The National Enquirer has been doggedly pursuing their claim that John Edwards had an affair and subsequent love child with documentarian Rielle Hunter. The story flared up in October of last year, when the Huffington Post also joined in on the speculation, but has died down since then. With Edwards's withdrawal from the Democratic presidential primary in January, we haven't heard a word about it (from anyone other than the Enquirer, at least) in months. But the tabloid's editors must be really annoyed that they didn't manage to push the story into the mainstream media, because they've apparently had reporters following Hunter and her baby around ever since and now claim to have finally caught Edwards trying to meet up with her. According to their report, they watched Edwards slip into the Beverly Hilton last night (where Hunter had two rooms rented under a friend's name) around 9 p.m. When he emerged, at nearly 3 a.m., the Enquirer reporters pounced — and began to literally chase Edwards around the hotel. Writer Alan Butterfield says he confronted Edwards in the basement as he was exiting (notably not though the lobby), and this is what he says happened next:

Shocked to see a reporter, and without saying anything, Edwards ran up the stairs leading from the hotel basement to the lobby. But, spotting a photographer, he doubled back into the basement. As he emerged from the stairwell, reporter Butterfield questioned him about his hookup with Reille.

Edwards did not answer and then ran into a nearby restroom. He stayed inside for about 15 minutes, refusing to answer questions from the NATIONAL ENQUIRER about what he was doing in the hotel. A group of hotel security men eventually escorted him from the men's room, while preventing the NATIONAL ENQUIRER reporters from following him out of the hotel.

Butterfield also noted: "Some guests up at this late hour watched the spectacle in amusement from a staircase nearby." It's a tragedy they weren't quoted, because the view from an outsider of this particular scene, whatever it was in reality, must have been priceless.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS CAUGHT WITH MISTRESS AND LOVE CHILD! [National Enquirer]
Related: John Edwards's Docudrama: The Anatomy of Innuendo