Feb 05, 2010

MSNBC: Alaska e-mails show Todd Palin deeply involved in state matters

11:00 AM
By Andy King, AP

MSNBC says newly released e-mails from Alaska show that Todd Palin, husband of former governor Sarah Palin, was actively involved in a range of state matters such as judicial appointments and contract negotiations with employee unions and even added his approval or disapproval to state board appointments.

Click here to read the full report and to find links to the emails.

MSNBC says the e-mails, released to the news organization under the public records law, "open a curtain on the behind-the-scenes preoccupations of the Palins, particularly the flash points of family and the media, personal finances and state finances."

MSNBC says that, among other things, the emails show:

The governor coached her staff on how to disguise the amount of electrical work needed at the mansion to hook up her new tanning bed.
Palin and her staff "stewed" over a state agency's refusal to provide a plane so their children could fly to Todd's family's home in Dillingham even though the Palins said it could be justified since they were going to attend a bill signing. Sarah Palin called the decision "outrageous," and an aide said it provides "a great excuse to privatize" the governor's jet service.

The manager of the Palins' travel schedule searched for a public event to use as justification ("I just need one") to charge the state for an airplane flight for Palin's daughter, Willow, who made the trip but had missed the event given as its justification.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... -matters/1