Elizabeth Edwards authorized a friend to attack John Edwards over his infamous "she was in remission" interview on Nightline. That's the stunning assertion of Sandra Westfall, the "People" magazine writer who authored the article [excerpt here] containing the friend's crticism. Westfall was a guest on tonight's Verdict with Dan Abrams.
DAN ABRAMS: Sandra, let me start with you. Is it fair to say that the story that you guys have in this week's magazine is effectively Elizabeth Edwards' side of the story?
SANDRA WESTFALL: You know, she authorized her brother and her best friend to speak to me on her behalf.
View video here.
A bit later . . .
ABRAMS: Let me play a piece of the Nightline interview, and then I want to read you a response from a family friend who spoke to People magazine, blasting John Edwards for this comment.
Roll tape from Nightline interview.
JOHN EDWARDS: Can I explain to you what happened? First of all, it happened during a period after she was in remission from cancer. That's no excuse, in any possible way for what happened.
ABRAMS: Alright, so here's what People magazine reports: "one family friend is outraged by both his behavior and his public apology. The idea that so long as her cancer is in remission, his cheating is somehow not so bad—it's mind-blowing." Before I go to Lynn [Sweet], Sandra, was that person also authorized to speak by Elizabeth Edwards?
WESTFALL: Yeah. I'll tell you that that wasn't the only person who told me that.
ABRAMS: Wow.
WESTFALL: They had former aides screaming at the television --
ABRAMS: Wow.
WESTFALL: -- throughout that interview.
WESTFALL: You know, they said this is not the John Edwards we thought we knew.
ABRAMS: Lynn, you know, I find that to be startling: that Elizabeth Edwards authorized a friend to effectively attack John Edwards for his Nightline interview.
Looks like it's all coming apart. John Edwards' story will not hold. Will the MSM let itself continue to be scooped by the National Enquirer and People?
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.




















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Elizabeth speaks
August 13, 2008 - 22:33 ET by bigtimerElizabeth speaks out....strikes back.
This was her wasn't it....
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
I am not surprised
August 13, 2008 - 22:55 ET by DEVILDOCMOMat this development, are you? Seems to me we were discussing this very comment regarding her remission. I think the failed media will continue to ignore the story unless they are pushed further...after all they have made their decision.
Edwards is a dirt bag........
August 13, 2008 - 22:44 ET by BEGRUNTthere is no useless, spineless way out......dirt bag, just a dirt bag.
"If a man does his best, what else is there"?
General George S. Patton Jr.
poor Elizabeth
August 13, 2008 - 22:51 ET by candanceWhy didn't she just lure John onto Hardball and then call in to confront him on live TV? That's much more Lizzie's style.
they said this is not the John Edwards we thought we knew.
I've heard this line before...somewhere...just let me think.
Candance, that was the first
August 14, 2008 - 00:41 ET by USA4freedomCandance,
that was the first thing I thought of..
ambush..
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
candance, I think Elizabeth should have lured John onto...
August 14, 2008 - 00:47 ET by R D HelmJerry Springer, as that is about the level this entire, cough, affair has sunk to. :-)
-Dave.
I think Candance is making a very perceptive
August 14, 2008 - 02:45 ET by DaMavreference to Elizabeth calling in to Hardball in an ambush that was set up of Ann Coulter last year.
Can't get the video
August 13, 2008 - 22:52 ET by Calypso JonesWell, She didn't do it herself but authorized a friend to attack his interview? I really didn't expect her to do that. Tells me that he told one too many lies such as "I already confessed and we're healed" and then he got her to lie to go along with it. Something tells me that life is not a bowl of cherries around the edwards' household just now. If she leaves him, his career will be as good as that Duke Rape case attorney...what was that dolt's name?
Nifong................
August 13, 2008 - 22:54 ET by BEGRUNT"If a man does his best, what else is there"?
General George S. Patton Jr.
Well, whaddya know . . .
August 13, 2008 - 23:16 ET by GalvanicIt's amusing that his outraged staffers have finally accepted what voters have known for years: Edwards is nothing but a lying, narcissistic empty-suit.
And the sordid story will continue to unravel for this schmuck because he still hasn't come clean. It'll be a long summer for the Breck Girl.
And he's earned every bit of it.
People magazine...National Enquirer?
August 13, 2008 - 23:16 ET byI'm not following why this is such a big story for anyone to be interested in except possibly to distract us from the real issues at hand. I thought Edwards was out of the running a longggg time ago. Infidelty is a huge issue. An issue we as conservatives have seen in our own GOP. I think it's a good idea to point out Edwards failings then quickly move on before he becomes a victim of the "vast right wing conspiracy"...whatever the hell that is! Good riddance, Johnny Boy! We can only hope you give Obie your great endorsement!Ubercon
Uh,
August 14, 2008 - 05:27 ET by cheesegraterNice try...not! Edwards had a shot at VP or AG. He was not "out of the running a looooong time ago".
Nice try at what?!?
August 14, 2008 - 12:45 ET bycheesegrater,
I was just making a comment on how he ruined his personal and public life...tar & feather him and then move on before he becomes a "victim" of our berating. My fear would be the "three fingers pointing back as you point your finger", infidelity is not just a "liberal" or dimobat problem. It would have been great to see him with a meth addicted gay stripper to balance out some of the GOP skeletons if you get my drift...
Ubercon
Wasn't it Lizzy that
August 13, 2008 - 23:17 ET by i b squidlyWasn't it Lizzy that snarked on Hillary as the woman who couldn't keep her house in order? Show us the proper technique, Liz. Don't send surrogates. Put his wardrobe and blow dryers on the front lawn. Clean house.
First, kill all the lawyers.
-Wlm Shakespear
Beautiful
August 14, 2008 - 05:31 ET by cheesegraterEspecially the dryer part. Elizabeth is nothing but a greasy pol with cancer.
If Elizabeth’s people are
August 13, 2008 - 23:28 ET by maggieqpublicIf Elizabeth’s people are coming out against him, John may as well head for the bunker. Elizabeth is jumping ship, because she has been humiliated by her husband. She is the victim in her marriage. However, and I know I’m not the first to say this, both members of the Edwards couple were promoting a political marriage with the American public, and had we consummated that marriage, our country’s citizens would be the duped victims. Elizabeth played a role in that fraud…. but I don’t know of anyone who would like to ask a woman with terminal cancer and a cheating husband if she wants to own up to her role in the presidential campaign.
"John may as well head for
August 14, 2008 - 09:00 ET by Eileen Right"John may as well head for the bunker". He probably wants to, the same one they're hiding Hunter in.
Hey Elizabeth
August 14, 2008 - 01:02 ET by Cool ArrowPerhaps the Reverand Jackson would like to say grace and carve the turkey?
Just a thought.
I ♣ my seal
MSM Coverage
August 14, 2008 - 04:31 ET by P.J. GladnickJohn Edwards' story will not hold. Will the MSM let itself continue to be scooped by the National Enquirer and People?
Somewhere out there. In a dark and quiet alley. A lone Los Angeles Times reporter is quietly, very quietly investigating the Edwards scandal story, the results of which will be published someday...maybe.
what I'm hearing
August 14, 2008 - 06:38 ET by sarcasmoIs that Elizabeth didn't like the Nightline interview because Edwards tried to imply the idea that he'd simply come clean on the infidelity with his wife on his own, and that's apparently a good ways from the truth. Gossip behind the scenes suggests the affair was widely known, possibly because a campaign aide of some sort walked in on the 2 of them bumpin' uglies, and word of that no-doubt uncomfortable encounter found its way back to Liz.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
What the hell is she doing...
August 14, 2008 - 06:55 ET by Texndoc....on the cover of "People"? This is all plan for the John Edward's American Rehabilitation Tour, approved and condoned by the man himself before she sat for the cover picture. Any normal wife would be shell-shocked, silent, and concerned for her children. Not starting a publicity jaunt and sitting down for a cover shoot, but telling her husband through her attorney where he could stick the "People" magazine. I'm surprised they didn't nix the "other" woman's photo even being allowed on the cover. Soon to come: arm in arm, with little children, and new half-sibling, "Why We Forgive Him".
Elizabeth Edwards sure
August 14, 2008 - 08:21 ET by fitzfongElizabeth Edwards sure knows how to use political calculations to generate favorable press. Are we sure she's not a Clinton?
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
"This is not the John
August 14, 2008 - 08:41 ET by TheConservativeChemist"This is not the John Edwards we thought we knew"...?
Really? Cos it's the John Edwards us REAL Americans knew all along...a lying phony sleazebag who the sycophantic press and leftist moron electorate in this country empathaized with. I
I tell you what, People
August 14, 2008 - 09:05 ET by marpelI tell you what, People Magazine or no People Magazine; Presidential candidate or no Presidential candidate, if I were Elizabeth, his underwear would have been hanging from the trees when he got home from that interview.
I wonder if any of the television outlets would cover that? Fox would...Greta would have been doing a remote from the front lawn. LMAO
Nina Burleigh (sp?)
August 14, 2008 - 09:57 ET by TexndocI just read on another site the author of this People - Elizabeth cover story is the woman who wrote in a piece she would have given Clinton a 'Lewinsky' "just for keeping abortion legal".
Tell me she wasn't hand-picked and there is no hidden agenda.