Lawsuit seeks to preserve Palin e-mails
6 days ago
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A critic of Gov. Sarah Palin is suing to try to force preservation of any government-related e-mails that Palin sent from private accounts.
Andree McLeod, a former state worker, filed the lawsuit against Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, in Anchorage on Thursday. Palin's gubernatorial spokeswoman did not immediate respond to a message left Saturday by The Associated Press seeking comment.
Palin's e-mail account with Yahoo Inc. was compromised last month by a hacker who revealed as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.
Palin used "gov.sarah" in one of the Yahoo e-mail addresses she sometimes used to conduct state business. The hacker targeted her separate "gov.palin" account. Both have been shut down.
The hacking of Palin's private account is significant because Palin has sometimes used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business. Previously disclosed e-mails indicate her administration embraced Yahoo accounts as an alternative to government e-mail, which could possibly be released to the public under Alaska's Open Records Act.
"Palin's decision to conduct state business in such an unprofessional and secretive manner suggests that her promise to have an ethical, open, honest and transparent administration is pure bogus," McLeod said in a statement Saturday.
"Equally troubling is the fact that most of Palin's private e-mail accounts have recently been shut down," she said. "I'm seeking the court's help by requesting them to tell the governor to obey Alaska's public record laws."
McLeod also has submitted an open records request with the state of Alaska seeking copies from Palin's private e-mail accounts as well as one belonging to her husband, Todd. AP has submitted similar requests.
In August, McLeod filed an ethics complaint with the attorney general's office against Palin and members of her staff, accusing them of giving a state job to a man who held a fundraiser for Palin.
McLeod has said she worked for the state at various times over decades, the last time after an appointment by then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, whom Palin defeated in the GOP primary in 2006.
Associated Press _________________ Blame it on a simple twist of fate. ~ Bob Dylan
It disturbs me on two levels. First, I don't like the idea of the government going through private e-mails on private e-mail accounts. Second, the fact that she was doing something illegal and the Repubilicans are going to weasel their way out of it is even more disturbing.
On a side note, I find hacking disturbing, also. _________________ Blame it on a simple twist of fate. ~ Bob Dylan
They aren't private emails, they're government emails which are publicly available information and the reason why conducting government business via private channels is against the law - there's no accountability.
This is a step to restore the accountability. Palin waived any such right to privacy on her palin.gov@yahoo email accounts when she broke the law and used them for government business. The Bush administration did the exact same thing last year but it went largely unreported. _________________
so it's illegal...you're pretty much confirming that this news is disturbing. and your last point was disturbing as well. _________________ They say home is where the heart is, so your real home's in your chest. --Captain Hammer
"Equally troubling is the fact that most of Palin's private e-mail accounts have recently been shut down,"
I don't like that the government is going through private e-mail accounts because they suspect her doing work related business on there... the only reason they are going through it now is because of the hacking. Had she not been hacked, she would have continued using this Yahoo account...
I don't think what she did was "secretive," but it was, apparently, wrong and obviously unprofessional.
The whole thing is disturbing on many levels.
And, yes, of course she will get away with it. She's Joe six-pack, they love her. _________________ Blame it on a simple twist of fate. ~ Bob Dylan
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