And in May '08, Fred and Lisa [Blue, his wife] came to visit me in Santa Barbara and to meet Quinn
Quinn was born in February, 2008, and Fred Baron died of cancer on October 31, 2008. Lisa Blue, an attorney, worked as Baron's partner in their firm, Baron and Blue. Baron said he didn't learn Edwards was having an affair with Rielle until a few weeks before Edwards' announcement in August, 2008.
Baron says that in late 2007 he helped Hunter, former Edwards campaign worker Andrew Young, Young's wife and the Youngs' three children relocate to California from North Carolina, because they were being hounded by tabloid reporters and paparazzi. "It was just a horrible, horrible situation," Baron says. "I paid for them to relocate to another home in another state."
Baron says he paid for several months of rent on a house in Santa Barbara, Calif., out of his own pocket and didn't inform Edwards. "I never discussed it with John. He was on the campaign trail in Iowa at the time," Baron says.
Baron said neither Young nor Hunter were employed by the campaign during the period he supported them.
Back to Lisa Blue: The marital communications privilege survives the death of the spouse, so it's doubtful she would answer questions about what she and Fred Baron discussed. What else could she offer that's relevant to the investigation?
Blue's attorney, Abbe Lowell, who represented Fred Baron in other matters, said a year ago:
"Fred, on his own and without discussing it with anyone else, provided financial help to Andrew Young and Rielle Hunter when they were being besieged by the media to try to help them protect their and their families' privacy. In addition, Mr. Young and Ms. Hunter both asked him for additional help. Over the course of his life, he had done the same for countless other people. It would be awful if anyone who was a willing beneficiary of Fred's generosity and friendship was now so ungrateful that he or she tried to mischaracterize what happened, blame Fred for their decisions, and especially try to put words in Fred's mouth now that he has passed on and cannot speak for himself."
The U.S. Attorney in Raleigh, George Holding, is a Bush holdover. Even though President Obama nominated Thomas Walker to replace him a year ago, North Carolina's senators have put a hold on the nomination, wanting Holding to stay in the position until the Edwards investigation is over.
Is there really a case against Edwards? Or is the U.S. Attorney just dragging it out, trying to prolong his tenure?
