Lawyer Who Paid Rent of Edwards’ Mistress ‘Shocked’ to Learn of Affair

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Lawyer Who Paid Rent of Edwards’ Mistress ‘Shocked’ to Learn of Affair

Posted Aug 13, 2008, 04:46 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The Dallas lawyer who paid the monthly rent of John Edwards’ mistress says he was “shocked” to learn that rumors of the affair were true.

In an interview with Texas Lawyer's Tex Parte Blog, Fred Baron said he paid to move Rielle Hunter to California and funded her monthly rent for several months, but said reports that the amount was $15,000 per month were inaccurate. He refused to give the actual amount, however.

Baron repeated his assertions that he paid to relocate Hunter and Andrew Young, a former campaign worker for Edwards, because they were being hounded by tabloid reporters. Young’s wife and their three children were also relocated with Baron’s support. Neither Hunter nor Young were employed by the Edwards campaign at the time, he said. Young has said he is the father of Hunter’s child.

Baron said he learned of the affair a few weeks ago. “I was shocked,” he told Texas Lawyer.

"Do I feel that he betrayed me? I don't like the word betrayal. I think he was in denial himself. He did a very, very stupid, bad thing," Baron told the publication.

Baron formed the Dallas firm of Baron & Budd. Some have estimated that the Baron & Budd firm earned $800 million on asbestos litigation alone, the Am Law Daily reports. He now works at a new firm he created, Baron & Blue, with his wife, Lisa Blue. They sued their former firm in 2006 saying they had been denied money due under a departure agreement and reached a confidential settlement.

Meanwhile the New York Times reports Friday that Baron has ties to two lawyers who issued statements on behalf of Hunter and Young last December, suggesting “they were part of an orchestrated effort to protect” Edwards.

And the Ocala Star Banner reported this week that Hunter’s father was a Florida lawyer implicated in a scam to kill horses for insurance money. The first horse reportedly killed belonged to Hunter, who was then a teen-ager known as Lisa Jo Druck.

Updated at 6:20 a.m. on Aug. 15 to include coverage in the New York Times and Ocala Star Banner.

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Posted by Alan H - 3 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 16 hours, 41 minutes ago

Now that Mr. Baron knows or knows that the public knows, will the hush money payments continue?
Posted by jim - 3 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 5 hours, 30 minutes ago

So, we are to believe all this slippage? A man as successful as Fred Baron now a victim? Baron gives lawyers a bad name, not only because of what he does, but also because the bar doesn’t pursue men like him. Am hoping the IRS diverts a bit of wattage onto the Edwards/ Baron/ Hunter/ Young cabal.
Posted by jim - 3 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 5 hours, 26 minutes ago

One other thing. One can’t help but wonder if Rielle Hunter and her baby are now victims of abusive power…are they themselves being “held” prisoner, is their well-being in any way threatened? How would anyone even know? Statements have been released by John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, Fred Baron, etc., but not Rielle Hunter herself. And not by Andrew Young. Why? Supposedly, Riellle Hunter was “whisked away” in a private jet two days before Edwards gave his bizarre scripted interview on ABC’s NightLine. Wonder where Saint Baron was at the time.
Posted by Brad - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 17 hours, 35 minutes ago

I agree with jim. I really want the IRS and other agencies to investigate their transactions. Something illegal happened somewhere, whether campaign finance law violations, or something. I can’t wait for that douche to be exposed for the crook he is….
Posted by Al DeMeola - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 15 hours, 10 minutes ago

Of course he was aware—he’s paying this dame $15K per month and housing her in California? Why? Because of Edwards’ affair with her. Now that it’s all out in the open, maybe this dame will have to raise her kid on her own, but I doubt it—she has been sponging off men for decades; why stop now????
Posted by Ellen Barshevsky - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 14 hours, 54 minutes ago

This woman was taken advantage of and now needs child support. THAT;S ALL! WHY is all of the fuss at a WOMAN who was FIRED from the job (MAYBE AFTER SHE GOT PREGNANT) and now is unemployed SINGLE mother. I think it is OUTRAGEIOUS that MEN are picking on her. She is out there, ALONE with their child, which EDWARDS refuses to ackknowlege. That is the problem, and she should be COMPENSATED for this.
Posted by Skeptical - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 14 hours, 36 minutes ago

Right, because everytime I sleep with a married man and fail to use birth control, get knocked up, and then publicly disparage the man’s legitimate wife who is battling terminal cancer I feel taken advantage of too!
Posted by Miles - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 14 hours, 26 minutes ago

I wonder how many “marks” she is drawing down hush money from while keeping the baby’s birth certificate empty of a named father and refusing to run DNA testing!
She is quite the clever smooth operator and crazy…like a fox
Posted by Alan Sacks - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes ago

What is this need of the ABA to emulate the tabloids? There are, and always will be shits out there. Is it because the hypocritical lawyers are worse, given the charge of their “profession”?
Posted by Bird Smack - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 37 minutes ago

I wasn’t aware that the child was definitively Edwards’. And thank you for screaming at us with all caps - I wouldn’t have understood what you were saying otherwise.
Posted by cornelius helfrich - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 13 hours, 10 minutes ago

Once again the legal profession has been besmirched by the activities of highly public attorneys. No wonder the public despises us! Lying has to be an ethical violation. I hope the North Carolina Bar files a grievance against John Edwards.
Fred Baron"s donations should show up on required campaign reports and/or prosecution should follow.
We will never be perceived as professional until we are professional i.e. at a minimum, honest.
BTW, some of the choice of words in these posts do little to elevate our professional image.
Posted by Andy the Lawyer - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 57 minutes ago

I’m a lifelong Democrat—but, c’mon. Edwards was “in demial” about having had an affair? How does that happen? “Gosh, I was walking down the street, minding my own business when suddenly I slipped on a banana peel and landed in this woman’s vagina..and then hit my head and forgot about it”?
Posted by Clueless - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes ago

It’s Bush’s fault.
Posted by Rambo - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 12 hours, 13 minutes ago

I agree with Clueless (#13).
Posted by Richard Wadsworth - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 11 hours, 32 minutes ago

The woman is smart. She has no trade or visible way of making a living (and is not particularly attractive); yet, she’s bringing in $15K/month plus in bearing a child. I bet Edwards wishes he could replay the day he decided to unzip his fly. I know I would.
Posted by George - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 11 hours, 24 minutes ago

I’m worrying about my daughter heading off to college tomorrow and looking at the bills. I see this story and the amount of money being paid for rent on a house for this person is $15,000? Wow, give me a few months rent checks and I’ll do something useful with it.
Posted by Ruggy - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 10 hours, 59 minutes ago

For a lawyer, he’s easily shocked. Especially since Edwards is another lawyer.
Posted by Diamond Jim - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 10 hours, 13 minutes ago

I cannot believe you people who are attacking poor John. Any guy who can pay $400 for a haircut is bound to attract women who will attempt to become pregnant. Fortunately John has good friends who will bail him out of this mess. It is so nice to see the plaintiffs bar sticking together.
Posted by maharlika - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 8 hours, 53 minutes ago

John Edwards is (1) a lawyer, (2) a politician, and (3) a Democrat. It’s genetically imprinted in his DNA to lie about EVERYTHING!
Posted by JFK - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 59 minutes ago

No doubt Baron was shocked—SHOCKED—to find out there had been an affair.
Disagree with Clueless. This has Karl Rove written all over it.
Posted by Karla Rove - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 48 minutes ago

The concept was mine but I left the details to the participants. Baron should come out ahead though, because Ms. Hunter may have been exposed to asbetos from Edward’s hairspray.
Posted by Rich Littlejohn - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 28 minutes ago

#12 and 14—I agree with you. As to #12, I think it may be time for you to become a republican. With those people, sex is not in the cards; therefore, there’s no chance of impregnation after they hit the bananna peels! LOL!
Posted by R - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes ago

Looking forward to the children’s book:

“John Edwards and the Very, Very Stupid Bad Thing.“
Posted by NCLawyer - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 4 hours, 19 minutes ago

Deeply disappointed in Edwards, and I don’t usually buy into the myth of the “bad woman” who brought a good man down. But I have to agree with Skeptical (#7) and Wadsworth (#15). I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I think this woman misrepresented her credentials as a filmmaker (or whatever she was supposed to be) to worm (sorry) her way into the campaign and cash in on whatever she could cash in on. That the limelight got to Edwards enough to think he could get away with it shows he cracked under the pressure, and he was right to drop out. I’d want to keep it quiet too. It’s bad enough for his kids and his wife as it is. A bunch of harpies screeching, “he should have thought of that!“ does not justify dragging them through it all over again.

The fact that Edwards was a lawyer and a Democrat has not much to do with this particlar scandal, outside of giving Republican media pundits something to talk about. It’s not as if being a lawyer CAUSED Edwards to f—- up. I for one am getting tired of all the gratuitous remarks that ALL democrats and ALL lawyers are liars. Like it’s ok for married Republican men to F—- anonymous men in bathrooms ... just as long as they aren’t lawyers, and the people who pay their criminal defense legal bills didn’t make their money practicing law. One of these days someone of maharlika’s ilk will spout off in the wrong bar at the wrong time ... and then I guess I’LL be on the front pages dragging down the profession for giving that someone a fat lip. Then again, Republicans and cable news types seem to admire reactionary simian violence, especially if perpetrated by white, privileged, thin-skinned @-holes such as myself.
#23, that’s awesome. You should jump on that while the scandal’s fresh ...I would totally buy that book.

Silver lining: I think we can safely say that Ann Coulter was wrong when she called Edwards a f——-. Even though Hunter does look a little like a transvestite.
Posted by Linda - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 1 hour, 59 minutes ago

I agree with Alan Sacks. Why does the ABA have to behave like a tabloid? It is shameful and demeaning to the profession.
Posted by Hawk - 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 6 minutes ago

Like many of these situations, the coverup is more damaging than the scandal itself. This feigned “shock” is malarkey.
Posted by karla rove - 3 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 15 hours, 13 minutes ago

NCLawyer #34. Why be dissappointed in Edwards. He joins the long list of failed politicians. I sensed this in him from the onset. I also sense it in Obama. There is somethnig lurking. It isn’t a Republican/Democratic thing, it’s a character flaw when some people achieve power, they fall from grace in ways that seem so stupid to the outside world, but not to them. Edwards would do it again.

NCLawyer, relax a bit. You write as if you are strung out on some serious substances. You’ll need your energy because this is just the beginning of this story, which I anticipate will take many interesting turns.
Posted by dcsmithie - 3 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 20 hours, 45 minutes ago

My favorite development? The mother of Andrew Young says he never would have slept with Ms. Hunter. She says he’s a devoted dad and family man. Go Mom!
Incidentally, the story that Young is the father of the baby hardly makes Ms. Hunter look good. What, when Edwards stopped the affair she just moved down the food chain to the next married guy?
Not to let Edwards off the hook, of course.
As to the comments about Ms. Hunter not being attractive. That’s true, but what did you expect? Edwards is not about to be with a woman prettier than he is.
Posted by Stanley Kowalski - 3 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 38 minutes ago

The woman was not a beauty. She must have been very mesmerizing to cajole Edwards into “sleeping” with her. That guy got hit with a tsunami—not only did she diss the wife (who was dying of cancer), but she later popped out a kid which, for all we really know, could be anyone’s kid (after all, this woman is hardly Mary Magdalene). It is a good lesson for us guys who think we can have it all….we can’t and we shoudn’t. We should stick with what we have, even if it aint the best cut on the block because we could get our “weenies” caught in a pencil sharpener if we venture too far afield. Good lesson, men…now learn it.
Posted by Ferris Bueller - 3 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 11 hours, 21 minutes ago

This is clearly an example of “too much time, too much money.“ I wish I had the time, energy and money to have a mistress, let alone whisk someone away on a jet. I’m just trying to get my invoices out at the end of each month and get my clients to pay me on time!

Re: Post #29, by Stanley Kowalski, wasn’t Mary Magdalene a prostitute?
Posted by RL - 3 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 55 minutes ago

Clearly, this mess is all Ann Coulter’s fault. If she hadn’t goaded John Edwards with her comments about his masculinity, he wouldn’t have felt the need to reassure himself by carrying on an extramarital affair. Let’s put the blame where it belongs!
Posted by Studs Terkel - 3 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 8 hours, 30 minutes ago

Re Ferris Bueller’s (#30) comment about Mary Magdalene, apparently Stanley Kowalski forgot much of what he learned (or didn’t learn) in parochial school.

Re # 31, I thought we already decided that this was all Bush’s fault? So, whose fault shall it be? Bush, Rove, Coulter, or Obama?

This is why the ABA prints the tabloid articles: what else would we do for amusement?
Posted by chaim nutzman - 3 months, 2 weeks, 2 days, 8 hours, 29 minutes ago

clinton, mcgreevey, spitzer, edwards.

all lawyers.
Posted by NCLawyer - 3 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 8 hours, 45 minutes ago

So Karla Roves thinks I’m “strung out” on “serious substances” because I take up for the profession. That’s right, demean the speaker when you don’t have a good response to the point I was trying to make. .

More of the same from the “go team!“ brand of fascism that pervades current political discourse. At least this comment will be #34, which will make your reference correct.

Chaim Nutzman, do I really need to go through a litany of all the famous men in other professions who’ve cheated on their wives to make the point that being a lawyer is incidental to this scandal? Or is it just that it’s only news when a lawyer does it?

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