US News

JOHN AIDE A ‘BORN’ LOYALIST

Andrew Young loves John Edwards almost as much as he does his wife and kids – and the former presidential campaign aide wouldn’t hesitate to lie about fathering a child with the Democratic pol’s mistress to cover for him, friends of the suspected “fall guy” said yesterday.

“I believe he would say it’s his child for his buddy,” said a former neighbor of Young. “I think his loyalty to Edwards is very strong. He was just part of his team.”

She called Young “a very sweet guy . . . who was “very loyal and dedicated to his family – and to Edwards.”

Young, who has three children by his wife, last month said he also is responsible for the baby born Feb. 27 to Rielle Hunter, the former Edwards campaign videographer.

At the time, the single Hunter and the married Edwards were adamantly denying that they had an affair – let alone that Edwards, an ex-North Carolina senator, was the baby’s real daddy.

Last Friday, Edwards finally confessed he cheated on his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth – but again denied he was the father of Frances Quinn Hunter. Rielle listed no father by name on the birth certificate.

But former neighbors in Raleigh yesterday were deeply skeptical that Young, 42, would have cheated on his wife, Cheri.

The Youngs “seemed to be crazy about their kids and crazy about each other,” said Carolyn Grissom, who bought the Youngs’ Raleigh home for $1.2 million in early 2007.

“Edwards needs to come out and tell the truth,” said another neighbor. “He shouldn’t let his friend Andrew take the blame for him.”

The neighbor called Cheri Young “beautiful” and said, “There’s no way she’d agree to letting him stay with her if” he actually fathered Hunter’s baby.

The Youngs “seemed very close, and they both love their children,” another neighbor said.

But that neighbor also noted that when Young worked on Edwards’ 2004 vice-presidential campaign, “He was like a big celebrity around here. Everyone was star-struck.”

The neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said he strongly suspects that Young now is showing his deep loyalty to Edwards, 55, by falsely claiming paternity of Hunter’s child. Young has worked for Edwards since the former trial lawyer ran for the US Senate in 1998.

Rielle Hunter, 44, lived in a Chapel Hill, NC, home in the same gated community where the Youngs resided after they moved from Raleigh.

Both she and the Youngs, who are still together, reportedly moved out of their homes early this year – after a report that she was pregnant.

The Youngs, Rielle Hunter and the baby ended up living together in the same house in Santa Barbara, Calif. They were moved there at the expense of former Edwards campaign finance boss Fred Baron. Hunter moved to another home in Santa Barbara after clashing with Cheri Young.

Baron reportedly has paid Andrew $20,000 per month out of his own pocket, and another $15,000 per month to Hunter. Young earned only about $42,000 annually working on Edwards’ campaign, according to records.

Both Hunter and the Youngs disappeared from their homes last week as Edwards prepared to admit his infidelity.

Court records show that when he was in his early 20s, Young was busted for writing a worthless check, burglary and criminal mischief, and also began receiving what became a slew of traffic violations over two decades.

In 1997, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated and resisting a public officer.

In September 2006, a month after being convicted of possessing beer on city property, and two months after being assaulted in a Raleigh bar, Young again was arrested for DWI.

A substance-abuse counselor that month wrote Young’s lawyer, saying that her assessment of Young “found some evidence of alcohol abuse,” records show.

Young pleaded guilty to the DWI in October 2007, was placed on probation and surrendered his driver’s license. Last week, a North Carolina judge granted his request to perform his 24 hours of community service in California.

The National Enquirer yesterday reported that Edwards – after telling ABC News last week that he never loved Hunter – called her and said, “Of course I love you. Don’t worry, we’ll get through this.”

The Enquirer also reported that Elizabeth Edwards learned of the affair after a campaign worker in 2006 walked in on “John and Rielle . . . having an intimate moment” in a hotel room.

Elizabeth Edwards, 59, became “furious” after someone tipped her off about her cheating hubby, who confessed to her only after she confronted him, the weekly reported.

People magazine reported that John Edwards admitted to the affair in installments – “He told the truth slowly,” said a source – and only after announcing he was running for president at the end of 2006.

Elizabeth felt “excruciating anguish,” her best friend Hargrave, McElroy, told People. “She was angry and furious and everything, but at one point, she had to make a choice: Do I kick him out, or do we have a 30-year marriage that can be rebuilt?”

Elizabeth’s cancer “forced her to choose whether to move forward,” her brother, Jay Anania, told the magazine.

People also reported that it was Elizabeth who pushed John to publicly admit his adultery, but now is devastated that his confession has made him “a pariah,” according to McElroy.

lorena.mongelli@nypost.com