Tag search result

Andrew Young has turned over to authorities the tape that is the purported sex video featuring John Edwards and Rielle Hunter.

Young, accompanied by a security officer, retrieved the tape from an Atlanta safe deposit box, according to Wade Barber, an attorney for Hunter. The officer's presence was ordered by Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones.

After Young got the tape, the N.C. Court of Appeals suspended Jones' order requiring the officer to be present and collect the contents of the safe deposit box.

Hunter filed court documents to get the tape and other documents back from Young, and the appeals court order is unclear as to whether Jones can continue to moderate the case at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday. 

Jones had given Young and his wife until today to turn over the documents or face a trip to jail. 

Barber said he believes the appeals court order only applied to Jones' order dealing with the extra security. Young's legal team disagrees.

"In my interpretation of the order, the Court of Appeals has stayed all the proceedings," said M. Gordon Widenhouse Jr., a lawyer for the Youngs.

An attorney for the Youngs argued that Jones' order went too far and essentially required the couple to submit to an unconstitutional search of their home.

Update: Post now reflects Young turned over the tape.

In an order filed late Sunday night, a judge has dispatched an Orange County sheriff's deputy to Atlanta to be present when a bank safety deposit box purported to contain a sex tape of former presidential candidate John Edwards is opened.

Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones signed the order at 10:35 p.m. at the request of lawyers for Rielle Hunter, the mistress who bore Edwards' love child. The document claims that Edwards' former aide, Andrew Young, and his wife, Cheri, may be in possession of additional items of a "very private and personal" nature.

"Mr. Young shall take the Officer with him into the vault to obtain the lock box," the judge's order says. "The Officer is to secure all items contained in the lock box in bags as is customary for evidence collection."

Hunter filed a motion Jan. 28 in Orange County seeking a temporary restraining order shortly before the Youngs appeared on ABC's 20/20 to discuss Edwards' and Hunter's affair. After the Youngs refused to hand over the tape and other items, Judge Jones found the couple in civil contempt Friday and threatened them with arrest if the materials are not provided by Wednesday.

In his book, Young described finding a sex tape while packing boxes in the Chatham County home where Hunter lived with his family for a time. Young had claimed paternity of the child in an attempt to hide the affair of his boss, who was seeking the Democratic nomination for president.

The Youngs told the judge last week that the original tape is in a safe deposit box in Atlanta, and the FBI has a copy. According to the order from Sunday night, Young had intended to be in Atlanta on Monday to open the box.

UPDATE: Lawyers for the Youngs filed notice Monday that they intend to appeal Judge Jones' contempt order from Sunday. 

Rarely has a political figure risen to national prominence as quickly or imploded as spectacularly as North Carolina's John Edwards. The former U.S. senator, presidential candidate and Democratic nominee for vice president is a well-established punch line for late night comedians for his $400 hair cuts and trashy extramarital affair.

But proving the trough of public ridicule can always get sloppier, Edwards was the butt of zingers lobbed by a rodeo clown Saturday night in the politician's former home town.

During the World's Toughest Cowboy competition at the RBC Center, the clown filled dead time between bronco and bull riding by cracking mildly off-color jokes at the expense of his obese wife and extremely short sidekick.

He then turned his attention to Edwards, for whom the mere mention of his name elicited loud jeers and boos from the crowd.

"John Edwards, personal injury attorney," the clown deadpanned. "Who would have thought he'd turn out to be a sleaze ball?"

And a few moments later:

"Your man John Edwards, he's going to that same 'spa' where Tiger Woods is. You know, where there's no huggin', no kissin', no lovin', no nothin'. Yeah, it's just like my house."

Attorneys for Andrew Young say the sex tape of former presidential candidate John Edwards and Rielle Hunter is not in Orange County and therefore not subject to a temporary restraining order won by Hunter seeking its return.

Mark Edwards, a Durham lawyer representing Young, filed a legal response Thursday prior to a court hearing on the issue set for Friday. Hunter, who is the mother of a child the former senator fathered during an extra-marital affair, is seeking the return of a "personal video recording that depicted matters of a very private and personal nature."

In his tell-all book released last week, Young, a former aide to John Edwards, described finding the discarded sex tape while packing boxes in the Governor's Club home where Hunter lived with his family for a time. Young claimed paternity of the child in an attempt to hide the affair of his boss.

In his book, Young said the tape clearly shows Edwards having sex with a pregnant woman, who is holding the camera. The candidate hired his mistress as a "videographer" during his 2006 run for the White House, paying her $100,000 from his political action committee.

"It's not in Orange County," Mark Edwards said of the tape Thursday. "Mr. Young and his wife didn't do anything improper in obtaining these items. Some were abandoned. Some were items Ms. Hunter uploaded on their computer."

Mark Edwards declined to say where the tape is now.

Former John Edwards aide Andrew Young said he was surprised by some of the questions asked by a federal grand jury.

Young told Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos that in nine hours of testimony for the Raleigh grand jury’s investigation into Edwards, he wasn’t told much about what investigators were interested in.

"They don’t tell you much. They just asked a lot of questions," Young said in an interview broadcast Monday as part of Young’s publicity tour to promote his tell-all book "The Politician."

The N&O has previously reported that the grand jury is looking into whether campaign money was improperly used to keep Edwards affair with his mistress secret. Young said Monday he was asked about a program funded by a nonprofit foundation with ties to Edwards that was meant to help students in Greene County go to college.

The program was launched in 2005 by the Center for Promise and Opportunity Foundation. Edwards has previously said he had done nothing improper with campaign money. Young said he does not know if Edwards committed any crimes.

"In my gut they put a lot of effort and time into this and I don’t think they would be doing that without something," he said.

Hat tip: Adam Linker

Former John Edwards aide Andrew Young says he has kept a sex tape featuring Edwards because he needs it to prove his story.

Friday night's 20/20 focused its entire hour on Young's story of how he helped Edwards cover up an extra-marital affair and love child with Rielle Hunter. On Monday, ABC News continued trumpeting its exclusive access to Young, who is promoting his new book, "The Politician," with an interview on Good Morning America.

Young said he has refused offers to sell the tape.

"I think it's a shame people are focusing on this. I couldn't have told this story without including the sex tape," Young told "GMA." "We've been offered gigantic amounts of money. And we've said no."

Among the new revelations from the 20/20 episode:

— On Dec. 28, 2006 when Edwards announced his presidential bid in New Orleans, he met Hunter later that night in the presidential suite of a hotel. "Rielle told me that night that she felt like she was his first lady," Young said.

— On Dec. 30 at an appearance in Chapel Hill, Hunter and Edwards were tipsy from passing a water bottle filled with white wine. Edwards ordered Young to ensure that Hunter and his wife stayed apart.

TIRED OF THIS YET? Details of Andrew Young's tell-all book about his former boss John Edwards have started to trickle out. New revelations include that Edwards hated having to mix with regular people and that he wanted his mistress to have an abortion. Some day, the hits to Edwards' reputation will end. Until then, Young is scheduled to appear tonight on ABC's 20/20.

BOOZE BIZ: A new poll says residents are divided on whether to privatize the state’s troubled system for selling liquor. A Civitas poll found that 57 percent of Baptists want to keep the ABC system, while 66 percent of Catholics favor privatization.

OUTRANKED: The state's stimulus Web site ranks low on a list judging the states' sites. Maybe some stimulus funds could get the site up to snuff.

IN OTHER NEWS: Lanny Wilson, the Wilmington financier who figures in the federal investigation into former Gov. Mike Easley, quit his influential seat on the N.C. Turnpike Authority. The state's Medicaid spending is running as much as $250 million over budget.

The Orange County sheriff's office released today a copy of a report alleging a "domestic between spouses and larceny of wallet" on Oct. 10, 2008, at the home of John and Elizabeth Edwards.

In the report, Elizabeth Edwards describes how John Edwards came to the home to eat dinner with his children after a sports event, Mark Johnson reports. She told him they were dining with the babysitter, and he had no business being there, according to the report.

Moments later, John Edwards challenged his wife’s comment and said the house was his, as well. Then Elizabeth Edwards said she saw her husband take her lime green wallet, which contained $320, credit cards and a Motorola Razr phone. John Edwards went down to "the barn," an adjoining structure that includes a full-size basketball court, for several minutes before beginning to leave, according to the report.

"As Mr. Edwards was leaving, he was asked to give the wallet back,” the report said, “and he advised that he did not have it."

The report ends by giving Edwards – a former U.S. Senator, former presidential candidate and former Democratic vice presidential nominee – a new title: "suspect."

UPDATE FOR THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS: The report had been kept secret since it was filed more than a year ago at the request of Elizabeth Edwards, the sheriff said. He cited a state statute that allows incident reports to be kept confidential temporarily in cases where the documents’ release could endanger the victims physical or mental well-being.

The Orange County sheriff's office released a copy of a report alleging a “domestic between spouses and larceny of wallet” on Oct. 10, 2008, at the home of John and Elizabeth Edwards.

In the report, Elizabeth Edwards describes how John Edwards came to the home to eat dinner with his children after a sports event. She told him they were dining with the babysitter, and he had no business being there, according to the report.

Moments later, John Edwards challenged his wife’s comment and said the house was his, as well. Then Elizabeth Edwards said she saw her husband take her lime green wallet, which contained $320, credit cards and a Motorola Razor phone. John Edwards went down to “the barn,” an adjoining structure that includes a full-size basketball court, for several minutes before beginning to leave, according to the report.

“As Mr. Edwards was leaving, he was asked to give the wallet back,” the report said, “and he advised that he did not have it.”

The report ends by giving Edwards – a former U.S. Senator, former presidential candidate and former Democratic vice presidential nominee – a new title: “suspect.”

DOUBLE DUTY: Karl Rove came to town this week to raise money for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr. Democrats seeking the nomination set about using Rove to raise a little money of their own. So Rove's visit was a productive trip all around.

OUTRANKED: The state's stimulus Web site ranks low on a list judging the states' sites. Maybe some stimulus funds could get the site up to snuff.

TIRED OF THIS YET? Details of Andrew Young's tell-all book about his former boss John Edwards have started to trickle out. New revalations include that Edwards hated having to mix with regular people and that he wanted his mistress to have an abortion. Some day, the hits to Edwards' reputation will end. Until then, Young is scheduled to appear tonight on ABC's 20/20.

IN OTHER NEWS: Lanny Wilson, the Wilmington financier who figures in the federal investigation into former Gov. Mike Easley, quit his influential seat on the N.C. Turnpike Authority. The state's Medicaid spending is running as much as $250 million over budget. A new poll says the state's residents are divided on whether to privatize the state's troubled system for selling liquor.