WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2008
Did Son Of Dem Rep. Hack Palin E-Mail?
FBI Searches Apartment For Evidence Linking Tenn. Lawmaker's Son To E-Mail Breach
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Photo Essay Sarah Palin Alaska's youngest and first female governor tabbed to be McCain's running mate.
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David Kernell, 20, has not returned repeated phone calls or e-mails from the AP since last week. He is the son of state Rep. Mike Kernell, a Memphis Democrat and chairman of Tennessee's House Government Operations Committee. The father declined last week to discuss the possibility his son might be involved in the case.
"I had nothing to do with it, I had no knowledge or anything," Mike Kernell told the AP.
"I was not a party to anything of this nature at all," he added. "I wasn't in on this — and I wouldn't know how to do anything like that."
The apartment the FBI searched is in a complex about five blocks from the University of Tennessee campus in a neighborhood popular with students. No one around the complex Monday knew David Kernell or saw the FBI agents over the weekend.
A hacker last week broke into one of the Yahoo Inc. e-mail accounts that Palin uses, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate. The McCain campaign confirmed the break-in and called it a "shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law."
Palin used "gov.sarah" in one of her Yahoo e-mail addresses she sometimes uses to conduct state business. The hacker targeted her separate "gov.palin" account.
After the break-in, a person claiming responsibility published a detailed chronology of the hacking on the Web site where the break-in was first revealed. That person identified his e-mail address as one that has been linked publicly to David Kernell.
Mike Kernell, 56, is known for his liberal stance on state issues in the Legislature. He was among a handful of Democrats to vote against the Tennessee governor's health plan because he said it wasn't expansive enough. He also opposed a recent increase in the cigarette tax because he felt the proceeds should have been directed toward health care instead of education.
Kernell was also among five House members who voted against a sweeping overhaul of state ethics laws in 2006. He said the new law's limits on cash contributions hurts candidates seeking smaller donations.
Kernell has a straight-laced reputation among his colleagues.
"Mike Kernell is your quintessential Boy Scout," said state Rep. John Deberry, another Democrat. "Mike follows the rules. He will almost get on your nerve as far as making sure things are done by the book."
"If Mike had known anything about this, he would have had a fit on his son," Deberry said. "When I saw his reaction when he first heard about it, the absolute fear and shock that was on his face, I realized then he had absolutely nothing to do with it."
Experts said the hacker apparently left an easy trail for investigators.
"He might as well have taken a picture of his house and uploaded it," said Ken Pfeil, an Internet security expert. "He should have just set up a big beacon that said, 'Here's my house,' or confessed. If they can't catch this guy based on all the information posted on the Web then all bets are off."
The hacker described guessing correctly that Alaska's governor had met her husband in high school, and knew Palin's date of birth and home Zip code. Using those details, the hacker tricked Yahoo's service into assigning a new password, "popcorn," for Palin's e-mail account. What started as a prank was cut short because of panic over the possibility the FBI might investigate, the hacker wrote.
The FBI and Secret Service are now investigating.
The law enforcement officials confirming the search spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
In Washington, Justice Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney confirmed Monday only that the FBI conducted "investigative activity" late Saturday and early Sunday in Knoxville related to the case.
David Kernell is an economics major at the University of Tennessee there.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 132 CommentsPosted by OneAmerican6 at 05:50 PM : Sep 23, 2008
If a Republican was getting hung in the media like this, I would hollar unfair as well.
This is just a question, its like our media only has to put a name out there and its a public hanging.
Dem or Rep alike, we should all be afraid of this kind of public hanging without evidence, without trial.
"As a federal grand jury convened to hear testimony about the hack of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin''s e-mail account, the lawyer representing the college student suspected of accessing Palin''s messages called his client "a decent and intelligent young man" in a statement issued to the media today.
''The Kernell family wants to do the right thing, and they want what is best for their son,'' said Wade Davies, a partner in the Knoxville, Tenn., firm of Ritchie, Dillard & Davies PC, in the statement. ''We are confident that the truth will emerge as we go through the process. David is a decent and intelligent young man, and I look forward to assisting him during this difficult period.''
More on Computerworld.com:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9115370&source=NLT_PM&nlid=8
[Posted by StLouisMan3 at 02:02 PM : Sep 23, 2008]
the republican way ... the law doesn''t matter ... i know better ... the ends justify the means ... as long as i get what i want ... how i got there is immaterial.
than why does the law matter here ... with a college student guessing poorly defined secret answers on a free email account?
or is it really only when ''you'' deem the law should apply ... based on your weighting of what you view as important ... or not.
Posted by OneAmerican6 at 05:24 PM : Sep 23, 2008
Sarah Palin is not of all of the people, nor is she by all the people, nor is she for all the people.
Palin represents those of her political affiliation. That is a given.
Palin represents those who are of her religious affiliation, not those who are outside it. America does have freedom of religion.
Given her remarks about her opponent and liberals in general, she does, by no means, care to represent anyone outside her affiliations. Yet, those within her circle question the sanity of Palin.
"[McCain''s] opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir -- the person in whose hands he would leave the country -- is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president." Richard Cohen, conservative commentator at WA Post.
There is no author listed on this article.
Now this kid''s life is fried, and another Democrat''s reputation is ruined.
Because of a question.
Not evidence.
Not a trial.
Just a question printed on national media for everyone to read and for conservatives to run with (see below posts)
All you have to do is print "Democrat" and a person''s life and reputation are ruined before there is even evidence or a trial.
Good job, CBS, Media judge and jury, public sentencer. We don''t even need a justice system any more.
Dow 4000
Unemployment 15%
Foreclosures 20%
A dozen more bank failures.
2 trillion dollar deficit.
The American voters re-elect her in a landslide because she shares their "values".
Posted by StLouisMan3
Under the rug like the McSame campaign is trying to do with Palin not cooperating into an investigation on whether she abused her power as the Governor? You nutty nitwits are so funny that it is not funny anymore.
Wow! Talk about drinking the Kool-Aid! You must have chugged the whole jug!
You might like to know that every single one of your points is absolutely false, and even your Masters at the big media outlets have backed away from those DNC talking points -- because they are not true. As I have told others, you need to check the tinfoil in your hat. It needs rewrapped. What must it be like to be so gullible and so stupid?
1. secure system
2. backup''s performed periodically and held in state controlled environment.
3. She used and directed her staff to use a personal account so that she would not be AUDITED and would not be subject to open government reforms. She is a total liar on open government.
And she committed THREE crimes in using Yahoo.
Arrest her and impeach her. She is just like Cheney, who ''lost'' the emails pertaining to Iraq.
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Posted by skyk239
Who is a Fascist? Ignorance by name calling is a pathetic trait of many Obama Supporters. Just because you cannot discuss the issue with facts - all of a sudden the name calling starts. Then the Race Card, then pure Denial.
It is too funny.
Except of course that system would likely be subpoenaed for investigations of wrongdoing... my bad...
Posted by Credibility2 at 06:37 AM : Sep 23, 2008
ROFLMAO Sounds to me more like a little fishing to get the HEAT off the pathetic LOSER the Fascist picked for a VP.
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