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Joe McGinniss Sarah Palin Book, 'The Rogue,' Makes Controversial Claims About Former Alaska Governor

First Posted: 09/15/11 12:10 PM ET Updated: 11/15/11 05:12 AM ET

Joe McGinniss's new book, The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, hits bookstores next week, but its controversial claims about the former Alaska governor are already making waves.

In the book, McGinniss writes that Palin had a one-night stand in 1987 with future NBA basketball player Glen Rice nine months before she married her husband Todd. He quotes a friend who said Palin "had a fetish for black guys for a while."

"She was a gorgeous woman. Super nice. I was blown away by her," Rice tells McGinniss in the book, NBC reports. "Afterward, she was a big crush that I had."

McGinniss's book also alleges that Palin had an extramarital affair with her husband's business partner, Brad Hanson, in the mid-1990s, and snorted cocaine off a 55-gallon oil drum while snowboarding.

"An utter fraud. An absolute and utter fraud," McGinniss calls Palin in an interview about the book with NBC.

"At best, she's a hypocrite," McGinniss tells NBC's Savannah Guthrie. "At worst, she's a vindictive hypocrite."

WATCH:

McGinniss famously moved into a house next door to Palin's Wasilla, Alaska home to write his book -- prompting the Palins to accuse him of stalking them. They built a high fence along their property to protect their privacy.

In response to McGinniss's book, Todd Palin gave a statement to NBC saying that McGinniss "spent the last year interviewing marginal figures with an axe to grind in order to churn out a hit piece to satisfy his own creepy obsession with my wife."

"I'd ask the fathers and husbands of America to consider our privacy when one summer day I found this guy on the deck of the rental property, just 18 feet away next door to us, staring like a creep at my wife while she mowed the lawn in her shorts," Palin said.

McGinniss says that anything he learned about Palin by living next door did not make it into the book, but he does become a character in the story himself.

The New York Times writes in its review:

Soon Mr. McGinniss is settling in to enjoy the fuss his mere presence has created. "Normally, for a news story to continue beyond the first 24-hour news cycle, something newsworthy must occur," he writes loftily, but "The Rogue" is filled with proof to the contrary. What was his hate mail like? He quotes it. What did Glenn Beck call him? That’s here too. Who took umbrage at this venom and chose to help him? One man offered him a hideout, despite Mr. McGinniss's slight skepticism about his motives. "But you don’t know me," Mr. McGinniss protested.

McGinniss's book is scheduled to hit bookstores on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

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Joe McGinniss's new book, The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, hits bookstores next week, but its controversial claims about the former Alaska governor are already making waves. In the bo...
Joe McGinniss's new book, The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, hits bookstores next week, but its controversial claims about the former Alaska governor are already making waves. In the bo...
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09:01 AM on 09/30/2011
In the book, McGinniss writes that Palin had a one-night stand in 1987 with future NBA basketball player Glen Rice nine months before she married her husband Todd. He quotes a friend who said Palin "had a fetish for black guys for a while."
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08:31 PM on 09/26/2011
Yet McGinniss revealed in an e-mail in January 2011 that Random House lawyers had informed him–after all of that “extensive-on-the-ground reporting in Alaska, as well as in-depth interviews”–that his manuscript contained nothing beyond “tawdry gossip,” and that his most “salacious stories” lacked “factual evidence.”
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
swimbiker
06:03 PM on 09/27/2011
Report the entire email and the context surrounding it...then and only then will someone believe you.
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mrsL
marriage & motherhood with mirth and grace
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FromWayDowntown
Qui a coupé le fromage ?
11:23 PM on 09/21/2011
"'She was a gorgeous woman. Super nice. I was blown away by her,' Rice tells McGinniss..."

Delete "away" and I think we've got a winner.
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gus44444
12:28 PM on 09/21/2011
That sour old bag Janet Maslin did a nasty hit-job on McGinniss's book, which is actually a pretty good read.
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
swimbiker
05:28 PM on 09/27/2011
Yes, I am finding that out as well. He comes across as mannered, decent, and respectful.
04:54 PM on 09/20/2011
Sarah loves flaunting her symbols, particularly the cross and star of david. So lately she is seen sporting a key with a crown on top. What's the meaning of this new symbol? The key to the Heavenly Kingdom? She's not just willing to be POTUS but wants the keys to the Kingdom as well? And btw, Sarah and Todd: Where are your wedding bands? Haven't seen you wearing them for a long time now. That's gotta mean something.
04:51 PM on 09/20/2011
It's not the few salacious details of Sarah's and her brood's past that will be the lasting impact from McGinniss' book; it is the big conflicting messy tortuous web of lies she created that will make people wonder if she is in fact who she wants us to believe she is. Sarah Palin is not smart; she is a shrewd opportunist, driven by her over the top narcissism. If you think the criticisms against Sarah's personna and modus operandi are not relevant, then you have been duped by one of the best grifters in the land. Gotta hand that to her: She's got the LSM and her PACers fooled, but not for long.
04:40 PM on 09/20/2011
Alaska needs to secede from the rest of the US of A and take Queen Esther with them. Putin's quite a hunk; maybe she could pull some backroom "dills: with him.....Afterall she has been spying on him from her porch, and no doubt sees the "potential" in him.

Alaskans seem to love their rogueness, living by rules that put to shame the rest of law abiding American citizens. I learned everything I needed to know about Alaska from Sarah's "reality" show, and frankly, I won't ever bother to visit that part of the world. Alaskans birthed $P. That's enough for me.
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Rosie2
Rosie outlook
09:40 AM on 09/22/2011
I believe seceding was the motivation for Sarah to enter the politcal arena of AK. If Todd sat in on her politics and made the decisions as is suspected, then his affiliation with the AIP, which was the secessionist party was inside their politics, but then along came McCain and the spotlight was too much to resist for these otherwise unknown people. Then the celebrity and money came into the equation and $$$ became the motivation and secession fell by the wayside. Now that these people have been exposed for what they are, and it's good bye Palins...finally!
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OutAtFirst
Mountain goat, desert rat and sea dog
03:44 PM on 09/20/2011
OK, maybe I've been a little hard on Palin. She sounds like kind of a fun gal.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MXL
I've won trophies for my gameface alone.
10:19 AM on 09/18/2011
"...snorted cocaine off a 55-gallon oil drum while snowboarding."

Ummm, is this supposed to say "while on a snowboarding trip"? Seems like it'd be hard to lug a 55-gallon oil drum on a snowboard. If she managed to do this AND snort a line while barreling down a hill, Palin deserves to be present 'cause she's amazing.
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Irvin Spencer
Corporate America Rocks
01:21 AM on 09/18/2011
What a disaster for someone in her position and the tea party. Once they go and interview Rice, say goodnight.
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Dede Eagleburger
Beauty is in the eye of the makeup brush holder
04:10 PM on 09/18/2011
he's already confirmed it, i think??
09:51 PM on 09/17/2011
A grocery store tabloid. There is a source of information for you. Ron White is right. You can't fix stupid.
HUFFPOST PUNDIT
swimbiker
02:33 PM on 09/24/2011
And yet, here you are, trying to "fix" Sarah's reputation....
12:04 AM on 09/25/2011
I rest my case
06:37 PM on 09/17/2011
A friend said Palin "had a fetish for black guys for a while." Athletic sporty black guys, maybe.

Truly devastating revelations for every paunchy, gun-totting, Tea party patriot in the land.
09:46 PM on 09/18/2011
Why because she liked a BLACK MAN? How is that "devastating" for the tea party? OMG, a black man? Why, the tea party still sees them as slaves? Wow, devastating? Now that is funny!
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indy girl
Sorry, this micro-bio did not meet HP guidelines.
08:33 PM on 09/25/2011
you obviously don't live in the southern, eeeevangelical bible belt with the Real American Racists!
05:38 PM on 09/17/2011
Ann Coulter is now complaining that Fox News isn't allowed to complain about Palin.
Typical.
Think back to high school: the mean-chick clique reigned supreme...until their popularity became too diluted. At that point the split would start... the mean girls would have to turn on each other.
Ann Coulters last book stiffed. Had it not, does anyone believe she would be turning on Palin? Ann knows that attacking the left is tired--it no longer warrants attention. BUT by doing the unexpected and attacking someone on the right--well, that certainly got attention.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
AsISaid
06:04 PM on 09/17/2011
Seriously, no one here cares one hoot about Ann Coulter nor what motivates her.

Personally, I'd like them to scratch each others eyes out.
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eileenlefttoo
Proud to be called a "Liberal."
07:06 PM on 09/17/2011
I'd pay to see that!
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Okey Umez
Yes i. Babylon gwon fall
01:59 PM on 09/18/2011
Nice post!.
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Gestas
Mountain Man
05:25 PM on 09/17/2011
Some things here that the TEA Klux Klan may have a little trouble with.....
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grayplace
Life's a dream within a dream.
04:47 PM on 09/17/2011
Sarah's skeletons are out in the open, and there may be more to come. She's done. Next up, Bachmann and Perry.
06:00 PM on 09/17/2011
Perry's might be in the closet.
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grayplace
Life's a dream within a dream.
06:40 PM on 09/17/2011
That's exactly where his are.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Okey Umez
Yes i. Babylon gwon fall
02:02 PM on 09/18/2011
Always wondered about that. The clues are pointing in that direction!!.