Rielle Hunter's publicist friend says: John Edwards is lying

CBS News did an interview this morning with Pigeon O'Brien, a publicist (this is her firm) who claimed to be a friend of John Edwards' mistress Rielle (pronounced Ree-ELLE) Hunter for 20 years, and who says now that Edwards is "lying" about the timeline of his affair with Hunter.

Well, you saw it coming, didn't you?

The relevant excerpt and video are below. It happened on the CBS "Early Show" with Maggie Rodriguez interviewing her.

Pigeon -- which is the second strangest O'Brien first name I've heard, just ahead of Conan and just behind Soledad -- isn't exactly an insider with Hunter these days. She cut her off when she went to work for Edwards, with whom she'd be having an affair for months (Edwards has claimed it didn't start until she joined the campaign). On the other hand, it's not shocking that a woman carrying on an extramarital affair should be isolated from her friends, especially if her VIP lover is telling her to keep quiet about it.

If you're new here, I've been chiming in for most of the past two weeks urging my colleagues in the mainstream media to pursue this story because, frankly, it's news. Really interesting news. Certainly a lot more interesting than the game of "my celebrity is smaller than your celebrity" that the presidential contenders are playing right now.

• Here I argued that John Edwards is sabotaging his wife's health-care agenda with his extramarital mess.

• And here I weighed in on how John and Elizabeth could spin a positive out of the negative.

That's my angle. For more thorough reporting, Deceiver has lots of details and links, and updates the story constantly.

Anyway, here's the video and the excerpt. Just for fun, I've included a picture of Pigeon O'Brien from the SXSW music festival earlier this year. (She's posing with musician Sam Baker.) By the way, you should watch the video because the excerpt makes O'Brien seem less credible than she appears on TV. I know that sounds weird - basically I'm telling you the image she projects is more persuasive than the actual substance of her message makes her seem. But that's television for you.

RODRIGUEZ: She told you it started in February or March of 2006.

Ms. O'BRIEN: Yes.

RODRIGUEZ: He says it started five months later when his campaign hired her.

Ms. O'BRIEN: Yeah, that's not true. That's not true. It started in the winter of '06. They became involved at that point, not later in the summer when she was hired to work for the political action committee.

RODRIGUEZ: It started in the winter of '06?

Ms. O'BRIEN: Correct.

[...]

RODRIGUEZ: Do you think that John Edwards is the father of her daughter?

Ms. O'BRIEN: I do.

RODRIGUEZ: Why?

Ms. O'BRIEN: I don't see any other explanation. She would not have a child with someone that she didn't love, and she loves him.

RODRIGUEZ: She's still in love with him. Does she think this is going to work out?

Ms. O'BRIEN: I believe she hopes it will. I belive she hopes it will.

RODRIGUEZ: Do you think she will continue to pursue it?

Ms. O'BRIEN: I'm not sure that she has pursued it. I think it's been mutual. I can't stress that enough. I think she will continue to have love for this person and feel that she is in a relationship with him as he has led her to believe.

RODRIGUEZ: Despite the fact that he has a wife? Has she even mentioned Elizabeth Edwards?

Ms. O'BRIEN: Yes. Mm-hmm.

RODRIGUEZ: What are her feelings when she thinks of Elizabeth Edwards?

Ms. O'BRIEN: Well, she knows how committed--it's hard to miss how committed the Edwardses are to one another and how central role Elizabeth plays in Mr. Edwards' life, so she's aware of him as a married man and as a partner in this very profound relationship. And she talked sometimes about those things. She's very aware of it. There are other circumstances--their affair, their connection, their love--that seemed to make it OK and comfortable for her to pursue the make with him. From the outside it doesn't look like we would make those same choices; she was comfortable making those choices and confident in those choices.

RODRIGUEZ: All right, Pigeon O'Brien, thank you.

Ms. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

RODRIGUEZ: Appreciate your time.