Joe Miller: 'I Lied' About Accessing Computers For Political Purposes

Amid a political firestorm of controversy surrounding Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller's ethics violations while working as a government attorney in 2008, new details emerged on Tuesday night revealing that the Republican hopeful himself admitted to lying about his complicity in the matter.

"I lied about accessing all of the computers," wrote Miller in an e-mail to Fairbanks North Star Borough attorney Rene Broker in March of 2008 in the wake of allegations he used the office technology for political purposes. "I then admitted about accessing the computers, but lied about what I was doing. Finally I admitted what I did."

The remarks from Miller came to light in a 60-page dispatch of records released (PDF) by the Alaska borough after a judge issued a court order for the files to be made public.

Miller detailed the incident at the core of the controversy in the same e-mail to Broker disclosed in the documents:

Over the lunch hour this past Wednesday, I got on three computers (not belonging to me) in the office. All of them were on and none of them were locked. I accessed my personal website, for political purposes (participated in a poll), and then cleared the cache on each computer. I did the same thing on my computer. Jill asked the office what happened. I lied about accessing all of the computers. I then admitted about accessing the computers, but lied about what I was doing. Finally, I admitted what I did.

The Fairbanks News Miner reports:

The records corroborate statements made earlier this month by former borough Mayor Jim Whitaker who said Miller engaged in "proxy voting" in a failed bid to oust state GOP chairman Randy Ruedrich at the 2008 Alaska Republican convention.

In a curious move made by Miller, attorneys for the conservative candidate's campaign moved to take legal action against the former Mayor over the matter. The Anchorage Daily News reported last week:

The complaint, filed Wednesday by Anchorage attorney Thomas Van Flein, alleges that Whitaker violated Miller's constitutional rights and committed a misdemeanor offense when he told reporters last week that Miller was nearly fired from his borough attorney job for using borough computers in a failed bid to oust state Republican party chairman Randy Ruedrich.

In recent weeks, the controversy related to the two-year old ethics violation made by Miller has proven to be a significant stumbling block for his campaign. In the face of pressure from reporters to be more transparent about the issue, the Tea Party-backed hopeful made every attempt to downplay the matter by evading the press. He also has suggested the ordeal was at least in part fueled as a political attack from the campaign of incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whom he ousted in Alaska's GOP primary and is now pursuing a write-in reelection bid.

Below, a copy of the letter sent by Miller in which he admitted to lying about his involvement of the controversy. Click here (PDF) to read 60 pages of documents in full released on Tuesday night:

Comments

[chicagoexpat]

04:39 PM on 10/31/2010

He lied?

This is news?

I mean, he IS from Alaska, the land of hypocrites

[CommodoreP]

07:25 PM on 10/29/2010

I'm in Alaska and I voted today! Really struggled. Should I vote Lisa so she has the shot at making sure Miller is not elected? Had to end up going with conscience and vote McAdams. Can't rely on polling, especially not up here. With these further revalations about Miller, maybe people will finally see the light.

[AMERIKA]

01:42 AM on 10/28/2010

buh bye

[Patrick M]

12:08 AM on 10/28/2010

HP should have featured this story more prominently. It is more newsworthy than much of what is on the front page.

[truthisneeded]

11:04 PM on 10/27/2010

Murkowski has a good shot at winning, Mc Adams seems to far behind Miller

the priority is that Miller not be elected

I also heard somewhere a rumor that in addition to lying, Miller hides his homosexuality and that all this hiding is the reason why he lies and acts weird. He should just come out of the closet and be free and everyone would accept him.

[truthisneeded]

11:10 PM on 10/27/2010

but its just a rumor so dont take it seriously

[baileywick]

11:28 PM on 10/27/2010

"Not that there's anything wrong with it."

[Patrick M]

12:12 AM on 10/28/2010

McAdams has a good shot, and would be infinitely better than Murkowski.

Miller's dishonesty coming to light during the final week, coupled with the scent of nepotism that has always surrounded Murkowski, bode well for McAdams' prospects with undecided voters.

[truthisneeded]

01:54 AM on 10/28/2010

the polls indicated a couple of days ago that miller was way ahead and murkowski, despite being a write-in candidate, being very close to him

that leads me to believe that alaska tends to favor republican candidates today

honestly i dont think McAdams has a shot at winning based on the most recent polls but if the polls change I m happy to change my position

as far as murkowski i dont know why mcAdams would be a much better candidate; i would need to hear the major issue differences between mcAdams and murkowski

and again the bottom line is that if mcAdams is way behind in the polls and she gets votes; she is only going to help miller who is in the lead; between miller and murkowski i know for a fact that murkowski is a billion times better, nepotism or not

i also know that miller and the alaska republican party (palin too) would be horrible not only for alaska but also for the whole country

[applescruff]

10:14 PM on 10/27/2010

This guy wreaks of felonious behavior.

[ibsteve2u]

10:04 PM on 10/27/2010

Is someone on another thread telling me that the Tea Party represents upholding the Constitution, the Law, the whole values thing...

Having already read this article about Miller, I'm forced to conclude that the Tea Party is about OTHER people upholding the Constitution, the Law, and the whole values thing - i.e., they're no different from the Republicans.

[dawlishgal]

09:18 AM on 10/28/2010

The Republicans pander to religious people by pretending to be religious themselves (on the advice of their athiestic neocon guru, who assures them that they are superior to the rest of us, so any lie that they tell that lets them rip off the top has got to be just fine) and they wink at racism with their southern strategy. And yet they get their britches in a twist when they get accused of bad behavior. Nevermind that they pay the big bucks to self-serving millionaire liars like Rove to destroy the reputations of honorable people to benefit their own crooks. Miller hired his wife and then fired her so she could get unemployment insurance. NOW, he claims the whole concept is unconstitutional. How can anybody see this hypocritis crook as a viable candidate for any office...even a dog catcher has to have more integrity than that.

This is the kind of hypocrisy that trolls love.....they really enjoy it when their ethically-challenged bunch pulls a fast one. The whole party lately seems to be about "getting away with stuff." I can understand why the smarmy little bullyboy trolls find it adorable to smear combat vets to wallpaper over the cowardice of their own candidates (and then laugh about it)....what amazes me is than any decent person would vote for a party that needs to employ a karlrove.

[tangolas]

09:13 PM on 10/27/2010

mumbles lie???nawwwwww......

[ChiGuy]

07:30 PM on 10/27/2010

If he was willing to lie about this, imagine how inclined he would be to lie in the event of an even more egregious breach of ethics.

Miller CANNOT be trusted.

[kimbanyc]

07:19 PM on 10/27/2010

" I Lied" the new motto of the tea potty republicants

[HLL]

07:14 PM on 10/27/2010

I know I'm a broken record on this point, peeps, so apologize for being a nuisance about it - BUT - there is an alternative to Miller and his name is Scott McAdams :o)

"Scott McAdams: He's good for Alaska," Anchorage Daily News:
http://www.adn.com/2010/10/24/1516947/scott-mcadams-hes-good-for-alaska.html

It's not too late to help McAdams, if interested. He seems like such a good decent person:

Scott McAdams website:
http://www.scottmcadams.org/

DONATE to Scott McAdams:
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/scottmcadams

[kimbanyc]

07:19 PM on 10/27/2010

keep up the great work!!!! fanned from nyc

[HLL]

07:23 PM on 10/27/2010

Thank you for the fan and the thumbs up. Very kind. I was raised in NYC and happen to know that angels live there! :o) ☮

[HLL]

07:29 PM on 10/27/2010

P.S. I'm already your fan or I'd fan you back ;-)

[AAAProgressive]

07:24 PM on 10/27/2010

There ya go!! Fanned and Faved!

[HLL]

07:34 PM on 10/27/2010

WOWEE! Fanned back at ya. (Love your avi 'hopey-changey' :o) I hope for change in Alaska. Wish I could vote for McAdams. He's the kind of person who would not only be great for Alaskans, but also great for congress, imo ☮

[Christopher Millsap]

07:11 PM on 10/27/2010

Well, I'll go ahead and say it: at least he admits he's a liar unlike the rest of our so called "leadership."

[NOV42008]

08:49 PM on 10/27/2010

Yea, Bush is still claiming there is WMD. When do you think he will admit he lied?

[baileywick]

11:32 PM on 10/27/2010

After the 2096 elections.

[Arcie Grant]

07:09 PM on 10/27/2010

Will there be no end to the circus? The Tea Party movement has outshone Ringling Brothers in their weird cast of characters.

[CPAwADD]

06:05 PM on 10/28/2010

Weird and unsavory!

[AAAProgressive]

06:57 PM on 10/27/2010

For once, I'm sharing my OWN comment at Gates:

"Oh yeah. The Great Ronnie Reagan! The Guy WGE mentions in every single speech she gives.
God, what a wonderful comment Wiser. I'm so glad you HANG HERE with us. You bring so much to the Table. Things that makes us think, ponder and remember. You along with Patrick and Kathleen, who have warned us what was coming. I'm ashamed of myself, that I once thought once Sarah Palin was gone, things would be/get better. What a Fool I've been thinking that way. Now EVERYBODY AND THEIR BROTHER is coming out of the woodwork...and it amazes me that THIS has even happened. I guess so much of it can be blamed on The Dumbing Down Of America. It really WAS real. It's happened right before our very eyes.

[AAAProgressive]

06:49 PM on 10/27/2010

A Wise Gater:
"Maybe I'm just a pessimistic person about all that's happening now, but I'm old enough to remember that not even 10 yrs after Americans fought fascists in WWII, a rightwing demagogue named Joe McCarthy was allowed to ruin lives and careers during the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Public paranoia about a "takeover" of the US led to a "co mmie under every bed" and other such nonsense. Friends and neighbors were reported for subscribing to certain magazines, newspapers, and even to the books they read.

Now, such "hearings" are delivered on rightwing radio and TV and by teabaggers on a daily basis. Imagine what they'd do once elected.