Home Is Where the Hypocrisy Is

Coming on the heels of the recent revelations that The Breck Girl had taken money from a Rupert Murdoch company comes this latest news that his daughter was also handsomely rewarded by Murdoch money.

Edwards daughter received Murdoch money

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards recently defended taking a lucrative book contract from a publisher controlled by Rupert Murdoch -- whose News Corp. empire Edwards has sharply criticized -- by insisting that "every dime" of his $500,000 advance went to charity.

Left unmentioned by Edwards, however, was that Murdoch's HarperCollins paid portions of a $300,000 expense budget for the book to Edwards?s daughter and to a senior political aide, Jonathan Prince.

The sums paid to Cate Edwards and Prince, who are listed as co-authors on the little-noticed 2006 coffee table book, "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives," have not been made public, but were confirmed by two sources with first-hand knowledge of the book deal.

These and other details of the deal that have spilled out in recent weeks demonstrate both the complexity of Edwards' transformation into an anti-corporate crusader, and of Murdoch's double role as a corporate titan and political player.

Expect more mealy-mouthed doubletalk from Edwards, his flacks, or the one who wears the pants in the family, his obnoxious wife.

Not that he still has much of a chance for the Democrat nomination, but he may want to disclose exactly what he took from any Murdoch companies before he's buried completely.

A News Corp. executive would not speak on the record, but said the arrangement demonstrates that Edwards' opposition to media consolidation, and to the conservative Fox News Channel, is a newfound political stance.

"My guess is he had no reservations about doing business with us, just as he had no reservations about appearing dozens of times on Fox News or putting his website up on MySpace," said the executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

News Corp. is holding back an additional card to play against Edwards: It hasn't released the details of the book's expenses, but presumably could.

UPDATE: More from Michelle Malkin.