AP Refuses To Comply With Secret Service Request On Sarah Palin's Hacked E-Mails

WASHINGTON -- Hackers broke into the Yahoo! e-mail account that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used for official business as Alaska's governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.

"This is a shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them," the McCain campaign said in a statement.

The Secret Service contacted The Associated Press on Wednesday and asked for copies of the leaked e-mails, which circulated widely on the Internet. The AP did not comply.

The disclosure Wednesday raises new questions about the propriety of the Palin administration's use of nongovernment e-mail accounts to conduct state business. The practice was revealed months ago _ prior to Palin's selection as a vice presidential candidate _ after political critics obtained internal e-mails documenting the practice by some aides.

One person whose e-mail to Palin apparently was among those disclosed, Amy B. McCorkell, declined to discuss her correspondence. "I do not know anything about it," McCorkell said. "I'm not giving you any comment." Wired.com said McCorkell later confirmed that she did send the e-mail to Palin.

Another of the e-mails apparently revealed Wednesday was an exchange in July with Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell discussing a talk show host who had been critical of Parnell. Parnell declined to discuss the matter.

Palin herself used "gov.sarah" in one of her e-mail addresses, but the hackers targeted her "gov.palin" account. Her husband used "fek9wnr" in his address. "Fe" is the representation for iron, and "k9" is an abbreviation for canine. Todd Palin was the winner of the grueling Iron Dog snowmobile race, and "fek9wnr" also is Todd Palin's vehicle license tag in Alaska.

It wasn't immediately clear how hackers broke into Palin's Yahoo! account, but it would have been possible to trick the service into revealing her password knowing personal details about Palin that include her birthdate and ZIP code. A hacker also might have sent a forged e-mail to her account tricking her into revealing her own password.

McCorkell was appointed by Palin to an advisory board on issues involving alcohol and drug abuse. One of the leaked e-mails suggested McCorkell wrote to Palin on Sunday to say she was praying for Palin. "Don't let the negative press get you down!" the message said.

Comments

[samandally]

I'm sure all you Huffington Haters will be able to justify this. I didn't think you all could go any lower , boy was I wrong.

[bannorhill]

So it is not OK to tap into known terrorist's e-mail but it is OK to tap into a private citizens e-mail. You would feel differently if it was Obama's or Biden's e-mail.

This is just a 21st century version of the Watergate break in except this time a Republican is the victim not a Democrat. With Watergate no one blamed the Democrat Party for the break in because they did not have good enough locks on their doors. This time the media blames Sarah for not having good enough "locks" on her e-mail system.

In both cases the blame belongs on the criminals not the victim.

[queotic]

Why was Palin using a private account for public affairs? If she had been using an official email, she wouldn't have been hacked. Bush's Whitehouse "accidently" loses tens of thousands of emails and Palin tries to hide them. How about demanding accountability from our politicians?

[bannorhill]

Don't forget Hillary losing the subpoenaed Whitewater records for a year. Let's demand accountability from her too.

[bannorhill]

So she was trying to hide her private e-mails. Have Obama or Biden released all their private e-mails? They must be hiding them!!!

[mlaiuppa]

One must question the judgment of any government official that uses a non-government account to do business.

Yahoo, google, hotmail, etc are NOT secure.

[kace]

BUT, if this were Michelle Obama's account, there would be outrage. This is a simple case of hypocrisy. You don't want the privacy of terrorists to be violated, but I guess it is alright to violate Sarah Palin's privacy. It sounds liket the end justifies the means.

[crushedcookies]

What the hell does Mrs. Obama have to do with this? She's not running for VP!!! Get over her...a violation of anyone's privacy is just cause for outrage, dummy.

[LoyalJane]

Yes there would be outrage if Michelle was a gonvernor and using her private email for state business. You are correct. The Republicans would be crying off with her head!

[Egalitare]

She was counting on "hiding in plain sight." No one would have THOUGHT to hack that email if they weren't clued in by "First Dude" being cc:ed on official business.

[Marichu]

Hacking into anyone's personal e-mail account is unethical. Breaking the law is a nonpartisan issue. If the hacker was trying to find some impropriety, he/she went about it the wrong way. And if this person found any incriminating information, how much, if any, would be considered admissible due to the method employed obtaining it.

[brokenSoldier]

Admissibility is not an issue, though. The hacker's intent - I surmise - was to expose her deception to the voters and show her tendencies in governance. In that, he or she succeeded.

[Marichu]

Are you saying that in this case two wrongs equal a right?

[wdw101]

yes he succeeded......he will have a criminal record.......and he has given palin an out......as he contaminated her emails

[Ramirez]

I think you meant "inadmissible" and not admissible. Fruit of the poison tree, etc.

But the legality is not the point. The goal is to inflict political damage and create talking points for political opponents.

[Marichu]

No, I meant admissible. By that I meant if there was some incrimination information, how much if any was good evidence.

[wdw101]

fruit of the poisonous tree

[Marichu]

It would be fruit of the poisonous tree if the tainted information was transferred from one government agency to another. This was a person.

[MizFlagPin]

Yup, yup

[YellaDawg]

Who cares about getting this stuff admitted as evidence in a court case that won't even start until after the Nov. election? We're talking about getting this information on "Nightline" to expose her criminal behavior to voters BEFORE the election!

[kittycago]

So what the Pailn's personal e-mail got hacked into?We all deal with that.If it was state business she should be on a secure state website.As for AP refusing to comply?Good job AP! If Todd and Sarah Palin can ignore supeonas why the hell should AP comply with a request.

[Ramirez]

Your premise is that Palin was using her yahoo account for state business.

However the AP found no "state business" on Palin's yahoo emails.

[TommyMcCarthy]

Ms. Palins personal E-Mail should remain private........ given.

The "premise" however is contained in the second sentence of "kittycago"'s comment ....I think.

I wonder.....things are slowing down an AWFUL lot where I work.

If I get into something shady...... can I ignore requests from investigators and even supoenas? No?...... What if I tell them I'm a republican? I can? Oh good! That's a great relief, just in case.
tm

[Tennwoman]

Ah, come on! Does anyone really think Palin would have saved government emails sent to her personal account? The only reason she used her personal account for any government business was to get around the FOI Act. She used her Yahoo account to keep secrets from the citizens she was elected to govern. I don't think she's the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she's ambitious and politically savvy. There's no way she'd have let incriminating email linger in that Yahoo account, and especially not after she was named McCain's running mate.

[Palinisajoke]

How convenient is it that Palin's private email is hacked? Now, when her personal email account is subpoenaed in the "Troopergate" investigation, she can claim it has been compromised and deny anything found to be incriminating or inappropriate. Even better for Republicans, the alleged hacker is the son of a Democratic State Rep from Tennessee (yeah, forget about a skilled hacker being able to frame someone else!). Not to mention, poor Sarah Palin is once again a victim!

Bravo! The Republicans are smarter than I thought! (Or maybe just more conniving!)

Enough with the lies, cover-ups, and abuse of power! Vote Obama/Biden in '08!!

[wdw101]

what abuse of power, i will not employ someone that i hate.......i will find a reason to fire them........i don't blame her.......i would fire him too

[ibsteve2u]

"It wasn't immediately clear how hackers broke into Palin's Yahoo! account"

It was probably easy to guess. Something like:

"LawsAreFo­rLittlePeo­ple" or "ThankGodA­mericansAr­eStupid", or maybe "IhopeMcCa­inDoesntLi­veTooLongA­fterTheEle­ction".

[DavidBlackburn]

At least we know that McCain didn't do it. Yahoo who?

[DavidBlackburn]

I hope someone will eventually evaluate Governor Palin's naivety in using simple passwords on non-secured servers for official government business. Do you think she can protect the country when she can't even protect her e-mail account and official business of the State of Alaska???

[ZDuck]

Hey AP, just pull the Palin's won't respond to the subpeona trick.

[Hirnlego]

With all the government snooping on people and total information awareness being worked on I kind of enjoy that it goes the other way at times.

[70sFez]

Me too. What goes around comes around.

[kace]

Ignorance is bliss.

[luvronpaul]

Karma is a bizzzz-itch

[FirstShirt]

"The disclosure Wednesday raises new questions about the propriety of the Palin administration's use of nongovernment e-mail ..."

No, the disclosure reveals a democrat who was using information and identities of innocent family members for who knows what purpose.

It was a felony. Get it? An attack on the privacy of an email account.

Now, when we find the perpertrator, and they will, he will be charged and convicted.

If you know this guy you might suggest he request an absentee ballot.

[Graywolf48]

Republicans break the law, ignore subpoenas, refuse to produce emails and other "official" public records all the time. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. I hope they don't catch him. I hope the emails are made public and if great damage is done to Palin and McCain, so be it. Your outrage is laughable. There are no private emails, or anything else on the internet. Bush has seen to that. Bush and his minions can read anyone's email at any time for any reason as well as listening in to your phone conversation and reading your text messages, whether related to "national security" or not. That's a fact of life in the GOP's America. Emails are fair game, and unless they're "official government communications" and properly encrypted using government servers they're fair game to any computer geek with the desire to read them. But of course for you, the sin here is it was "a democrat" and those people are to be held accountable whereas Republicans can break any law they please without prosecution or explanation. Go have another sip of koolaid.

[MainSpark]

Excellent post, GW! It was almost as if I'd written it...I sure as hell thought it.

[FirstShirt]

Then arrest them and prosecute them. Talk. All you democrats do, when you aren't wringing you hands in angst.

[Granmapat]

I second the comment Excellent Post!!

[milo h minderbinder]

Quit pretending it's OK for a government official to use unsecure public email to do official government business and put the public at risk.

And the investigation is still underway - they'll announce who did it once they have evidence to back it up.

It's funny how you say it "reveals a democrat" and then you turn around and say "when we find the perpetrator". Let's hear it for guilty until proven innocent.

[FirstShirt]

We all know it. You know it. It is in the media already.

[Squigibo]

But that's the republican motto..... Just ask GWB. Everybody's guilty, we just have to find a loophole.

[kace]

Innocent until proven guilty? How many of you out there have already convicted Sarah Palin of "Troopergate" before knowing all of the facts?

[luvronpaul]

you assume it was a democrat.. could have been an independent, libertarian, green, commie or anarchist for all we know. I dont think "anonymous" votes (too young)

[ibsteve2u]

It may not be obvious, but there are more than a few Republicans in Alaska who would be motivated to do it, too. Palin through a number of "good old boyz" under her bus to get traction to achieve her ambitions.

[RepublicanJames]

Greetings,

I have to say this first... FirstShirt, please pull your head out.

Prior to '97, the SS had jurisdiction over this type of offense, however, after the Operation Sun Devil fiasco, it was determined that the FBI was a better place for this kind of thing. So the SS investigating this is a violation of the law as it is outside their jurisdiction.

As the FBI has demonstrated a lack of will to investigate these types of issues for the common people over the last 11 years, by their own actions, the FBI is giving preferential treatment to the Politicians and Corporations, which is a huge violation of the FBI rules and bylaws.

Finally, look very closely at my username. I am a Republican and have been for over 20 years. Personally, I think it was the Palin/McCain camp that caused this to happen and have actually seen precedent for this type of activity in previous Republican campaigns, especially ones as bad as these two.

[LMT]

The AP ignoring a request for information?!? OMG! That's awful! Can you imagine the outrage if someone like Todd "First Dud" (no typo) Palin ignored a suppoena? ...What? ...Oh...never mind.

[LMT]

The AP ignoring a request for information?!? OMG! That's awful! Can you imagine the outrage if someone like Todd "First Dud" (no typo) Palin ignored a suppoena? ...what? ...Oh, never mind.

[luvronpaul]

haha

[Audrey85]

Separatist! they do what they want!