don't know. i just felt like the tr--

i was forced to go along. the--the train was going in that direction, and i just gave up. -one of the-- -throw in every known reality of everything i believe in out the window. we're going in this direction. what belief systems were you throwing out? all my honesty and integrity and, you know, my morals. -'cause you were lying... -yes. -...to the country... -yes. -...lying to the world. lying-- -going along with it. i'm complicit. whatever you think of rielle, it is fascinating that she is the one person in this story who was not invested in john politically. her motivations for the deceit and the lies were purely personal. she wanted to make her own life better, and honestly, she seems like the only person this worked out for. well, maybe not the only one. in an historic first for any tabloid, levine's coverage of edwards was deemed eligible for a pulitzer prize. when i issued a public apology... -and-- -do you remember that?

-i don't. -yeah. not many people do. [laughs] -what did you say? -i was sorry i hurt anybody. i wasn't thinking about anybody else but myself, and i'm sorry. your daughter's 14 now. yes. so he's part of her life now? -yes, very much. -and how--i mean, that's okay? you and him and quinn, like, you've all moved on? oh, yeah. it's now just a healthy situation? it's very healthy. she's so blessed and privileged and has great parents who love her, you know? -both of you? you and john? -yes. yes. -and he's part of it? -yeah. all in, yeah. [laughs] he's a great dad to her. so in a weird way, there is a blessing from all of this. -not a weird way. -it's not weird. -she is--she is the blessing. -yeah. even with the silver lining at the end, looking back, the edwards saga can feel like a twisted soap opera. the stakes felt larger than just a sex scandal. but what about the scandal's political legacy?

we have this dream of who we want people to be, but john edwards couldn't be that. he was who he was for rielle hunter, who he was for elizabeth edwards, and then it was who he was for the american public. and that's the paradox inherent to politics by design. individual human beings have to be the vessels for all our lofty ideals, and yet to this day, we keep on investing and believing in these candidates for higher office, hoping, praying that they do not break our hearts, because maybe, just maybe, this one is different. i do think a lot of his campaign staffers were diehard believe-in-the-cause fans, and a lot of them do work in the white house right now. that's his legacy, and i think that puts a nice bow on a story that is a big ol' mess.