Edwards escapes questions about ‘gap’ on birth certificate

For the second time in ten days, John Edwards has chosen to escape from a hotel to avoid reporters asking awkward questions about his friend Rielle Hunter and the baby girl it is claimed he fathered.

The former two-times presidential candidate was speaking at a symposium at the Hotel Monaco in Washington DC on Wednesday when it became clear that the assembled reporters and photographers were not just there to learn about poverty and ageing, the subject of the conference.

To avoid questions, Edwards's aides escorted him through the kitchens and out of a side door. When he emerged on a back street, he was confronted by a reporter from the Charlotte Observer in his home state, North Carolina, asking about the latest twist in the Rielle Hunter affair - the discovery by the Observer that the birth certificate of Rielle Hunter's daughter identifies no father.

Edwards told the reporter: "Can't do it now, I'm sorry" and quickly walked away.

This episode follows reports in the National Enquirer that the tabloid's reporters found Edwards visiting the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles after midnight on July 21 for a secret rendezvous with Rielle Hunter and her daughter. Edwards had met the 44-year-old when she was hired to make a video documentary during his recent failed run at the Democratic presidential nomination.

To escape the reporters at the Beverly Hilton, Edwards hid in a men's lavatory until hotel security guards could escort him to safety.

The Enquirer alleges that Rielle Hunter's daughter, born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, is Edwards's child. A former Edwards campaign worker Andrew Young - also a married man - has claimed paternity, but the Enquirer alleges that this is a lie and that both Young and Hunter (also known as Lisa Druck) have received "hush money" to keep Edwards's paternity secret.

Asked yesterday why no father was listed on the birth certificate, Hunter's lawyer, Robert Gordon, told reporters: "A lot of women do that." Reminded that he and Hunter had publicly revealed two months ago that Andrew Young was the father, Gordon replied, "That's a personal matter between them." He then declined to comment further.

Edwards has been mooted as a vice-presidential running-mate for Barack Obama, or for some other key position in an Obama cabinet should the Illinois senator win the presidential election in November.

FIRST POSTED AUGUST 1, 2008