Sarah Palin Will Testify in E-Mail Break-in Case

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: In The News

(Credit: AP)

Sarah and Todd Palin will testify in the case against the 22-year-old University of Tennessee student who allegedly broke into Sarah Palin's e-mail account while she was running for vice president in 2008, according to a statement Palin's attorney gave to CNN.

The Palins plan to testify against David C. Kernell, whose father is a Democratic state representative, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Palin's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said the Department of Justice requested their testimony.

The person who accessed Palin's email account did so by entering her personal information, which allowed that person to reset her password. In addition to entering Palin's birthday and ZIP code, the person had to answer the security question, "Where did you meet your spouse?" The correct answer was "Wasilla High."

Some information from the account was posted online, and Palin's password was eventually reset to "popcorn" and posted to a public Web site.

"This is a shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law," the John McCain campaign said at the time. "The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them."

Kernell was indicted in October of 2008 after the Internet address of the person who accessed the account was traced to his apartment complex in Knoxville. The former Alaska governor's account was accessed amid media reports that she was using her personal account to conduct state business.

CNN reports that prosecutors have charged Kernell with identity theft, wire fraud, computer fraud and obstructing a federal investigation, all felonies. He has pleaded not guilty and a trial is planned for next month.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by from_the_north March 12, 2010 11:37 AM EST

And the soap opera continues...... Hey JV190 how many tickets did you buy? Front row?

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by JV1970 March 13, 2010 7:17 AM EST: I didn't buy any but would have if I'd had the money!


by tmittelstaed March 11, 2010 11:35 PM EST: David C. Kernell, is an idiot, all he needed to have done is gone to some coffeeshop with a wireless network and had at it. And, once he didn't find anything interesting, if he had just logged off and not posted the hack to the Internet, nobody would have known.; Reply to this comment

by newsworthy8 March 11, 2010 9:27 PM EST

Oh, go to Canada and get yourself a socialistic medical shot of something to fix your brain..

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by swagner863 March 11, 2010 9:38 PM EST: So it's ok for someone to do this to an individual? Or is it ok if it's against someone you don't like? Your comment has lost all credibility and therefore you are either ignorant or intellectually dishonest? You tell us which.


by maxcoffee-2009 March 11, 2010 8:45 PM EST: Unclemercer... If this was done by James O'keef to Joe Biden would you be shaking his hand?; Reply to this comment

by rtwyatt6 March 11, 2010 6:45 PM EST

Palin has done a little hacking of her own.

WASILLA -- Sarah Palin never thought of herself as an investigator.
Yet there she was, hacking uncomfortably into Randy Ruedrich's computer, looking for evidence that the state Republican Party boss had broken the state ethics law while a member of the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission.

http://www.seekinsbreakdown.com/localwebarchive/PalinReudrichADN.htm

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by JV1970 March 11, 2010 8:24 PM EST: That was part of her job as governor. Governors are supposed to keep the oil and gas companies that are operating in their state operating on the straight and narrow and within the state laws including the ethics laws. Sometimes that means breaking into email accounts. That includes the email accounts of members of the oil and gas conservation commissions. She was not looking for anything personal. She was looking for evidence that he had broken the law. What this guy Kernell did was something different and much worse. He broke into her personal email account looking for personal dirt that he could dig up about her that he could sell to the tabloids.


by swagner863 March 11, 2010 9:45 PM EST: Dude, that was part of her job. There is no comparison. For those who keep coming after Sarah, you have no clue how strong she is. The great thing about people like Sarah is that she feeds off of you and gets stronger. Please keep coming after her as you have no clue. You are making her stronger. You are ignorant and of no consequence, but the Progressive leadership is trying to destroy America.