Tabloid: We Caught Edwards Visiting Mistress, Love Child

The National Enquirer claims to have cornered and confronted John Edwards yesterday after a late-night tryst with the woman they have been saying for months is his mistress and the mother of his infant child. The tabloid says its reporters tracked Edwards as he entered a Los Angeles hotel through a side door and used a basement elevator; left the hotel and returned again with her; and left again at 2:40am. When confronted by Enquirer reporters, they say, he fled—and then hid in a bathroom and summoned security.

Several bloggers are giving the scoop some credence; Mickey Kaus complains on Slate that the mainstream press is ignoring the story. A close friend of Edwards, 54, previously claimed to be the baby’s father, the Enquirer writes, but filmmaker Rielle Hunter has told friends Edwards is in fact the father, and that the ex-senator has met his child several times. (More John Edwards stories.)