Edwards' mistress says she's helping him live 'a life of truth,' they're in love
3/16/2010RALEIGH - The mistress of former presidential candidate John Edwards said she is helping him live "a life of truth" and the two remain in love even after their affair helped trigger his downfall.
"Everyone talks about how Johnny has fallen from grace," Rielle Hunter told GQ magazine in an interview released yesterday. "In reality, he's fallen to grace."
In her first public comments since she became known as Mr. Edwards' other woman in 2008, Ms. Hunter didn't provide any details of their status. She said Mr. Edwards is a great father who wants to be there full time for their daughter, now 2.
A spokesman for Mr. Edwards said he would not comment.
Ms. Hunter said, "I know he loves me. I have never had any doubt at all about that. We love each other very much. And that hasn't changed, and I believe that will be till death do us part."
She said she and Mr. Edwards had an immediate connection when they met in New York City in 2006, and she said she knew then that she was special to him.
Ms. Hunter said she told him he shouldn't run for the White House and suggested he at least wait until April, 2007, because her intuition and astrology suggested he would have a difficult first three months of the year. His wife, Elizabeth, suffered a return of her cancer in March of that year.
Ms. Hunter said Mr. Edwards wanted to exit the race, but his wife wanted him to stay in. "And my surprise was that they stayed in the race. I really viewed it as reckless."
Ms. Hunter said the Edwards' marriage was in shambles before their romance. John and Elizabeth Edwards are now separated.