John Edwards Scandal: Andrew Young Offered 'Gigantic' Sum for Sex Tape

Andrew Young tells "GMA" he feared for his life after sex scandal cover-up.

ByABC News via logo
February 1, 2010, 7:02 AM

Feb. 1, 2010— -- The former John Edwards aide who claims to have a sex tape of the one-time presidential candidate and his pregnant mistress said he'd been offered a "gigantic" amount of money to sell it.

Young also told "Good Morning America" today that after he broke with Edwards, tensions over the cover-up got so heated that he feared for his family's safety.

"For several months, I used to get up at 3 a.m. and walk around the house with a baseball bat and a knife," he said. During that time, Young said he had his three young children sleep with him and his wife.

That fear, he said, peaked during a car ride "out in the middle of nowhere" with Edwards. During that ride, "all I could think about was Vince Foster," Young said, referring to the former aide to President Clinton who committed suicide in a Washington, D.C., park. Foster's death has been the subject of conspiracy theorists who speculated that he was killed to cover up a White House scandal.

"Did I think Edwards was capable? No," Young said. "But was I scared, genuinely scared, for me and my family."

The most titillating revelation in Young's book, however, remains the existence of a sex tape that Edwards and his lover Rielle Hunter reputedly made together. While Hunter's face isn't seen in the video, Cheri Young said bracelets and a thumb ring that belonged to Hunter are visible in the video.

"I think it's a shame people are focusing on this. I couldn't have told this story without including the sex tape," Young told "GMA." "We've been offered gigantic amounts of money. And we've said no."

Young didn't say who offered to pay for the video, but it's apparently in demand. Hunter has won a temporary restraining order preventing Young from distributing photos and the sex tape, saying they belong to her.

Young told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that he "truly doesn't understand" what Hunter is asking for.

"I'm not clear anything she's asking for is hers," Young said.

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