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The last of the emails that the state of Alaska could recover from Sarah Palin's brief term as governor were released on Thursday.
Editor's note: Here's a link to msnbc.com's previous coverage of a release of Sarah Palin's public records, and our database where you can read those public documents. The Associated Press was apparently the only news organization to be notified by the state that new records were available. Here is the AP's report. Others that had requested them said they had not been informed of the release. They include Mother Jones magazine (which blogged about the odd release), CNN, The Washington Post, ABC News, and the Republican political activist Andrée McLeod, who said Thursday, "The culture of corruption continues unabated."
By Becky Bohrer
The Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska—In the final months before she resigned as Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin displayed growing frustration over deteriorating relationships with state lawmakers and their perceived efforts to "lame duck" her administration, along with outrage over ethics complaints that she felt frivolously targeted her and prompted her to write: "I can't take it anymore."
The details are included in more than 17,000 records released Thursday by state officials -- nearly 3 1/2 years after citizens and news organizations, including The Associated Press, first requested Palin's emails.
By the spring of 2009, the emails show, Palin was regularly butting heads with lawmakers of both parties over her absences from the Capitol and over her picks for vacancies in the state Senate and her own cabinet. The emails she sent to staff illustrate Palin's growing suspicion that those legislators were seeking to undermine her administration by harping on how often she was away from Juneau, the state capitol.
She asked her aides to tally how many days she was out of Alaska in 2008. The staff came up with 94 days, but 10 less if you count travel days when she was in the state part of the day, The absences included all of October and most of September while she was on the campaign trail as the GOP vice presidential candidate.
"It's unacceptable, and there must be push back on their attempts to lame duck this administration," Palin wrote to her top aides on April 9. "That's only going to get worse as they try to pull more bs and capitalize on me being out of the capitol building for 36 hours," she wrote aides.
Palin also asked her aides to see if they could hold certain legislators' "feet to the fire" and hold votes on her nominees. She wrote words of encouragement to Wayne Anthony Ross, her nominee for attorney general, telling him to "stay strong."
"Those who want to turn this into a kangaroo court will soon see you confirmed as Alaska's AG," Palin wrote.
Ross was not confirmed, the first ever cabinet level candidate rejected by the Alaska Legislature. Palin traveled to an anti-abortion rally in Indiana the day he was defeated.
Tim Crawford, treasurer of Sarah Palin's political action committee, encouraged everyone to read the emails. "They show a governor hard at work for her state," he said.
The emails are the last of her emails from her time as governor, according to Alaska state officials. Citizens and news organizations, including the AP, first requested Palin's emails in September 2008, as part of her vetting as the Republican vice presidential nominee. The state released a batch of the emails last June, a lag of nearly three years that was attributed to the sheer volume of the records and the flood of requests stemming from Palin's tenure.
The 24,199 pages of emails that were released last year left off in September 2008. When it became clear that the June release would not include all the emails from Palin's tenure last June, requests were then made for the remaining emails. Thursday's release includes 17,736 records, or 34,820 pages, generally spanning from October 2008 until Palin's resignation, in July 2009. Of those, 13,791 records were released without redactions, according to the governor's office. Another 965 documents were withheld.
Several media organizations, including msnbc.com, said they were not informed of Thursday's release.
Sharon Leighow, a spokeswoman for the current governor, Sean Parnell, said she was looking into why msnbc.com was not on the list.
Palin's frustration over a series of ethics complaints filed against her, one of the issues she cited when stepping down, emerges in a series of e-mails on March 24, 2009.
"These are the things that waste my time and money, and the state's time and money," she wrote to then-Lt. Gov. Parnell.
In an April 2009 email, she commiserated over a story indicating another ethics complaint was to be filed: "Unflippinbelievable... I'm sending this because you can relate to the bullcrap continuation of the hell these people put the family through," she wrote to Ivy Frye, an aide during the first part of her term, and to Frank Bailey.
Later that day, in an email to her husband and two top aides, on the issue, she said: "I can't take it anymore."
The first batch of emails released last June, before she announced she would not run for president, showed that Palin was angling for the vice presidential slot months before John McCain picked her to be his running mate. Those records produced no bombshells, while painting a picture of an image-conscious, driven leader, struggling with the gossip about her family and marriage, involved in the day-to-day duties of running the state and keeping tabs on the signature issues of her administration.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Leave a Comment:
Sarah Palin should grow a beard. Her religious ideology is no different than that of the Muslim Ayatollahs.
Golly gee, why does this bixch keep on opening her mouth. I though she was gone. Why doesn't she stay in Alaska and shoot beavers.
What a Loser...
And Quitter too!
Hey Sarah, If you can't stand the Heat, get out of the Kitchen!
Judging by the number of posts on this board
Quitty Quit Quitter Sarah Palin has become "IRRELEVANT"
Why hasn't FAUX figured that out?
I dislike Palin as much as any red-blooded American Liberal, but her emails should be her own business.
DUH, public office, public computer on the taxpayers payroll. They are NOT her private property.
Todds comments on the Chewstroke homepage didnt help...she need to shorten the leash.
A lot of folk seem to have forgotten the "little" (local?) scandal that sister Palin was tied to as gov'ner - the one where she was using the influenece of her office to get her ex-bro-in-law (state trooper) fired from his job because he had the nerve to divorce her sister.... sister Palin of course would NEVER abuse her position to stoop to pure pettiness, now would she? Say it with me: you betcha!
really??, this is all you have. wonder how you feel about Al Gore being tied to scientist fudging numbers in their global warming emails and how he made millions from people like you or how obama wants to force all employers to provide birth control. i could go on, but i have to work soon.
Most people throughout the world share the view of the majority of leading scientists who, having examined available evidence, have concluded that global climate change is real and caused by man made events. When given the choice between accepting factual against something that is mythical, I accept the factual.
I am LAUGHING hysterically cuz you Palin haters got NOTHIN' from this. Rather, what it does show is that our Legislative representatives spend more time covering their own butts for their corruptive ways of "doing business" and that they have no problem wasting our money and their time on frivolous nonsense. Up yours, Alaska legislators and Palin haters!
I know, right?
Go Steelers!
I think it's nice to see sports nosing it's way in to a politcal article as the reverse is so often true. In response, I just have to say Go Superbowl Champion NY Giants!
I find this so odd- a reporter working for a respected news organization is actually responding to some of the bs on this blog. I've rarely seen this on newsvine (I am not an MSNBC junkie). Why respond to a Sarah Palin story concern the non-event emails? Why? This story is about as important as ....
WOW, absolutely no dirt in her email. you palin haters have gone to hatred and name calling since you have nothing on her. just like a bunch of little kids.
Scott you are giving KY a bad name unless that is a jelly and not a state.
Only took her three years to hide over 900 emails and now she can claim "see nothing to hide"
you betcha
Looks to me that the Scott from ky is giving Kentucky a good name. He is as fed up as I am with all the name calling. The hateful comments made by so many people whom would claim to be good decent people. This woman does not deserve all this hate. You should be ashamed for defending it and those that have made the hateful comments should be ashamed for making them. This country is better than this. Stop the hate, stop polorizing my country.
And it took them how many years to release these? Talk about your slow government workers, this is slower than a snails pace and is also illegal under the freedom of information act. I hope someone sues Alaska for the delay.
hahaha, you poor soul, you treat this as if it were a jerry springer show, get a life.
I'm not a democrat, or republican. Or even American for that matter. But I think I respect Palin a little bit more after reading this. She took on a massive amount of responsibility in a very short time frame. Most people on Earth would have caved under the pressure she was under. Not to mention the daily personal and political attacks. I wouldn't vote for her if I could, but it's not out of a lack of respect.
Seems society has become addicted to trying to tear people down. It's demoralizing.
Sarah is probably a wonderful mother and wife and has the ability to enthrall some of the people on the far right but she would make a woeful Vice President and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office although as VP she probably wouldn't be any worse than Cheney but that's not a very high bar.
speaking of vice president, i think Vice President Joe Biden looks like one of Jeff Dunham's puppets, i think his name is walter. and same attitude.
speaking of puppets, i think vice president joe biden appears to be obama's puppet.
"...I think, and it appears to be" Pull you head out if only for a few minutes.
Paul, you are a complete idiot obviously. Joe Biden is the laughing stock of Washington and has been for many years. This buffoon can't open his mouth without putting his foot in it. The only thing he is good at is being the straight man for Obama. Abbott and Costello reincarnated.
Just more evidence why millions of conservatives like myself appreciate and value Gov Palin as a terrific spokesperson for our values.
And it shows just how irrational liberals are in their vitriol towards her.
I know, right?
Larry R. 1323081
Regarding the use of the word "myself",e.g., only I can get in touch with myself, you can get in touch with me."I" is the subjective (first person pronoun) "me" is (objective) and "myself" is the reflexive. How difficult is that?
Paul, from the comments you make, you get in touch with yourself far to often.
May Quitty Pit-bull with lipstick Never stop endorsing Republican candidates
Works each and every time!
A gauranteed KISS OF DEATH
atta girl !!!!!
I am a very, very, very flawed human being (Born-again Christian) and I say that because I am also a Democrat. One can only pity Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, et al. as they spout their piousness which is derived only from the recesses of hate and bigotry; they are pitiful, sad human beings. For those of you who dislike President Obama, you call yourselves Christians yet you are more hateful and spiteful than any of my fellow liberals during GW Bush's administration. You talk about Christian values, you wouldn't know those values if they bit you on the nose. Everything Jesus Christ stood for, the poor, the disenfranchised, the forgotten, the weak; the very people President Obama attempts to fight for, you do not. You besmirch Christian values, polluting it with your ugliness. While President Obama has his flaws [as human beings, we all do], it is refreshing to have someone who has [real not feigned] empathy for the middle class/working poor. You talk about being pro-life but when have you fought for the single mothers and their children? When have you fought for the many poor children? You want to deny them Food Stamps and an education, to name a few and you call yourselves Christians? WWJD? He's already done it in healthcare: He healed everyone who asked; He fed the thousands on the hillside a couple of times. He didn't hang with the religious/political right of His day, he hung with the very people you choose to ignore. Look it up, hypocrites. How can you even sleep at night? Shame on you all.
im not even close to being a christian, but i think i understand it more than yourself. jesus christ stands for ALL , not just the poor and unfortunate. but its people like you who use Christianity as a tool in this fight and lose the fight. as for obama fighting for these very people you speak of, he also fights for the gays and lesbians who god condemns and as a christian you should know this. now as for the poor and their foodstamps and whatever, i dont buy into that crap, i have a brother who sponges off the tax payer collecting these benefits while myself and others have to work our butts off to put food on the table.
Sandy
It's a shame in your so-called view of Christianity you choose secular humanism rather than the teachings of Jesus. Liberals like Obama and yourself are reflecting the lie of “Liberation Theology” This is a humanist/socialist view of Christianity and is of the spirit of the Anti-Christ. Helping the needy for Christians must come from the heart and be done as unto Jesus Himself (Matthew 25, Isaiah 58, and others). He advocates something very UNCHRISTIAN which is socialism by wanting it to be done by compulsion and theft, it amounts to asking Christians to sin by putting our trust and transferring glory to man/government instead of God. Christians are required out of love to demonstrate Christ's love to others and in so doing, glorify God. The ONLY way that this can be done through government is in a theocracy, and NO ONE wants to see that.
Matthew 25:40
Having the govt seize our property and redistributing it to glorify man/govt is a sin and contrary to the teachings of Jesus
and in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Isaiah 58:6-9
As a Pastor and a former missionary to 3rd world countries, I encourage you to reflect and pray about these passages and the difference between compulsion and sharing out of a reflection of Jesus residing within us through the Holy Spirit.
And perhaps two additional passages
I don't hate Obama, but I do hate his ideology and the policies it produces. They are antithetical to liberty
Larry,
Recommended reading: Why The Government Can't Save You, by John MacArthur
The secular you talk about is as old as the earth. This is not surprising to God. That is why He sent His Son. What makes Him shake His finger and yell, "Vipers," are the poltically religious right. They are not new under the sun either. These are the Pharisees.
If you are a real pastor, then I exhort you, it is the Holy Spirit who changes hearts, so get your butt back here to the US and serve Christ to the lost. Paul preached in the very secular culture you fear for America, and yet, the Gospel flourished. The victory belongs to God. You don't advance the Kingdom of God at the voting booth.
God forgive me for what I am about to say. Yoooooo Hoooooo Sandy M. Corder (who is stupid enough to put their full name on here including middle initial). Have you stopped to ask the poor how they feel about B.O.'s policies? I am poor; a single mom; college educated; and had a job which I lost when this idiot took office and have spent the last few years looking for another job with no success. I go to the gas station to put enough gas in to get my child back and forth to school, and I have to pay $4, that I don't have, for a a gallon of gas; I go to the grocery store and every thing has increased by at least $1 to $3 (money I don't have); I go to buy light bulbs and because B.O. has told me what kind of light bulbs I must now use, I have to pay more than $5 for a stinkin lightbulb; and to top things off I am really worried that come March 1, I won't have a place for my child to live because the IRS won't divy up our refunds and because I don't have a job I will probably get like a $200 refund (more than some get but it is something). Then to top it off, this idiot tells me what I can and cannot feed my child, that if I don't get health insurance which I will have to pull out my magic money bag to pay for, I will face penalties; and B.O. thinks I have $40,000 just sitting around to buy a green car which I would have to plug into electricity which is fueled by coal and will cost me a years salary just to pay the electrical company. If this is how Jesus treated the poor, then I am converting to Atheism! Now you complete freak of nature, how you feeling about 5 more years of B.O.'s B.S.?
Barb-3875875
What is it that you find stupid about including full name and middle initial? You don't sound too bright.
To Larry Robinson 1323081:
I read your post and I was shocked you said you were a pastor. Perhaps you might want to read 1 Cor. 2:14, and pray for discernment, also read 2 Timothy 3:16, for reproof. Then you might want to read Matthew 23: 1-36, and Matthew 19:23 and Luke 16: 1-36. I pray you recieve this in the Spirit of the Lord, Proverbs 9:10.
Rhama, try as I might, I can find no correlation between your scripture list and my commentary on the requirement to glorify God rather than man.
Perhaps you can enlighten this dumb old pastor who has worked for decades to feed, clothe, and care for the needy in the projects of the US and in 3rd world countries.
Then leave BIT*H. We can NOT take you any longer BIT*H.
Newsviners comments from 2008-2012 show: "We can't take Palin anymore."
The media is still talking about Sarah Palin??? Pathetic. Obsessive.
Anything to detract from Obama's glaring failings as leader of this country. Let's leave Sarah and her family alone, finally, and discuss dimwit Barack's 9% unemployment rate, rising fuel costs, downgrading of our credit rating, and his continuous contravening of our country's system of checks & balances and trampling of our Constitution, most recently the First Amendment.
Wonder why the media wants to talk about Sarah Palin instead. Years old emails, no less. What a joke.
thats the plan of the media and if they can stir the crap in the big bucket to deflect the attention from real issues, then they will do it.
And people made her rich for she can't take it. Thank goodness people were wise enough to not let her near the white house. Now if they would just let her disappear forever.
speaking of rich, idiotic tree hugging liberals made Al Gore rich buying into his lies about global warming.
MSNBC knows there is huge news out there, but they are too afraid to cover it cuz it will spite the dictator, so bravo MSNBC, you make sure you cover this story with all you got! Take your reporters off the Fast and Furious and put them on this story, cuz I am sure this is gonna be the exact thing that gives B.O. 5 mo' years!
When I read and hear MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS news reports, I feel like I am back in the 9th grade history class learning about propoganda, Marxism, Communism, and the USSR. You all still remember the USSR?
if you want to know about the huge news you speak of, dont watch tv, you will never hear about it, unless it benefits the views of the liberal media.
Barb: Don't go away mad. And if you don't like the thread, just go away! Fox has 24/7 "fair and balanced news". Oh @!$%# !!!! Owned by Murdoch. Let's just say 24/7 news.
If Palin complains of the coverage now, she could have just stayed quiet in Alaska.
Scott,
I WANT HUGE NEWS SOURCES. Where does one like you have the privy?
I get my news from SEVERAL, no, make that numerous forms and make my own decisions.
Where does someone like you get your " HUGE NEWS " ? A twice a day newspaper like the Mayberry Gazette ?
By what your saying, my TV dial is locked on liberal media stations. Guess what ? I have OTA, so my life is not connected to cable. By your comment's, it must be Fox and Springer for you, and whatever you do on the internet.
FYI: Biased right winged radio and TV ( by licensing ) is more than 75% TO 25 (4 to 1 ) Ask that idol Rush Limbaugh. His number's set the bar.
If she can't take it anymore why is she STILL trying to stay in the public eye? :)
really dude, she holds no public office. its your media putting her there.
If the GOP gets in, she'll be jockying for an appointment. I hope it's as an ambassador in some far away country so small that it doesn't matter how embarrassing she is.
I
thoughthoped she had disappeared.Nope! Still lQQing for doos pesky Ruskies outside her door.
She can see Russia from her back door. Crap ! All I get to see is an expressway entrance ramp.
Maybe I should be on guard for the Russians getting off on the exit ramp.