Palin Email Hack: Man Indicted

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The son of a Democratic Tennessee state lawmaker pleaded not guilty Wednesday to hacking the e-mail account of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

David Kernell, 20, of Knoxville, Tenn. entered the plea in federal court in Knoxville, the same day prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging him with intentionally accessing Palin's e-mail account without authorization.

Kernell, an economics student at the University of Tennessee, was brought into court wearing handcuffs and shackles on his ankles.

He was released without posting bond, but the court limited his computer use to checking his own e-mail and doing class work.

Kernell's father is longtime state Rep. Mike Kernell of Memphis, chairman of Tennessee's House Government Operations Committee. The lawmaker has said he had nothing to do with the hacking incident.

David Kernell was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Knoxville and faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Trial is set for Dec. 16.

The investigation is continuing. The indictment said at least one other person successfully reset Palin's e-mail password and accessed her e-mail account after the hacker named "rubico," whom the government contends is Kernell, posted his exploits on the Web.

"I wouldn't say specifically whether that other individual may be charged or not," Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said from Washington.

U.S. Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley restricted Kernell from discussing the case with any potential witnesses, which include his roommates.

Kernell was also restricted from having any contact directly or indirectly with the Alaska governor or her family.

Shirley warned that if Kernell violated any part of his release conditions, he would be held until the trial.

Kernell's attorney, Wade Davies, accompanied his client in court.

"As soon as we found out about the charges this morning, David voluntarily turned himself in," said Davies, who refused to answer any other questions.

The indictment alleges that on Sept. 16 Kernell reset the password to Palin's personal e-mail account to gain access to it. Authorities say Kernell then read the contents of the account and made screenshots of the e-mail directory, e-mail content and other personal information, later posting some of the information to a public Web site.

Comments

[RRK70]

Can anyone imagine how dangerous it would have been if a foreign power had hacked Palin's email?

While what the kid did was illegal, it certainly brought to light the danger Palin's lack of judgment poses to the security of this nation!

[paco833]

If he had hacked John Edwards, Elizabeth, Joltin Joe?...Oba­ma?...woul­d you be so quick to say its OK?

[milo h minderbinder]

I wouldn't say this is OK, but if any of them had been irresponsible enough to use yahoo for government business, along with lax security questions I'd certainly be blasting them for it.

[anokie]

Wait...?.....they can find out exactly who "broke" into her email......and yet they can't find Cheney or other adminstration officials email?????­?......rea­lly? Okay, just asking.

[LeaderofMen]

Who's money did David steal? Yours? Mine?

Who died because of what David did? You? Me? Your kids?

Who lost money because of what David did? You? Me? Your relatives?

Who was hurt because of what David did? You? Me? Anyone you know?

Now... let's see what Palin has done: She's incited violence against a Presidential candidate. She's involved in Troopergate. She is sure Jesus will come back in HER lifetime, preventing her from seeing reality. Her daughter is being forced to get married because of Palin's lack of foresight, re: her opposition to contraception.

Oh, the list is going to get larger.

So, tell me. Really. What did David do that required shackles and handcuffs and compare that to what Palin has ALREADY done and getting away with.

I'm waiting.

[MNCurler]

Kind of like Watergate. Really who got hurt there? They just hacked in and listened to a few phone calls. Really, what's the difference between that and hacking in a reading a few emails. It's the same logic that you are using here.

[milo h minderbinder]

Except that watergate was done by the political party. Regardless of who this kid's dad is, there's no evidence that this is anything more than a college kid seeing what he could do.

[K-Dog76]

Leaderof Men

He broke federal law, thats why he gets shackles

If you did any research you'd understand your own accusations must of which are false. Troopergate for instance, if you don't think a cop should get fired for tasing his own child, or for being drunk on the job or for making death threats, wow. If thats wrong, wrong I wanna be a cop in your town, cause they can get away with murder and its fine with you...

[koyak23]

Hopefully, the IRS will be as diligent in their investigation of Palin for tax evasion...

[K-Dog76]

koyak, tax evasion now, why do you people just keep making stuff up???

[SwingingFromCenter]

This is a very dangerous case for all Americans.

Why?

Because, technically, he didn't break any laws.

Look it up. It's only illegal to destroy, manipulate or steal data. It's perfectly legal to look around (a longstanding loophole most people aren't aware of). Now, loosely, one can say he stole the data by publishing it, but that's a pretty iffy statement.

The government is charging someone who, while he did something distasteful, didn't actually commit a crime.

[nellie]

I don't know. Tampering with someone else's mail is a federal offense. And it doesn't matter whether that mail is slow or e. If you're right, your arguments will come out in the trial.

[K-Dog76]

SwingingFromCenter,

If you don't think he broke any laws, then you think the FBI is ok with reading e-mails and monitoring international phonecalls to stop terrorism. DO you support the Patriot ACT? If you don't not then you you know what laws this kid broke, by the way please post your password so I can read your email... I mean you are saying its perfectly legal.

[SwingingFromCenter]

I don't say I agree with it. I say it's not technically illegal. I'm an internetworking security consultant by trade (for you Luddites out there, that means I'm a legalized computer hacker)....and a relatively famous one, at that.

The laws are the laws. This isn't to say the government doesn't railjob people by contorting and twisting things they have done so they can get a conviction, but the law states what he did isn't illegal.

End result: Yes, you are more than entitled to read my email...if you can guess my password. Obviously in my line of work, I'm a bit paranoid, so you're going to have to guess 20+ characters with lower case, upper case, numbers and special characters. Good luck.

[santamonica39]

wow.. if only the FBI would spend as much time investigating her crimes as they did on this. Speedy justice is possible.... just not in Troopergate.

[K-Dog76]

so you are saying about 10 hours or so is enough for the FBI to arrest Palin???

[TimboM]

If you want to know what's on their minds, just look here.

www.dearfirstdude.blogspot.com

[Neer]

What this kid did was wrong. Period.

[milo h minderbinder]

Well, what SOMEBODY did was wrong. Until the trial is over, the jury is out on whether THIS guy really did it.

[tre]

A liberal who is about to learn to take responsibility for his actions, instead of blaming society, global warming, etc.
Gee, that's a first.

[TreadingWater]

John McCain: "I didn't lose that debate, it just wasn't really a town hall. If it had been a real town hall, I woulda mavericked my way to a victory"

Sarah Palin: "I didn't tank that Katie Couric interview, I was just so mad at her for not seeing my mavericky goodness that I got annoyed and forgot what newspapers I read."

Way to step up and own it, republicans.

[K-Dog76]

Treading,

Come on, I agree Obama was dominant in the debates, but why have the polls tightened in McCAins favor after each?

Just a question, its not like Obama's going to lose, unless McCain can prove Obama is a socialist hellbent on radical left ideology, similar to that of the Weather Underground...

I'm from Chicago, highest taxes in the nation, home of Barack Obama, Where you make $50k a year and still have to eat Ramen Noodles... give "tax breaks" to the poor but then take back 11 cents of every dollar they spend on food and clothes, it makes you wonder why there is such an economic divide here.

[DeeV]

Will he get job from Google?

[TreetopFlyer]

What I'd still like to know.... what is she building in there? What is she building in there? We have a right to know.

[calijon]

FREE DAVID :)

[moderate1]

I just read 3 pages of these comments and, frankly, I want my time back. The ONLY reason you are all going to bat for this guy is because his victim was a Republican. If he had hacked Joe Biden's email and was the son of a Republican politician you would be calling for his crucifiction and probably his father's as well. Actually, I bet you would all be calling this some grand conspiracy sent down from Karl Rove himself to try to embarrass and destroy Joe Biden. How can you people, who pride themselves on being so intelligent, become so jaded that you don't realize how dumb you are being?

The guy is a criminal. He deserves whatever punishment is standard for a crime of this nature. Don't sit there and awkwardly try to defend him just because you hate Sarah Palin.

[snakesonablog]

I disagree. He is a patriot.

A governor should not be using yahoo, or any other unsecured email account for state business. This demonstrated why Palin lacked basic judgment. She was fortunate that everything disclosed was relatively innocuous.

[RRK70]

Yes, the hacker broke the law.

The problem is, you somehow lose sight of the fact that Palin has broken the trust of her constituents, if not the law itself, by circumventing common sense protocols that not only provide the oversight and transparency that Palin herself claims is so vital, but also serves to provide security?

For some reason Republicans suddenly become very concerned about civil rights and privacy when someone is caught soliciting anonymous sex in a public restroom or a Congressional page or leaking classified intelligence to the media.

And yet, when the entire Bill of Rights seems to be in jeopardy of becoming obsolete, these same critics are nowhere to be found!

No, my friend, it is YOU who is the hypo crite.

[milo h minderbinder]

Correction: the guy is an ACCUSED criminal.

Maybe he's guilty, maybe he's innocent. We won't know until the trial is over. Until then, the standard of this nation is innocent until proven guilty.

[RRK70]

Yes, the hacker broke the law.

The problem is, you somehow lose sight of the fact that Palin has broken the trust of her constituents, if not the law itself, by circumventing common sense protocols that not only provide the oversight and transparency that Palin herself claims is so vital, but also serves to provide security?

For some reason Republicans suddenly become very concerned about civil rights and privacy when someone is caught soliciting anonymous sex in a public restroom or a Congressional page or leaking classified intelligence to the media.

And yet, when the entire Bill of Rights seems to be in jeopardy of becoming obsolete, these same critics are nowhere to be found!

No, my friend, it is YOU who is wrong.

[8IZENUF]

There are far much worse crimes that go unpunished, just look at Sarah in Alaska.
Give the young man a plea deal of a fine and probation and move on.