If you’ve been following the John Edwards/Rielle Hunter scandal, by now you’ve heard of Fred Baron. He’s the former Edwards campaign finance chair who says he’s been paying for Rielle’s rent, transcontinental moves, and other living expenses, as well as those of Andrew Young and his family, since the story first broke in the National Enquirer last October. But the reason he’s been laying out at least $30,000 a month (allegedly) is not to cover up anybody’s affair or illegitimate child. He didn’t even know about any of that! No, he’s been acting purely out of sympathy for Andy & Rielle’s plight as victims of the tabloid press. Sure, why not set them up in a $3 million mansion in Santa Barbara out of the kindness of his own heart?

If Fred Baron wants people to think he’s a naive moron who’ll throw huge wads of his own money — certainly not campaign funds! — at any sob story that comes down the pike, that’s his business. But it certainly is tough to reconcile that image with his history as a savvy lawyer and political operative.

According to Baron’s Wikipedia entry, which as of this writing has not yet been deleted, he’s “one of America’s most prominent trial lawyers” and former president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. And Wikipedia says this about his Dallas law firm, Baron & Budd (slogan: “Protecting What’s Right™”):

One academic estimated that Baron & Budd, along with Ness Motley, was one of two firms responsible for half of the hundreds of thousands of asbestos litigation claimants in the country.[2] Baron successfully convinced the United States Supreme Court to de-certify nationwide asbestos class action settlements involving future claims of people who are not yet ill, but who may later develop asbestos-related illnesses.[3] The decertification addressed the problem that asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma (a fatal cancer of the lining of the lung), have a latency period of 20-40 years from the date of exposure.[3]

I’m no lawyer, but I’d think a guy who could accomplish something like that would have to be pretty darn crafty!

In addition to his law career, Baron has been very active in politics as a fundraiser for the Edwards campaign and others. From Wikipeda again:

Baron has joked about the prominence he and other trial lawyers have in the Democratic Party. In a July 2002 speech, he noted a Wall Street Journal editorial that said that “the plaintiffs bar is all but running the Senate.” Baron pointed to the editorial and said, “Now I really, strongly disagree with that. Particularly the ‘all but.’”[7]

But now he’s an innocent naif who’s blundered into the middle of a huge sex scandal with strong hints of a shadowy coverup and financial chicanery? Hey, anything’s possible.

Interesting side note: According to Valleywag, Fred Baron is the father of Andrew Baron, co-founder of the popular(?) video blog Rocketboom. Fred provided the seed money for the project (over $800,000), and then sued his own son for repayment. Talk about tough love! But if nothing else, at least the Barons are responsible for introducing these to the world:

And here’s another odd coincidence: Check out former Rocketboomer Amanda Congdon giddily interviewing none other than… John Edwards! As he pointed out back in ‘06: “Communication over the Internet is becoming increasingly important.” Which makes it all the more odd that Edwards-related material keeps disappearing from the Internet. Apparently, the “back-and-forth interactivity” and “direct access to people without being filtered through the media” that Edwards spoke about can go only so far. So be sure to watch that video before it disappears too.

Updates:

• According to the NY Post, “friends of Andrew Young” say he’s a loyal enough guy to try to cover for Edwards. More importantly, I just realized who should play Young in the TV movie:

  

  Uncanny! And, I’m guessing, affordable.

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