Edwards' Mistress Appears Before Grand Jury

Over allegations he used campaign funds to pay off mistress

(NEWSER) - A federal grand jury is looking into allegations that Bill Richardson violated campaign finance laws during his 2008 presidential run—most salaciously by having supporters pay off a woman who threatened to reveal an extramarital affair with the former New Mexico governor, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . The sources add that several of Richardson’s closest associates have taken immunity deals to testify in the probe. More»

Former candidate could still face charges, trial

(NEWSER) - John Edwards' political career is dead but the federal probe into whether he used campaign funds to keep his mistress quiet has shown public signs of life for the first time in more than a year. Federal prosecutors have issued a fresh round of subpoenas for witnesses to appear before a grand jury that is deciding whether to charge the disgraced former presidential candidate with using cash from political donors to provide a "love nest" for mistress Rielle Hunter. More»

Edwards exposé a shoo-in for glory—but not for tabloid

(NEWSER) - By any sane measure, the unmasking of John Edwards as a philanderer who knocked up his mistress while his wife battled cancer was one of the all-time great scoops—except in determining the winners of yesterday's Pulitzer Prizes for journalism. "The media elite circled the wagons to exclude the scrappy, self-proclaimed supermarket tabloid," Emily Miller writes for the Washington Times . More»

Jude Law, Eric Clapton, and other scandalous parents

(NEWSER) - Now that Jude Law has finally, after five months, met his daughter with former fling Samantha Burke, The Frisky rounds up a few other—rumored!—famous love children:

• The Clapton kids: Conor, the son whose death prompted Eric Clapton to write “Tears In Heaven,” was born to an Italian model while Clapton was married to Pattie Boyd. The rocker also fathered another love child, daughter Ruth, with another woman.

His former speechwriter reflects on her 'sorrow' and 'disgust'

(NEWSER) - John Edwards watered down the self-criticism in his recent admission of paternity , says the disillusioned former speechwriter who helped him write his confession. "It was very different compared to the one he and I had worked on over the summer," writes Wendy Button. "Gone were the words 'I lied.' The humble apology he had written was turned into the empty phrase, 'these words will never be enough.'" More»