(Newser)
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Andrew Young, who also once pretended to be the father of Rielle Hunter's baby to cover for former boss John Edwards, took the stand at Edwards' campaign finance trial yesterday—and he was a mess. He got flustered, gave conflicting (and at least once, wrong) answers, and constantly asked for questions to be repeated—and this was while being questioned by his own side, the prosecution. After a performance like that, the Washington Post's Melinda Henneberger predicts that "he stands a very good chance of being ripped apart by the defense" during cross-examination today. Highlights from his testimony, via the Post, the AP, and the News-Record:
- The night Edwards announced his 2008 campaign, he, Young, and Hunter passed around a bottle of wine in the car as Young drove to the kick-off event, Young said.
- When Edwards first learned of Hunter's pregnancy, "he said she was a crazy slut and there was a 1-in-3 chance that it was his," Young said.
- When heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon started funneling money to Hunter—the central issue of the trial—"we were scared," Young said. "It was a truckload of money, more money than had ever flowed through our accounts. ... It was crazy."
- In order to phone Hunter without his wife finding out, Edwards often used staffers' phones … as well as a secret cell phone he, Young, and Hunter referred to as "the bat phone," Young said.
- When Edwards came up with the idea of using Young as a cover, he gave Young what the aide referred to as a "campaign stump speech" explaining that the issue "was bigger than all of us," and that voters "don’t give a s--- about you. They want me."
- Why did Young agree to it? "I wanted my friend to be president," he admitted. "Being friends with the most powerful person on Earth, there are benefits to that."
