Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has admitted to having an extramarital affair but is denying fathering the woman's child.
In a statement, Edwards said he committed "a serious error in judgment" and admitted the 2006 affair to his wife and family shortly after he ended it that year.
In an earlier interview, Edwards told ABC News that he lied repeatedly about the affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter to the public and said he didn't love her.
But he claims he isn't the father of the five-month-old girl, Frances Quinn, because of the timing of the affair and the birth. He said he did not take a paternity test but is willing to take one.
Edwards' wife, Elizabeth Edwards, is battling an incurable form of cancer. However, John Edwards said that his affair took place when his wife was in remission from the disease in 2006.
A former Edwards campaign staffer has claimed that he is the father of the child. No father's name is listed on the birth certificate files in California.
Tabloid National Enquirer first reported the affair last October, which the Edwards campaign vigorously denied.
But three weeks ago Enquirer reporters caught Edwards visiting Hunter at a California Hotel. The tabloid said Edwards hid from its reporters in a bathroom.
Edwards admitted to ABC News that the Enquirer was correct to say he visited Hunter at the Beverly Hills hotel.
"Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public," Edwards said in his statement. "When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough."
Edwards' campaign manager for his 2008 presidential bid has spoken out against his former boss.
David Bonior said Friday that he was disappointed and angry.
"Thousands of friends of the senators and his supporters have put their faith and confidence in him and he's let him down," Bonior, a former congressman from Michigan, told The Associated Press "They've been betrayed by his action."
Edwards also said in his statement that, "It is inadequate to say to the people who believed in me that I am sorry, as it is inadequate to say to the people who love me that I am sorry."
"In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic."
Campaign money went to woman
Edwards' campaign paid the woman's newly formed firm $100,000 over four months to produce four Web videos.
The firm, Midline Groove Productions LLC, received its first payment five days after Hunter incorporated the firm, The Associated Press is reporting.
One of the four YouTube videos is a mere two-and-a-half minutes long. The videos show Edwards in informal settings.
Edwards said in his statement that he has not made any payments to support Hunter or her child.
Hunter inspired book
According to esteemed novelist Jay McInerney, Hunter provided the basis for his 1988 book, "Story of my Life." In an article in Breathe magazine, McInerney described the book as from the point of view of "an ostensibly jaded, cocaine-addled, sexually voracious 20-year-old who was, shall we say, inspired by (Hunter.)"
In the same article, Hunter said that much of the novel was "very real."
Hunter was known as Lisa Druck in the late 1980s, according to the McInerney, who dated her briefly.
Edwards was a top contender for the Democratic nomination for president, finishing second place in the Iowa caucuses in January. He dropped out a few weeks later.
The former North Carolina senator ran for vice-president on John Kerry's presidential ticket in 2004.
Until recently, he was considered a possible running mate for Barack Obama. Edwards was due to speak at the Democratic convention in Denver this August, but that is most likely not happening anymore.
