John Edwards Denies One-Nighter with Call Girl, No One Believes Him

At her bail hearing a week ago in New York, Anna Gristina had a resolute look about her. She’d spent the past couple of weeks at Rikers Island weighing her options. She’s facing charges of promoting prostitution after a five-year investigation uncovered the high class escort business she was running out of a Manhattan Upper East Side apartment.

Allegations that the 44-year-old suburban mother of four had bragged that she had contacts in law enforcement who tipped her about raids has resulted in pressure from the Manhattan district attorney’s office to leverage every method possible to further the investigation into police corruption, but the Millionaire Madam is proving difficult to work with.

At her arraignment on February 23, Gristina pleaded not guilty. Now, it seems she may be considering changing her tune and pleading guilty to avoid having to give specifics about the $15 million pleasure empire she built to investigators — including naming those who used her services.

But that seems to have been of no help to former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who has nevertheless been incriminated in the investigation. According to Manhattan’s DNAInfo, during the drawn-out investigation, one of the Madam’s girls disclosed that Edwards had had a one-nighter with her while he was in the Big Apple in 2007 raising money for his presidential campaign. She provided a very detailed account of the tryst and investigators found her claim credible, especially after substantiating that Edwards was in New York at the time the woman claimed to have indulged him.

The Edwards camp was quick to issue a statement in response, saying: “Mr. Edwards categorically denies that he was involved with any prostitute or service.” His attorney called the allegations defamatory and demanded a retraction. DNAInfo, however, is not budging.

Edwards’ credibility is not hard to question, considering the way his affair with Rielle Hunter played out. He denied the allegations of that affair and the resulting child, constructing an elaborate house of cards that eventually fell apart around him. In the case of the allegations relating to the Millionaire Madam scandal, however, charges are unlikely because it is so difficult to prove that money was exchanged for the purpose of sex.