Elizabeth Edwards May Sue over Lurid Book

A former aide to John Edwards says the two-time presidential candidate's wife has threatened to sue him for contributing to the downfall of their marriage.

Andrew Young said Wednesday that Elizabeth Edwards has threatened an "alienation of affection" lawsuit. Young said he had anticipated that the Edwards family would come after him following his book about the candidate's affair.

An alienation of affection lawsuit allows a person to sue a third party for contributing to the breakup of a marriage. Jilted spouses typically seek money from their partner's lover.

North Carolina is one of only about a half-dozen states that still have such a law.

A spokeswoman and an attorney for Elizabeth Edwards declined to comment.

Earlier Wednesday, a video cassette purportedly showing Edwards and his former mistress in a sexual encounter was delivered to a North Carolina judge.

Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones took possession of the tape Wednesday, a week after ordering that Young hand it over.

Enquirer: John Edwards Asked Mistress Rielle Hunter to Marry

Before Wednesday's hearing, the tape was kept in a safe in a sheriff's office, marked "special," The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer reported.

The tape and the way in which it would be delivered to the court had been the subject of legal hearings for several days. The North Carolina Court of Appeals on Tuesday temporarily stopped security rules that a judge wanted during the retrieval of the sex tape.

Young, who has about Edwards and his affair, has said that the video depicts Edwards in a sexual encounter with a woman that appears to be his former mistress, Rielle Hunter. She has sued him for invasion of privacy and of what she deemed a private and personal video.

Edwards with Hunter.

[webster0801]

Too many of you are misunderstanding this lawsuit, with no help from this article. Elizabeth Edwards may sue Andrew Young for alienation of affection. He wrote in his book how he aided and abetted and facilitated this affair for years. Without Andrew's help this affair would have had to end, Johnny could not have managed it on his own. It really will be a slam dunk case, if Elizabeth decides to pursue it. She has already kicked John out and will divorce him, that is all one can do with a spouse, sue them for divorce. She can, and may, sue Rielle Hunter for alienation of affection and criminal conversation. These lawsuits in NC are frequent and have many precedents of huge awards. I would love to see Elizabeth win the dirty dollars the Young's are making from this book and "clean" the money by giving it to a non-profit. I wish Elizabeth and her children the very best.

[aubfmet]

If all that was written in the book is true, there is no lawsuit. The world knows that John Edwards is willing to lie to the public.

[stormerF2]

Why would she sue, it was her so called scum bag husband that ruined their marriage not a book. Just like a bed wetter wanting to sleep on your dry side after they have soiled theirs. She learned to sue from her Husband and his frivolous lawsuits from chasing ambulances.

[watkinsjr2000]

If I understand this story correctly, former Edwards family lackey Andrew Young is being threatened with a lawsuit by Elizabeth Edwards. His crime, in her eyes, is publicly speaking (and writing) about an extra-marital affair that John Edwards has/had with Rielle Hunter.

So, instead of bringing legal action against her husband or his mistress (and the mother of his child),Elizabeth is now blaming John's former aide for contributing to the breakup of her marriage.I'd think a more normal reaction to what Young has said & done might be to thank him for showing Elizabeth what a totally self-centered jackass she was married to.What this story reports would certainly be a unusual application of N.C.s alienation of affection statute.

The only conclusion I can draw from this is that Elizabeth Edwards isn't nearly as upset that her husbands affair(s)occurred as she is about this one becoming public knowledge.If that's the case, doesn't this sort of make Elizabeth as big a hypocrite as John is? It certainly seems that both John & Elizabeth Edwards are much different people in real life than the public personas they so carefully crafted over the years!

[ajvw]

maybe she can get john to represent her

[doejane-2009]

She has a nerve. This IS certainly an example of their much touted two Americas - the first one where rich and (formerly) powerful people can sue people into silence and ruin, the other where the rest of us have to take it from them. THE EDWARDS - (BOTH OF THEM)
NEED. TO. GO. AWAY. FOREVER.

[RhymesWithRight]

Now would this be the same Elizabeth Edwards who along with her husband made her storybook marriage to John Edwards a part of his campaign propaganda? Who knew about John's infidelity and still stood by his side as part of his 2008 campaign for President? Who helped John lie on national television about his relationship with the bimbo he knocked up? Who has issued regular health bulletins to an American public that just wishes she and John would get back under the rock they crawled out from under? Seems to me that there is no claim for invasion of privacy to be made -- and as a public figure there can be no claim that the information was wrongfully disclosed causing that alienation of affection.

Face it -- Elizabeth is as dirty as John in this one.

[citizenusa-2009]

You've got a point there...

[jckbrn-2009]

You go girl - -
Stick it to all the scumbags living off your embarrassment and the
tragedy of your family problems caused by a miserable, lying, cheating,
fool of a spouse/father - -
Then raise your head and move into the future without that baggage ! !

[citizenusa-2009]

I'm totally confused. Why isn't Elizabeth Edwards suing the bimbo who went after her husband and then made it a point to:

1. Have intimate relations in Elizabeth's bed.
2. Get pregnant by Elizabeth's husband
3. Make a sex tape with Elizabeth's husband (while pregnant! OMG)
4. File a lawsuit to get the tape back (admitting it was a "private" video)OMG
again! She ADMITTED it was what it was!!!
5. Do all of this under the watchful eye of the Enquirer.

and Elizabeth is suing WHOM?

[skeezix06]

Elizabeth is suing the people who directly slandered her. I'd sue Young too.

She's probably going to take care of John and Rielle later during the divorce.

[skeezix06]

I hope she puts Halperin's book on her lawsuit list as well. I hope she wins. It couldn't happen to two more deserving people.