March 22, 2012, 3:06 pm
John Edwards Denies Prostitute's ClaimsMarch 22, 2012, 3:06 pm
By JAMES BARRON and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
John Edwards in FebruaryJohn Edwards, the former United States senator and presidential candidate, adamantly denied on Thursday a claim by a prostitute who worked for an upscale Manhattan escort service that she slept with Mr. Edwards in 2007.
"Mr. Edwards categorically denies that he was involved with any prostitute or service," a lawyer for Mr. Edwards said, calling the allegations false and defamatory.
A person with knowledge of what the prostitute had told investigators in 2008 said she said she did not know who Mr. Edwards was at the time they met. "She put it together after the fact," the person said.
The
meeting between the prostitute and Mr. Edwards was arranged by an intermediary, said the person familiar with the prostitute's statement. The woman's claims were first reported by dnainfo.com on Thursday. The woman is said to have worked for Anna Gristina, 44, who the authorities say ran a multimillion-dollar prostitution ring on the Upper East Side. Ms. Gristina was arrested last month on a charge of promoting prostitution and pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Edwards's
political career ended in 2009 amid disclosures that he had had an affair and fathered a child with a campaign worker.
The person familiar with the prostitute's claims said she gave details to investigators from the Manhattan district attorney's office in 2008, when the presidential campaign was in full swing. The
investigators were stunned when she brought up Mr. Edwards's name, the person said.
The woman was interviewed after she was arrested on an unrelated charge. She served as an informant in the early stages of the investigation into the prostitution ring, the person said, adding, "Ultimately, she ended up fizzling out as an informant." She struggled with personal problems and at one point became involved with drugs.
The woman, who was said to have had a falling out with Ms. Gristina before she began cooperating with the authorities, had been close to another figure connected to the prostitution ring, a woman who was married to a sergeant assigned to police headquarters in Lower Manhattan, the person with knowledge of the matter said.
Mr. Edwards was indicted last June after a two-year investigation into whether he had used more than $1 million in campaign contributions to conceal an affair with Rielle Hunter, who worked on his campaign as a videographer. (After she had a baby girl in February 2008, Mr. Edwards denied but eventually admitted that he was the father.)
The indictment accused Mr. Edwards of misusing campaign contributions and of making false statements, among other things.
Mr. Edwards and his lawyers rejected a plea agreement. His trial, scheduled to begin in January, was delayed because he needed heart surgery. Separately, the Federal Election Commission has ordered him to pay back more than $2 million in public money that his campaign received in 2008.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/john-edwards-denies-prostitutes-claims/
