I'm only reporting the story - don't beat on me. I'll wait and see if the Enquirer has anything or are blowing smoke. This is from Radar Online. WE NEED NEW PICTURES, COME ON! John, Rielle "Does the Washington Post have any political reporters investigating the legitimacy of the Enquirer's stories about John Edwards?" the paper's national political reporter Jonathan Weisman was asked during an online chat on Friday. "Yes, and to be quite honest, we're waiting to see the pictures the Enquirer says it will publish this weekend," came his answer. Unfortunately, it's looking like Weisman and the rest of the mainstream media who still haven't touched the scandal will have to wait a little longer: the Enquirer's editor, David Perel tells Radar that while he is "definitely" in possession of photos from Edwards' bizarre early-morning tete-a-tete with Enquirer reporters at the Beverly Hilton last week, he won't be putting them in tabloid's next issue, or making them accessible online.
"It's a story that we're taking a long view of," Perel told Radar by phone. "We've got a big exclusive coming out this week, and we are on the trail of some stuff that's even hotter. But no one will dictate the time-table for when we release our unpublished material. We've been setting the agenda, and will continue doing so."
Perel declined to comment on the record about the nature of the unpublished material he is withholding, but did say that he "plans on releasing the photos when the time is right." He was similarly mum about what the Enquirer's "big exclusive" is. We've heard that the tabloid has established a financial link between Edwards and his rumored mistress, Rielle Hunter, though what that means—clandestine child support payments? Hush money?—is unclear. Perel refused to confirm this, saying only that "it's always a good idea to follow the money." We've also heard from multiple sources that a major TV network is currently in negotiations with Hunter to secure a primetime interview, which would be the first serious play the mainstream media has given the story. Perel refused to confirm this as well.
Big exclusive or not, the decision to keep the photos under wraps is a curious one. "A lot of people are holding off on passing judgment until they see evidence that Edwards was actually visiting Hunter at the hotel," says a political reporter at the Huffington Post. (Evidently, Fox News' independent corroboration of the account via an anonymous hotel security guard doesn't prove anything beyond all reasonable doubt.) "If they have them, what reason could they possibly have for not having released them by now?" Perel denied that releasing incriminating pics at this juncture would buttress his publication's story. "We spent seven months reporting this out, and ended up nailing him with a time and a date and everything," he says. "And then had someone else confirm it. There's a bigger story at play, and we think we'll be better off putting them out there later."
But you do have photos from the night in question, right? "Yes, definitely."
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/07/where-are-the-john-edwards-photos.php
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