(Newser)
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If John Edwards thought his 15 minutes of infamy were finally up, it looks like he was mistaken. DNAInfo, which broke the story of New York City's so-called Millionaire Madam, reports that the first major name to bubble up in the alleged prostitution scheme belongs to none other than the former presidential hopeful. Anna Gristina is accused of running a tony prostitution ring, and one of her alleged call girls told investigators that she, ahem, serviced Edwards just once, when he was in NYC in 2007 on a fundraising swing.
DNAInfo reports that the encounter was allegedly set up by one of Edwards' aides who knew about Gristina's ring; Edwards and the girl reportedly met in an Upper East Side hotel suite. This apparently isn't new news: The call girl gave her account to investigators looking into Gristina's ring in 2008; they apparently considered her credible and were able to confirm that Edwards was in the city at the time. But Politico reports that the Edwards camp has loudly denied the report and demanded a retraction. Says one of his lawyers: "Mr. Edwards categorically denies that he was involved with any prostitute or service. These allegations are false, defamatory, and he puts those who would publish or repeat them on notice that they are acting with actual malice by reporting or repeating them."
