NBC Predicts 'Tough Day' for Palin With Release of Email 'Political Minefield'
At the top of Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer declared that it "could be a tough day for potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin. We're live in Alaska, where thousands of her e-mails as governor there will be released today." Later, fellow co-host Ann Curry introduced a report on the upcoming release by proclaiming that Palin was "about to face a new political minefield."
Without having seen a single email, national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff argued that Palin "may now be facing a storm." The headline on screen throughout the segment read: "Problems for Palin? Thousands of E-mails to be Released."
Isikoff noted how "Palin used her personal Yahoo e-mail account rather than government accounts to conduct state business, to try to keep her communications private." A sound bite was included from former Palin aide Frank Bailey, who bashed her in a recent book. He ominously claimed: "There seemed to be almost a paranoia about keeping her communication private. She, at times, would have me go in to her state account and delete and purge out e-mails that she didn't want to, essentially, ever be discovered."
Isikoff speculated on the contents of the e-mails, assuming the information would all be damaging to Palin:
What might be in the e-mails? Controversies like troopergate, Palin's alleged effort to get rid of an Alaska state trooper who was in a messy divorce with Palin's sister. And a response to questions about her daughter Bristol's pregnancy during the '08 campaign....And Bristol's boyfriend, Levi Johnston. Then there's the famous tanning bed she had installed in the governor's mansion and the nearly $17,000 in per diem expenses she billed to state taxpayers when she spent nights in her home in Wasilla.
Wrapping up his report, Isikoff got in one final dig at the former Alaska governor: "News organizations first requested these documents nearly three years ago in the summer of 2008....Longer, in fact, than the time Palin was actually governor."
Here is a full transcript of the June 10 segment:
7:01AM ET TEASE:
MATT LAUER: Plus, what could be a tough day for potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin. We're live in Alaska, where thousands of her e-mails as governor there will be released today.
7:13AM ET SEGMENT:
ANN CURRY: Sarah Palin says that she's still thinking about making a run for president, but she's about to face a new political minefield today. Thousands of e-mails from her time as governor of Alaska are due to be released within hours. NBC national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff is in Juneau, Alaska this morning with more on this. Hey Michael, good morning.
MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good morning, Ann. Today, Alaska officials have finally agreed to turn them over, more than 24,000 of Sarah Palin's e-mails are due to be released here this morning. It's a massive document dump that could offer new clues into what kind of governor Sarah Palin was, and if she runs, what kind of president she could yet become.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Problems for Palin? Thousands of E-mails to be Released]
Fresh off her bus tour that attracted a crush of media attention, Sarah Palin may now be facing a storm of a different kind. The release of thousands of e-mails from Palin to more than 50 top aides and officials in Alaska.
SARAH PALIN: I, Sarah Palin-
ISIKOFF: The e-mails cover the first two years of her tenure as governor and continue through September 2008, including the first frantic weeks after John McCain plucked her from obscurity as his running mate.
When she was governor, Palin was a frenetic BlackBerry user, firing off e-mails daily to top aides about state policies and venting about her critics. But Palin used her personal Yahoo e-mail account rather than government accounts to conduct state business, to try to keep her communications private. According to Frank Bailey, a former close political aide who recently wrote a book sharply critical of her.
FRANK BAILEY: There seemed to be almost a paranoia about keeping her communication private. She, at times, would have me go in to her state account and delete and purge out e-mails that she didn't want to, essentially, ever be discovered.
ISIKOFF: What might be in the e-mails? Controversies like troopergate, Palin's alleged effort to get rid of an Alaska state trooper who was in a messy divorce with Palin's sister. And a response to questions about her daughter Bristol's pregnancy during the '08 campaign.
SARAH PALIN: Then we have our daughter, Bristol, she's on the bus with the newborn.
ISKOFF: And Bristol's boyfriend, Levi Johnston. Then there's the famous tanning bed she had installed in the governor's mansion and the nearly $17,000 in per diem expenses she billed to state taxpayers when she spent nights in her home in Wasilla. Palin says the e-mails won't be a distraction.
CHRIS WALLACE [HOST, FOX NEWS SUNDAY]: Are you worried that some of those e-mails could be damaging?
PALIN: No. Because, you know, I think every rock in the Palin household that could ever be kicked over and uncovered anything is – has already been kicked over.
ISIKOFF: News organizations first requested these documents nearly three years ago in the summer of 2008. But state officials say that the sheer volume of Palin's e-mails was so great it's taken them this long to process the request. Longer, in fact, than the time Palin was actually governor.
CURRY: Alright, well thank you so much. Michael Isikoff this morning.
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Comments
We Already Have Film!
Submitted by JustAl on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 12:54pm.
Sorry, my earlier post was in error.
Salem, 2011.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:25am.
They took the show to ALASKA for this??? OMG. Between this and NYT/WaPo hit team recruitment, I'm speechless.
Any of you libtrolls want to point to similar examples of the right using blatant NATIONALLY SYNCHRONIZED character destruction on this scale in recent times?
Talk about collusion. If
Submitted by rbosque on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:29am.
Talk about collusion.
If these idiots don't find something in her e-mails, I'm sure they'll either make it up or take something way out of context.
If they had actually done their job and vetted Obama with this much intensity, he wouldn't be in office and our economy would have been fine.
They've committed themselves
Submitted by Beukeboom on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:41am.
They've committed themselves to finding something...anything...that they feel could damage Palin. Their motives are public knowledge and proves conclusively that they have long since thrown out any journalistic integrity and ethics they may have once had.
The double-standard of which you raise is extremely valid.
Yes
Submitted by Red Jeep on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:45am.
What a better place this country would be if the MSM did investigative journalism of both political sides. But no, they are Dem cheerleaders. It is disgusting what they have become.
I hope the MSM is bored to tears reading email about the everyday operation of government in Alaska.
It wouldn't be the first time
Submitted by Beukeboom on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:39am.
It wouldn't be the first time liberals in the MSM and their hired-guns (e.g. -- consultants, contributors, et al) have predicted dire things for conservatives only to have them not come true. When such happens they grow quiet, pretend they never made any such prediction in the hopes everyone forgets, and deny they ever made such a prediction whenever confronted.
When will these organizations review...
Submitted by sherlock1 on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:51am.
When will these organizations review Obama's emails from when he was an Illinois and US Senator... oh wait, we don't have them, do we? Well, okay - just tell us how long have the WAPO and the NYT been waiting on that FOIA request.
No biggie - just the number of years will do.
Oh.. and the request number, please. Thanks a bunch.
Palin's blatant abuse of power
Submitted by PeskyDane on Tue, 07/26/2011 - 5:09pm.
Palin's blatant abuse of power - promoting her husbands snowmobile team on government time:
From: Alaskanhotness@yahoo.com
To: Slopehunk@yahoo.com
Todd - working late tonight. Can you pick up the spark plugs and piston rings? Thanks a bunch.
- S :-)
OMO!
Submitted by Blonde on Tue, 07/26/2011 - 5:12pm.
Stop the presses. That's some serious abuse.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Blonde, I know this thread is
Submitted by PeskyDane on Wed, 08/03/2011 - 11:31am.
Blonde, I know this thread is aging, but I could never get past the fact that her enemies actually tried to bring her up on charges for wearing the team jacket for her husband's snow mobile team.
Yeah, the commies will be cutting and pasting like mad
Submitted by Dave. on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 12:25pm.
...in a effort to manufuacture something, anything, that they can use to try and damage Sarah Palin.
Funny how the closer a person is to the ideals that founded this nation, the more the commies hate them.
That speaks volumes about her detractors.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Why just Palin?
Submitted by jessieH on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 12:29pm.
If Palin has to release hers, shouldn't Clinton, Weiner, Rangle, Pelosi, Frank, Reid, Boxer, ect., ect.? Why just her? Is their hatred of her THAT strong, to single her out, with ALL the ethics violations & tax cheats in our govt? Something smells funny, here.
Fight Fire WIth Fire
Submitted by Bill Brasky on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 12:37pm.
I agree with the poster above. Let's get all of the emails from Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and the rest of the buffoons. Guarantee those will be way more interesting and embarrassing than Palins. Also revealing would be the howling from the liberal media if conservatives went after these emails. Mr. Breitbart? We are waiting.
Wait until the 2012 campaign
Submitted by NL207 on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 1:01pm.
I think you will see some emails exposing shocking Congressional and Executive corruption that occurred in the 2009-2010 time frame.
Sarah will once again make fools...
Submitted by Conservator on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 1:02pm.
of the 'lame street media' while laughing on her way to the bank and a possible run for President. The Kool-Aid leftists dolts don't comprehend negative reporting of Sarah is still a great source for increase name recognition and more favorable rankings in the polls.
Palin cannot make them into fools.
Submitted by NL207 on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 1:04pm.
They already ARE fools. She can at best expose this fact.
The liberal MSM media reminds
Submitted by Beukeboom on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 2:46pm.
The liberal MSM media reminds me of cats when they royally screw up...they walk away with an expression that looks like they would say "I meant to do that!"
The Obama Administration ...
Submitted by NL207 on Sun, 06/12/2011 - 12:02am.
is going to look like a bunch of cats covering up sh*t on a hot tin roof when they leave office. The paper shredders will be smokin'.
Obama Records
Submitted by driguana on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 1:18pm.
I totally agree with the comments here that a huge push should now be made by someone...everyone...to see all of the records and emails of Obama. It's time for a parity party!
Where's Trump with the trump card?!
Wonder
Submitted by grammajane on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 1:26pm.
Wonder how many in the media are volunterring their services to go through the emails for the nyt and post or any other lib media out-let. Bet the whole weekend for these buffoons will be spent trying to find the goods. At least, for them, it will keep the focus off weiner, the new father to be.
This is truly sick, and is
Submitted by liberalsarefunny on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 1:55pm.
This is truly sick, and is further evidence that the mainstream media is absolutely terrified of Sarah Palin.
Where O' wheree are the housing crash emails
Submitted by upcountrywater on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 2:03pm.
Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam CRAgate
Gosh in the name of fareness.
As we know Climategate emails It's all about the ack, ack the hack. Information in them, PHUUUFFF hide the decline...whatevers
What ya wanna a bet many of legislatures around the country are passing laws to keep emails private
You Didn't Build That.
I'm sure that even if the MSM finds nothing in the EMails. . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 2:30pm.
. . . they will invent something. They'll go through lists of addressees and find some guy who beat his wife, or a government employee who misappropriated funds, and they'll blame it on association with Palin.
Over at The Daily Mail, they
Submitted by Free Stinker on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 3:18pm.
Over at The Daily Mail, they were whining (or is that whinging?) about how many emoticons are in the Palin e-mails. :-/
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Obama has unleashed his Anti-Palin-Drones.....
Submitted by ekslib on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 3:46pm.
They serve their master, as they investigate her for hidden failings and ignore Obama's obvious failings.
email scumbags
Submitted by jon_torlin on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 4:10pm.
The only thing that comes to mind about this is that anyone who participates in this email scanning/hunting for whatever is just plain scum. There are far more important things to deal with and they choose someone who is not running for president as their target?
Pathetic!
-Jon
The thing potentially lurking
Submitted by classicliberal2 on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 4:34pm.
The thing potentially lurking in these emails--and Isikoff knows this, whereas the general public doesn't, hence his ominous tone--is that Palin, as governor, ran an EXTRAORDINARILY corrupt administration in Alaska. It's virtually unknown by the public because, in three years since she rose to prominence, it has barely even been reported.
The Los Angeles Times was among the few who looked into it back in 2008, back when these emails just released were first requested:
http://articles.latimes.com/print/2008/oct/24/nation/na-palinrecords24
Among the things it uncovered is that over 100 of Palin's appointments to state jobs in Alaska, including all of her appointments to the Natural Gas Development Authority, the Board of Public Accountancy, and the Local Boundary Commission, went to people whose only "qualification" was that they were Palin campaign contributors (Frank Bailey, referenced above, was one of Palin's hatchet-men, and got caught up in one of these appointments--an investigation decided he had acted improperly). Palin handed out millions of dollars in industrial development loans to businesses of, in the words of the Times, "questionable public value."
Palin used her position to carry out vendettas against perceived enemies. The most notorious example is her crusade against a state trooper who was, at the time, going through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister involving a custody battle. This began before she'd been elected and, even after an agreement had been reached with regard to the divorce, continued throughout her tenure in office. Palin and her family filed an astonishing 30 complaints against the trooper, frequently of an extraordinarily petty nature, relentlessly tried to engineer his firing in totally improper ways, and actually did engineer the firing of the Public Safety Commissioner for failing to fire him (Bailey got caught up in that one, as well).
As the New York Times reported (14 Sept., '08):
"Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html
Palin and her underlings were aware of the lack of ethics and questionable legality of their activities--the same Times story reports that, as Bailey is quoted as saying above, she and her top officials "use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records." Keeping in mind how Palin was giving away the store in Alaska to her cronies and contributors, an incident uncovered by the Times is enlightening. Frank Bailey wrote to Palin’s official state e-mail address to discuss appointments: "Another aide fired back: 'Frank, this is not the governor’s personal account.' Mr. Bailey responded: 'Whoops~!'”
All of this has been available for years, and it's some of the best-kept secrets in the news business, so while Palin supporters have all the reason in the world to be worried about the coming examination of emails--and it says volumes that so many of them posting here automatically understood this danger--the nearly complete lack of reporting on these matters in the past means that concern may be unwarranted. If precedent is any guide, any further stories that may turn up are unlikely to make a dent in the press unless some part of it involves a penis (and gives newscasters a chance to say "penis" on the air).
You are so misinformed it is
Submitted by Free Stinker on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 4:55pm.
You are so misinformed it is pathetic.
The Anchorage Daily News had a section of their paper that frequntly criticised Palin. It was such BS that section, called "voice of the times" ended up becoming defunct.
And when Palin replaced the Oil tax law PPT with ACES, she had it open to public review and comment for weeks in advance.
Furthermore, remember her Yahoo email account got hacked?". That is the account she was supposedly using to hide her corruption. What did the hacker ever find in that email? Any corruption? No! And we certainly would have had the MSM all over that if there had been the tiniest shred of anything found.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
"You are so misinformed it is
Submitted by classicliberal2 on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 5:07pm.
"You are so misinformed it is pathetic."
I take heart from the fact that, while you would have certainly demonstrated that if you could, you didn't.
"Hey ClassicDummy:"
Submitted by SickofLibs on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 5:08pm.
"didn't I instruct you to knock off with the annoying, incessant block quoting earlier today?"
SoL
Submitted by Free Stinker on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 9:59pm.
Can you also tell classicliberalTroll to read what I wrote? Then again, that's hoping for too much, isn't it?
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
cl2lack of ethics and questionable legality of their activities
Submitted by upcountrywater on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 5:20pm.
Like dumping all the emails, leaving most THE NAMES,PHONE NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES to be exposed to the entire internet.
What about peoples privacy you libs sooo whine about.HUMMMM..
You Didn't Build That.
"From the old e-mails we may discover some ties to her
Submitted by Rush Fan on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 4:37pm.
background. Like association with domestic terrorist, -or yrs. of association with a racist religious leader,
No, -Wait, That's someone elses background, -that was readily dismissed instead of given intense exposure. Strange what motivates journalism, -or is it?" So posted Stephen at Yahoo.com in a reply to Sarah Palin e-mails released today.
And the ClimateGate e-mails?
Submitted by deadeyedan on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 5:23pm.
Immediately upon finding out who John McCain's running mate was, the Demmys deployed thirty thugs to Alaska to dig up dirt on her and the best they could do was distort her record.
When Stanley Kurtz was invited by long-time WGN radio host Milt Rosenberg to discuss his investigation into Obama's association with known terrorist Bill Ayers, the Bamster's hit squad urged their rabble to besiege the radio station in the finest traditions of allowing free speech and exchange of ideas.
As noted by the undersigned in a Ken Shepherd post on June 9 (15:25) the ClimateGate e-mail scandal was not a topic to be reviewed by readers.
The left is not interested in anything that hinders, or does not help, their America-strangling agenda.
ClimateGate - the revelation that the pseudo-scientists at East Anglia University know just as much about the atmosphere as Harvard law professors know about the Constitution - deadeyedan
A HuffPo take on Palin email dump...
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 6:10pm.
and the accompanying frenzy. I agree with it. This is ridiculous.
Jer
thanks for the link Jer
Submitted by Free Stinker on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 7:01pm.
"But it's really not hard to
think that the joke might somehow be
on us. " --Huffpost
Sarah Palin always has the last laugh.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Thanks for the link Jer*
Submitted by cajun2 on Tue, 07/26/2011 - 5:27pm.
The only thing of value or surprise from this article was the last 2 sentences...He quoted from the movie, Blade Runner. My favorite movie of all time.;-)
If Isikoff digs up any dirt on Palin, he'll hide the story....
Submitted by ekslib on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 8:44pm.
Right? I mean he protected Clinton by not publicizing info on Clinton's affair with Lewinsky.
According to Isikoff, himself...
"For nearly a year, Newsweek's Michael Isikoff had been aware of allegations that Clinton was having a sexual relationship with Lewinsky. "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/ne...
Wrong. Not if Isikoff's record with Clinton is an indication.
Submitted by Jer on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 9:12pm.
He had already written about Whitewater and other Clinton "scandals". He then investigated the Paula Jones and Lewinsky matters extensively--even privately contacting and providing information to Starr's office--and eventually reported in depth (far more than any other journalist) on the subject.
Jer
One of these days, Jer---
Submitted by matthewdean on Sat, 06/11/2011 - 9:41pm.
you are going to dislocate something when you make that warp speed jump to your keyboard to defend ol' Willie boy by describing how "if" the weasel made any wrong moves, the press was most certainly all over it.
Pffffft.
(I prefer 'nonetheless', but couldn't work it in)
MD
One of these days, Matthew---
Submitted by Jer on Sat, 06/11/2011 - 9:50pm.
you are going to shock me and demonstrate you understand the difference between defending behavior and describing [correctly] media coverage of it.
Jer
Trust me, Jer---
Submitted by matthewdean on Sat, 06/11/2011 - 10:29pm.
if you ever manage to actually do so (describe versus defend, without a trace of liberal bias), I will notice.
Said action may well give me a coronary, though.
Then you'll feel bad.
Maybe. :o)
MD
Relax, Matthew...
Submitted by Jer on Sat, 06/11/2011 - 10:42pm.
I don't want to induce any cardiological distress. But, please explain how I defended Clinton in the post which prompted your accusation. [There is one extremely minor and very subtle but valid item which you can point to. Let's see if you can identify it.]
Jer
Based on your past practice, Jer---
Submitted by matthewdean on Sun, 06/12/2011 - 2:16am.
the giveaway that you are once again defending Willie boy is that extremely minor, very subtle, but valid item, the word "Clinton".
So you weren't defending him, but there is one EXTREMELY minor and VERY subtle but VALID item, that points to you defending him.
That means it is there, whether I can find it or not.
If nothing else, that proves to me you were a barrister.
Probably a good thing you didn't practice criminal law, though.
MD
The old tired main stream
Submitted by TerryWest on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 9:00pm.
The old tired main stream media out of necessity and lack of journalistic skill have resorted to check stand tabloid standards.