Sarah Palin E-Mails Deleted Under Cover of Hacking Incident

A strange hacking incident earlier today tied up another loose end for Gov. Sarah Palin.

Overnight, one of Palin's Yahoo e-mail accounts was compromised, allegedly by members of the leaderless collective of hackers known as "Anonymous." A hacker apparently cracked the password to the e-mail address "[e-mail]," posted it to a public forum, and then multiple users copied some of the e-mails and information the acccount contained.

This morning one user reset the password, notified a Palin aide of the security breach, and the Yahoo account was soon deleted. Simultaneously, a second personal Yahoo account used by Palin, "[e-mail]," was also deleted.

Screenshot of one of Palin's Yahoo e-mails

Screenshots of some of Palin's e-mails and photos were posted online. Wired's Threat Level blog has confirmed the authenticity of at least one of the hacked e-mails.

An e-mail from July between Palin and Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell gives insight into Palin's tendency to demonize her political opponents. In reference to local talk radio host Dan Fagan, who has refused to back Parnell's bid for Congress, Palin commented, "His fighting you reveals some evil stuff going on with him."

Last week, the Washington Post reported that Palin regularly used one of the two Yahoo e-mail accounts that was deleted today, "[e-mail]," to conduct public business, and copied her husband, Todd, on some e-mails. A Republican activist in Anchorange, Andrée McLeod, has filed suit seeking to have 1,100 e-mails made public that Palin has withheld from an open records request, on suspicion that Palin aides engaged in political activity on state time.

McLeod calls Palin's use of Yahoo accounts for official state business "the most nonsensical, inane thing I've ever heard of." Todd Palin was often copied on e-mails relating to the Troopergate scandal, says McLeod, which nullifies her claim of executive privilege for witholding the e-mails. According to an appeal filed last week to release the rest of Palin's Yahoo e-mail trail:

"(Gov. Palin) has allowed Todd Palin -- who has not been elected by the people of Alaska, who is not a state employee -- to entangle himself apparently as he sees fit in the operations of the executive branch of the state government."

Palin's reliance on personal e-mail accounts for her official duties makes a mockery of her 2006 pledge while campagning for Governor of Alaska to run an "open and transparent" administration. "Where you've got a governor apparently using a Yahoo account for state business, that's kind of a complete inversion of what ought to be happening in terms of public records," said Charles Davis, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

Special assistant Ivy Frye, whose name appears in screenshots of the hacked account's inbox, was one of the Palin appointees who tried hard to find loopholes in the law that would allow Gov. Palin to continue conducting state business on personal e-mail accounts without fear of disclosure. Frye, 27, worked as a receptionist before joining Palin's gubernatorial campaign, and her frequent interactions with the Palin children have earned her the title of "the babysitter" among Alaska legislators. As the Washington Post revealed:

"On March 17, minutes after peppering a state official about whether e-mails about state business contained on a personal BlackBerry could become public, senior Palin aide Ivy Frye addressed a message to both Palins and two other aides: 'In sum, it's just as I thought -- questions of confidentiality are still unanswered by law.'"

The Anchorage Daily News confirms Palin "has one of the devices (which allow users to read and send e-mails) for state business, another for personal matters, but those worlds intertwine."

Palin and her two BlackBerries, backstage at McCain VP announcement rally in Ohio on Aug. 29

Anonymous is the same group of hackers embroiled in an ongoing feud with the Church of Scientology. Last January, members were responsible for posting an internal Scientology training video featuring an interview with Tom Cruise on YouTube. It was widely viewed and ridiculed. Soon after, they coordinated denial-of-service attacks against Scientology websites, prank calls, and sending black faxes to Scientology centers.

Taking its activism offline, Anonymous helped organize protest marches in cities around the world against Scientology on March 15, including Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Vancouver, Toronto, Berlin, and Dublin.

Two weeks later, the collective was blamed for allegedly posting flashing computer animations on the Epilepsy Foundation of America's website, which could induce seizures in epileptic viewers. Anonymous members denied responsibility for the attack, suggesting the Church of Scientology was actually behind it, attempting "to ruin the public opinion of Anonymous."

The truly troubling part of this episode is that both of Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail accounts were deleted this morning - not just the compromised one, but also the other personal Yahoo account that Palin acknowledged using for public business ([e-mail]).

Has this hacking incident given Palin a convenient way to dodge the eventual release of whatever else she had hidden in her Yahoo e-mail accounts?

(UPDATE 9/18 - Wired has posted a supposed first person account of the hacking. There is debate over whether the individual who first hacked Palin's e-mail was a self-identified Anonymous member, or simply posted the account's password to an on-line message board frequented by Anonymous hackers.)

(UPDATE 10/8 - David Kernell, 20, of Memphis, TN, was indicted yesterday on a single count of "intentionally accessing without authorization" Palin's Yahoo e-mail account. Kernell, who was arraigned today and pleaded not guilty, is the son of Tennessee state Rep. Mike Kernell, a Democratic state legislator.

But far from being a Democratic Party operative or even activist, Kernell appears to have allegedly hacked Palin's e-mail for other reasons, describing the incident as "just some prank to me" in a purported first hand account previously published by Wired. He is also a troubled individual who claims to have been hospitalized twice for depression.

In a post from June, 2003 on a blog he kept for a short time called "Apocoliptic visions," Kernell wrote:

"My name is David Kernell I am 15 a white cacasian male i live in memphis, TN. My favorite and only hobby is chess, more like an obsession. I am not afraid to say that i have acute depression and have been institutionalized twice, one at th age of 9 in Texas and one this past year. I have been strugleing with this for my entire life...")

Erik Ose is a veteran of Democratic campaigns in North Carolina and blogs at The Latest Outrage.

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Comments

[elusivecandor]

Here is a fact for you... Governor Palin doesn't have any trouble violating OTHER PEOPLE'S privacy and e mail accounts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091803492.html

[choptliver]

Great cover story! A "hacker" got into her yahoo account and now all her incriminating e-mails have to be deleted.

No Honesty. No Honor. No McCain.

[lumbergh]

I think everyone is loosing site of what is really important here... Every time a person embraces this break-in to a private e-mail account, no matter who's it is, is helping give away a piece of our freedom.... If this person is allowed to get away scott free, whats next??? You might not like Sarah Palin, but do you want your privacy invaded whenever someone wants to do so???? What if it hit a little closer to home, whould you be outraged and demand justice??? Please comment back!!!

[jhallbo]

I think you are losing site of what is really important here. Sarah Palin is breaking the law and getting put into the White House because she's not cooperating. She promises while campaigning, a transparent government -- her supporters should be embarrassed. She is worse than Dick Cheney, but her supporters don't care -- she's a woman, lets put her in the White House. The country goes to shambles and people are worried about a yahoo mail account trespassing.

[milo h minderbinder]

Sure, hacking email is bad.

But I'm much more troubled by a government official who uses private email for public duties. It's not open government, and as evidenced by this situation, it's a horrible security risk.

[cluesearch]

Oh come on people. Anyone can call themselves anonymous. Sarah Palin had some very damning emails that if seen in the light of day would have destroyed the McCain ticket. What's a good way to delete all those bad emails? Oh I know, stage a break in to the account. Here's the good news though kids. Email is never really destroyed and thanks to the Bushies raid on our civil liberties. A copy of each and every email is both sitting on the Yahoo server (for backups and crashes), one on the server of every person she emailed, and another is being analyzed as we speak by the NSA. Wouldn't it be funny...

[lumbergh]

I think that the website should be shut down, the owners of the website arrested, and the actual hacker's name revieled so that person can be procicuted to the full extent of the law!!! They broke the law plain and simple in a vain attempt to try and dig up dirt on our soon to be VP.... I hope they were paid well, cause their going to need it for their defence.... If it happined to anyone else, people would be outraged!!!!

[shanefish]

Maybe Palin should be thrown out for completely disregarding the transparency law she agreed to as governor. It sure seems like a Bush tactic to me, since when do public officials use personal emails for state business unless they're hiding something. One more thing, on your spelling issues, procicuted is actually spelled prosecuted and you used their twice in one sentance and the first should have been a they're. Just thought maybe you'd like to know that so you don't look so ignorant next time.

[lumbergh]

I may have spelled something wrong while writing fast, but even if you slow down, you still. have a backwards view about this matter and our country!!! I guess that type of ignorance can't be fixed!!!

[DixieMelody]

Do you have spellcheck? Then use it. Otherwise you come across as ignorant, like the woman you say will become the next VP, and any point you are trying to make loses credibility.

[michaelmr]

I'm sure all correspondence with Hillary Clinton 1992-1994 re: health care will be released immediately, because it "allowed Todd Palin -- who has not been elected by the people of [the United States] -- to entangle [her]self apparently as [s]he sees fit in the operations of the executive branch of the [federal] government."

[shanefish]

Yeah, cause Americans with health care would be a tragedy wouldn't it?

[Speakupper]

Legalities aside, this is yet another example of a profound lack of judgment on the part of Gov. Palin. 1) to allow state business to be compromised in this way 2) to allow for the destruction of evidence. Sad and frightening all at once.

[karronna]

Can't the emails be pulled of Yahoo's server?

[Harry1980]

Palin's Yahoo acct hacked - I hope finally what she has been trying to hide will be made public. I cannot believe that her aides did not honor the subpoenas.

http://www.identitytheft.com/index.php/article/palins_email_account_hacked

[lumbergh]

Are you serious????? What a person writes in an e-mail is personal!!! No different than the US mail!!! How would you like people posting your mail and pics of your kids on-line!!!! I'm sure your backyard isn't clean!!!

[elusivecandor]

Just so you know, public officials who conduct public business through private e mail accounts are violating the spirit of governmental transparency and public records. She claims she is for more transparency in government and yet has conducted herself in a manner that shows she is for transparency for everyone but her.

[milo h minderbinder]

Emails done for work aren't personal, nor those done for government business.

I hope you're not writing emails at your work under the impression that they are private.

[Astroboy]

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

"Anonymous" is a Karl Rove operative. This is all a fraud.

This is a ploy to weaken the Troopergate investigation against Sarah Palin.

It was proven that she used private email accounts for official business in order
to avoid scrutiny of her neferious and illegal government activities.

These email accounts were being subpoenaed by the investigators.

They FAKED a hack and displayed a few email pages on line INTENTIONALLY
in order to justify the COMPLETE DELETION of these accounts which are chock full of
INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE.

[longcat]

lol you are dumb anonymous did it for the lulz. however no lulz were found....

[psychmaj323]

If they confiscate her computer, they can retrieve the deleted emails, or they can go to yahoo, they keep the emails on their servers.

[follyeoa]

I guess Bush’s DOJ could get a subpoena under FISA, or wait 4 months and it can be Obama’s DOJ

[omahajim]

dear psychmaj323 . that is not how it works. the email are saved on the server of the email provider.in this case, yahoo. not her personal home computer.

[follyeoa]

Talk about la-la land

[lumbergh]

And you must know this for sure, 'cause you must have read all of her e-mails and have proof of all of this???? There is one thing about posting your opion and posting fact!!! If you have facts, prove it. If it had happined to Oboma, everyone would be singing a different tune!!! My thoughts are that it doesn't matter who it happined to, I think the perps should be arrested.... They broke the law... I don't believe that GOV Sarah Palin has anything to hide and I could never believe that is was a fake hack!!!

[lumbergh]

How is it that you are so sure of everything, is this your opion or fact??? If it is fact, I would love to see supporting docs on that!!! The fact is those private e-mails are Private for a reason!!! And they are protected by law!!! If it had happined to Oboma, or someone on his ticket, it would be a different story!!! The fact is that it shouldn't happin to anyone and I think it's an outrage the way people are being so lite about this!!!

[shanefish]

Um, did you mean happen and light?

[shanefish]

Oh yeah, it is Obama too!

[elusivecandor]

I agree that ANY violation of a persons privacy is of grave concern. However, equally concerning is a Governor using a private e mail address instead of the state account provided. Her private e mail is not marked as public records, even though she is conducting public business with that e mail address. It is a tactic that can be seen by cynics or skeptics as a way to skirt, bend or brake rules about conducting political activities on public time.

[jmpfjoy]

From a document control and information management perspective, conducting state business on a personal account is a nightmare. I'm sure the State of Alaska has specific archiving and warehousing protocols for their data management - she completely circumvented them by using Yahoo. She knew what she was doing.

[clb72]

I'll bet the hacker used the Sarah Palin baby name generator to hack her account.

[SPiHC]

While it's completely inappropriate and illegal to compromise someone else's personal email account, this shines some light on Palin's open and transparent reformer argument.

I took the time to examine the index of emails in Palin's inbox.A large majority of the email she received was from individuals employed by the State of Alaska.

Although it's only an initial comb through of the senders, it's pretty illuminating... especially the subject lines.

Take a look, bottom of the page: www.SarahPalinISNTHillaryClinton.com

[milo h minderbinder]

I'm dying to know what her password was? Probably something like "Trig123"?

Yeah, she'd be great trying to maintain national security, almost makes McCain's inability to use email at all look good.

I wonder how many of the emails the hackers grabbed before it got deleted?

[Parisian-Refugee]

So now hackers are "Watergating" Governor Palin and the Associated Press serves as an accomplice. She shouldn't have used a personal Yahoo account for State business, but it doesn't change the fact that hackers are criminals. Blaming Palin for this invasion of her privacy is tantamount to blaming a rape victim for her choice of clothing.

[milo h minderbinder]

Bzzt, wrong answer.

It's generally government policy that elected officials shouldn't be discussing business on public email accounts. She clearly violated that, and provided a perfect example of why that's a bad idea. Can this woman be trusted with important classified information? Sure doesn't look like it.

Another factor is that if you're using official email, there are generally safeguards to make sure you don't use something like HELLO12345 for your password. How much you want to bet she was using something easily hackable?

[skeptaholic]

Let's check out Don Rumsfelds DOD official business on his hotmail account. Password "1234".

Mel Brooks in Spaceballs: "That's incredible! That's the same combination as my luggage!"