$15 Million Price Tag Placed on Palin's Emails

When she ran for Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin campaigned on a promise of "open and transparent government."

What she didn't say was that such political transparency came with a hefty price tag--in some cases, more than $15 million.

That's more than twice what a book by Palin would reputedly fetch on the international literary market and considerably more than the GOP spent on her controversial wardrobe during her two-month stint as John McCain's roving pit bull on the campaign trail. It even makes the $68,400 for her traveling makeup artist and $42,225 paid to her hairstylist for two months of work pale by comparison.

Ever since she became governor two years ago, Palin's activities have generated concern and suspicion among longtime political watchdogs in Alaska, from all ends of the political spectrum. Zane Henning, a self-defined "fiscal conservative and social moderate" who has kept an eye on Palin since her early days on the Wasilla City Council, suspected foul play in Palin's efforts to oust Randy Ruedrich as chairman of the state Republican Party.

Henning requested email records for Palin aides Ivy Frye and Frank Bailey to see if they were conducting partisan politics on state time. Much to his surprise, Henning discovered that a good deal of Palin's state business was being conducted on private email accounts, and that Palin's husband, Todd, had been copied on much of her state business.

Henning doled out a hefty $1,091 for his discovery.

Once Palin was named John McCain's running mate on the Republican ticket in late August, the number of requests for Palin's email records skyrocketed and, so too, did the price tag. One request by the Associated Press--for "copies of all e-mails and attachments" from the "mccain08hq.com domain since Aug. 1, 2008"--was met with a prospective state fee totaling $15.4 million.

Alaska administrative director, Linda Perez, applied a flat rate of $960.31 per email account searched; given that there are approximately 16,000 full time employees in Alaska, the fee would have topped $15 million. Had Alaska's part-time employees been included in the search, the fee assessed would have been $27.8 million.

Several other requests by NBC and the AP--most notably NBC's request for all records of Todd Palin's email activities on his government issued BlackBerry--also soared above the $15 million mark. Had news agencies agreed to these exorbitant fees, Palin's emails would have topped Alaskan crude oil as the state's No. 1 export. In fact, most news agencies refined or rescinded their requests in response to the projected fees.

At the same time, the speed at which the requests were accommodated slowed down considerably. The Alaska Public Records Statute requires that the state make records available "as soon as practicable," but no longer than the "10th working day" after an agency receives such a query. But by early October, MSNBC investigative journalist Bill Dedman had been informed by Perez that the information he was requesting would not be available until after the November 4 election. She cited excessive workload and the necessity of legal review for the delays.

Some of the requests went nowhere; still others led to significant revelations. For instance, the recent news item that Palin failed to file proper financial disclosure forms for two free trips that she took nearly two years ago was discovered by the AP following a records request in October. (Palin has since amended her disclosure form.)

The one request that seemingly got lost in all the shuffle was made in June of 2008--more than two months prior to Palin being named to the national ticket--by Andree McLeod, a registered Republican, who, like Henning, suspected Palin and her staff of playing party politics on the state's nickel.

In response to McLeod's request, Palin's office withheld more than 1,000 emails on the grounds that they were confidential and contained "official policy deliberations" between Palin and her staff. Many of those emails, it turned out, had subject lines indicating they were not about policy matters (one from Frye was entitled "I may be in trouble here guys," while another was headed "from Sheila Toomey," in reference to an Alaska gossip columnist) and several were copied to Palin's husband, Todd, who holds no official position in his wife's administration.

"The people of Alaska have a right to know the inner workings of their government. They have a right to know how the individuals they elect to public office are discharging the public trust," McLeod said in a public statement at the time. She called Palin's position "bogus."

More importantly, McLeod's request, like Henning's earlier, revealed that Palin conducted even more state business on private email accounts, which meant that they could not be retrieved from the state's server.

That created a classic Catch-22 in the Alaska bureaucracy: The only way they could track down Palin's emails sent on her private accounts was to do a search of all of Alaska's employees to see if they had been the recipient of such communications, resulting in a price tag (you guessed it) of $15-plus million.

Last month, a state judge in Anchorage "ordered" Palin "to preserve all emails" she has sent from or received at her private accounts, until McLeod's lawsuit demanding that the emails be made public is resolved. That legal challenge still awaits Palin in the governor's office.

Meanwhile, MSNBC continues waiting for a response to its September request seeking email correspondence between a group of 13 state employees and 11 potential recipients.

The state is still citing workload and legal review as cause for the delays.

Watchdog Henning, who's currently working on the cold North Slope of Alaska's oil fields, is having none of the state's explanations. He's issued a letter to Alaska Attorney General Talis J. Colberg demanding that the state expedite the records request process. "With the technological knowledge of the computer age, I'm extremely disappointed in the length of time it has taken to receive records from the State of Alaska," he wrote. "Frankly it is unacceptable in my opinion. I would hope that the commitment of the Palin Administration to maintain 'clear and transparent government' would include providing requested information in a timely manner."

And, one would hope, without rock star price tags. Not even Palin herself can afford those.

Comments

[LiberalForever]

Just imagine how long this would take if they used spell check on the email.

[aloha43]

Haha! That was good!

[pipp]

How can this be legal?

[aloha43]

Republicans seem to be able to do and say "almost" anything they want.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

(mumbled in a Nixonesque voice) When the Governor does it, it's legal.

[lunchlady]

Don't give her a dime. Wait for the subpoenas and she'll have to hand them over for free.

[trisha08]

Can you imagine Palin in the White House passing top secret intelligence briefings on to her husband. Todd can then pass them on to his buddies in the AIP.

I can't believe Alaskans think it's acceptable for her husband to be copied on official State business when he is not an elected official. I also cannot believe they let her get away with conducting State business on private email accounts.

Wake up people!

[drjodip]

Trisha.

"I can't believe Alaskans think it's acceptable for her husband to be copied on official State business when he is not an elected official. I also cannot believe they let her get away with conducting State business on private email accounts. Wake up people!"

Many Alaskans are "awake" and working hard on getting Palin out of there!

Wake up Trisha and check your sweeping generalizations.

Dr. Jodi P.

[deosil]

I understand what you are saying Dr.JODI, however in Trisha´s defense PALIN is an official IN ALASKA.
I do expect many Alaskans (like alot of people in alot of other states,) who never cared otherwise will be checking up on Ms. Palin from now on.

The Palin´s built there house when a new arena was being built there...you do the math.
Huckster, Grifter, Con Artist.

[Copperhead]

I can appreciate that it may be slow going, but the appearance is that the taxpayers are NOT rising up against her B.S. Maybe there needs to a lot more national publicity... after all, she fancies herself as the GOP frontrunner for 2012. No time like the present to stop that.

[Manturian]

I am a Democrat not a Republican, rather liberal and believe in the peoples right to know, but as a government employee, I see how difficult it is to provide hundreds of emails with in 10 days, I am sure that providing thousands or even millions would be an incredible feat. And I have seen the system abused by individuals that request documents to punish the government, that is why Texas recently approved charging for services after the first 32 hours has been satisfied.

[eus]

Maybe hacking should be allowed if its so difficult for the state. Lots of individuals would help out for free.

[UrbanRube]

Every government body is subject to business-continuity requirements, which means that they have to show their plans each year as to how they'd bring day-to-day operations back online within a reasonable period of time after a catastrophic event. It's the same as for corporations.

Any organization that can't do a simple select of all email using the IDs of a few hundred people within two days has not spent any money on competent IT staff and processes.

[11907281]

Exactly, it's like they think they need to search them by hand. In an effort to "protect" American citizens, data mining has evolved tremendously. The only person who should be buying this is John "what's a puter" McCain.

[UrbanRube]

All right, after reading Manturian's comment below, I buy that the manual review process is what takes time. But clearly there's a LOT OF STALLING going on up there.

[anders9181]

I work in the technical field, and I can tell you that it is common policy to permanently delete email after a set period of time (typically 90 days) precisely to avoid the liability and business disruption of lawyers poring over message traffic going back years. In a legal conflict, forensic requests for electronic data (email, files or otherwise) can paralyze a business to the point of bankruptcy, since one of the steps is to confiscate the equipment (that means taking a working business system out of commission with no replacement). So don't think that this type of request has a 15-minute fulfillment timeframe. It's incredibly disruptive, especially when lawyers get involved.

[Manturian]

OK, first of all, I am a professional Public Information Officer, and have been for 5 years so I know what Im talking about here. I have had requests for emails (for 1 year) to one individual (general manager for a local government) that took me over a month to review for confidential material. That includes anything in the deliberative process, policy making, attorney/client, and purchasing of property. I'm sure that the Governor receives way more than a GM of a local government does.

It is not beyond the realm of possibility for time to be a factor, the author seems to think it is a delaying tactic, but you cant have untrustworthy people looking thru potentially protected documents. You can't just hire someone off the street to review them.

Additionally, to KEEPEMHONEST, it IS taxpayer money being spent to complete these requests. And because of so many specious request which abused the system, many states are now allowed to charge for Public Documents. I bet you have no idea how long it takes to review hundreds of emails (regardless of the subject title) and pull out the ones that are protected/confidential, and have to write a letter to the attorney general requesting that they stay confidential.

see more below

[ericmiami]

Who cares about all that ethics stuff? When is the wedding?

[BabsfromKansas]

ROFL!

[hortonhearsawho]

and who is buying the KEG...

[hortonhearsawho]

If there is one complete sentence in all those e-mails...would be Priceless!

[LiberTLover]

Who in their right mind would pay money for the e-mails of someone who makes no sense when she speaks and displays no understanding of anything of consequence?

[keepemhonest]

The government is owned by the people and paid for by the people's taxes -

Government leaders are EMPLOYEES OF THE PEOPLE. Then WHY do the PEOPLE need to pay to see their employees records?

[debrouillard]

Can you imagine my boss at work wanting to check out my work emails and I say no?

[anders9181]

in private enterprise your boss wouldn't have to ask. he'd just do it.

[Crumb]

I was just getting ready to say the same thing.

Perhaps she is saving them for the Palin Presidential Library --- the one library where she can ban whatever books she wants.

[drock973]

She works for the people of Alaska, not journalists in NY.

[ladycubsfan]

Is anyone surprised by this? Didn't think so.
I hope none of these people seeking the truth give up their quest, though I'm sure that is exactly what is behind all of the delays. I for one can't wait until the day Silly Sarah's moose is officially cooked.

[gentlernation]

there is going to be lots of investigating between now and 2010 primaries, wait until Romney, Huckabee and Jindal open the Pandora's box...............Republicans will eat their own.

[BabsfromKansas]

I'll make the popcorn!

[BMS]

You are correct; the Republicans will bring her down themselves. It just took one look at the faces of those republican governors at the RGA meeting to see how digusted they are at the prospect of her being the "face" of their party. A "face" which apparently costs $32,000 a month to maintain, according to latest reports, along with $75,000/month for clothes and so on.