Rielle Hunter on CNN to talk about affair with John Edwards that led to hush-money case

Politics is riddled with scandals. And North Carolina has not been immune: the extramarital affair and ensuing hush-money trial of former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John Edwards captured the country’s attention.

And this local history will be revisited this Sunday at 9 p.m. in a new CNN limited series, “United States of Scandal,” that looks into “some of the most outrageous and iconic political controversies of the modern era,” according to CNN’s website.

This Sunday’s episode will feature a “candid conversation” between the show’s host, Jake Tapper, and Rielle Hunter — the former paramour of Edwards with whom he had a child, which he initially denied.

According to People magazine, which obtained a preview of this episode, Hunter will share how she met Edwards at a New York City bar and detail their first conversation.

And in case you missed this chapter in our state’s history or need a refresher, we’ve got you covered.

Death of Edwards’ teenage son, presidential defeat and wife’s cancer

Edwards was born in 1953 in Seneca, South Carolina, but grew up in Robbins, North Carolina.

The self-described “son of a millworker,” he was the first in his family to obtain a college degree, receiving a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1977.

While there, he met and married fellow law student Elizabeth Anania Edwards.

He flourished as a trial attorney, recognized nationwide, having won a record $25 million settlement for a 9-year-old girl injured in a swimming pool accident. But tragedy struck when the Edwards’ teenage son, Wade, died in a car accident in 1996.

After this, he channeled himself into Democratic politics and two years later, he was elected to his first political office as the U.S. senator from North Carolina.

In 2003, he launched a presidential bid but was unsuccessful, dropping his campaign and joining Sen. John Kerry’s bid as his vice-presidential running mate.

They lost to former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney, who were reelected. The day after his defeat, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Second run, denial of child and federal investigation

In 2006 he launched another presidential bid but was largely overshadowed by Hillary Clinton, battling to be the first female president, and Barack Obama, who became the first Black president.

While he was campaigning, reports came out that Edwards was having an affair with an unnamed woman despite his wife’s cancer, which had been deemed incurable.

He denied this affair but by early 2008, his story began to unravel. Soon Hunter, who had previously worked for Edwards as a videographer, was named as the potential lover. She gave birth to a daughter, Frances Quinn, that year.

By August, Edwards had admitted to his affair with Hunter but denied the child was his, with his longtime aide, Andrew Young, claiming paternity for some time.

That same month, Frederick Baron, Edwards’ campaign finance chairman, told NBC News that he had been providing financial assistance, not through campaign funds, to Hunter and Young without Edwards’ knowledge.

In October, Baron died of cancer complications. Throughout 2008, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, a 99-year-old heiress, gave millions to groups tied to Edwards.

The following year, Edwards acknowledged he was facing a federal investigation into his campaign finances over whether he orchestrated payments to conceal Hunter and their baby.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 3, 2011, on six felony charges. Prosecutors said he used nearly $1 million in illegal campaign donations.

While this investigation was ongoing, his personal life remained in the limelight, with Edwards eventually admitting to the paternity of Hunter’s daughter and divorcing Elizabeth.

He also faced another scandal, this time over a videotape in possession of Young which allegedly contained images of Hunter and Edwards having sex. This lead to a civil suit by Hunter against Young, after which the tape, and any copies, were ordered destroyed.

In the midst of all this, Elizabeth died of cancer in December 2011, writing Edwards out of her will days before she died.

In May 2012, a North Carolina jury in the federal trial found Edwards not guilty on one of the charges — that he received hundreds of thousand of dollars from Mellon to cover the affair — and deadlocked on the remaining charges. This led the judge to declare a mistrial on those counts. The case was not retried.

After this, Edwards left politics and largely remained out of the public eye. He currently is a founding partner and attorney at Edwards Kirby, a prominent personal injury law firm.

Hunter’s Instagram account features pictures of her daughter participating in horseback-riding contests.