John Edwards Made Sex Tape, Abortion Plea, Aide Says

Edwards believed it was a one-in-three chance the baby was his, says aide.

ByABC News
January 28, 2010, 12:27 PM

Jan. 28, 2010— -- Former John Edwards' aide Andrew Young, who covered up the Democratic presidential candidate's affair, said when he cleaned up his house after his role in the cover-up ended he found one more shocker.

"There was one tape that was marked 'special,'" Young told ABC News' Bob Woodruff in an exclusive interview. "It's a sex tape of Rielle and John Edwards made just a couple of months before the Iowa caucuses."

Though Young never saw the woman's face in the tape, he said she was "visibly pregnant" and was "wearing a bracelet" and a "thumb ring" typically worn by Rielle Hunter.

"It's her jewelry," Andrew Young's wife, Cheri, told ABC News. "It could be on another woman with the same jewelry."

Young gives his account of the sex scandal and the elaborate cover-up for the Democratic presidential candidate in a new tell-all book titled, "The Politician," which will be released Jan. 30.

He details how he and wife Cheri briefly returned to Raleigh, N.C., in July 2008 to clear out the house where Hunter had briefly lived before their December 2007 escape from the media. Young claims they found a box Hunter had left behind, which included some videotapes, in a pile of trash.

"It [the tape] was cut and pulled ... out," Cheri Young told ABC News, "We... taped it back together and we played it."

ABC News has learned that Hunter filed for a temporary restraining order that seeks to prohibit Andrew and Cheri Young from possessing and distributing photos or video that she contends are her property.

Young, who had worked for Edwards since his 1998 Senate win, said he was absolutely sure it was his boss in the tape.

"It's definitely him. You never see her face. But you see -- you clearly see his face for a long time. And I can't speak for the other body parts, but it's definitely his face," Young told ABC News.

Watch "20/20" and "Nightline" Friday, Jan. 29 to see Andrew Young's exclusive interview. Then tune in to "Good Morning America" Monday, Feb. 1, when Young will appear for his first live interview. Visit the "20/20" Web site at ABCNews.com all week for more on Young's account of the sex scandal.

The Youngs said they were "aghast" by the contents and the thoughtlessness of leaving it in a house that was on the market.

"It's amazing the tape exists. ... But to leave it in a house that's for sale -- where Realtors are going to be coming through it -- and leave it there for eight months -- is unbelievable," Young said.

By that point, Young's relationship with Edwards was rapidly deteriorating, and he said he believed that the tape was an important chip against his boss.

"We felt like we finally had something that completely corroborated what we said," Young told ABC News.

Young justified his actions, writing how he made plans to secure the tapes and leave copies with his lawyer should anything happen to him.

"We weren't going to use it in any nefarious way, but I planned to deposit a copy in a safe-deposit box and place at least one other with an attorney with instructions to make it public, if necessary, should anything suspicious befall us," Young wrote. "I had read enough John Grisham novels to think that ... sometimes powerful, rich people don't always play by the rules. And we were scared."