Palin Had Another Private E-Mail Account

Washington Post: Company Says Alaska Gov. Used Private E-Mail Account To Communicate With Small Circle Of Staff Members

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Karl Vick.

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Gov. Sarah Palin maintained a private e-mail account that she used to communicate with a small circle of staff members outside the state government's secure official e-mail system, according to the Wasilla company that established the site.

The account was separate from the Yahoo e-mail address that was abruptly abandoned by the John McCain campaign on Sept. 17, the day hackers penetrated the account and posted pages from it on the Internet. Palin had routinely used her Yahoo address for state business.

Quentin Algood, the owner of ITS Alaska, said a discreet e-mail system was created from an old campaign account, with access confined to "a group of people, her closest confidants and co-workers and advisers and the person she sleeps with."

Algood said the system was maintained by Frank Bailey, a Palin aide. Bailey disputed the existence of the private circle of e-mail recipients run through PalinForGovernor.com, the Web site that Algood, a Palin supporter, established free of charge for Palin's 2006 campaign.

"No, no, completely inaccurate," Bailey said in a brief interview last week. "We haven't used that domain in a long time."

A spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign acknowledged the accounts in a statement Tuesday.

"As a champion of government accountability and transparency, Governor Palin was exercising an abundance of caution to ensure that all state and personal business matters were being kept separate," said Meghan Stapleton. "Governor Palin is committed to serving with the highest regard toward ethics."

The existence of additional private e-mail accounts may affect two state probes into whether Palin, her husband and her staff attempted to influence the job status of a state trooper who divorced Palin's sister.

It also raises more questions about Palin's record of commingling the official and personal. The Yahoo inbox posted on the Internet contained family photos, notes from well-wishers and official state correspondence on pending legislation. "She had a number of personal addresses," said John Bitney, a former close aide who was fired by Palin. "I don't know why so many."

ITS technician Ryan Gattis described working with Bailey this spring to set up e-mail addresses linked to the dormant campaign Web site. Gattis said there appeared to be 10 to 15 addresses, chiefly the small circle of aides known in Alaska political circles as "Palinistas" for their fierce loyalty to Palin, with Bailey taking system administrator authority.

"They just wanted an e-mail system that they had control over," Gattis said. He said Bailey also inquired about options for encrypting e-mails but was discouraged by the $1,000 price tag of a commercial encryption product the technician recommended.

"Here is what I will tell you, is that Frank always maintained the e-mail," Algood said. "We did not create or delete or maintain or monitor their e-mail accounts. They're all self-administered mail servers, independent post offices.

"I have registered many domains for Frank and the campaign, and then they are given access to the mail, to the post office for that domain, and they can do with it as they see fit."

Palin placed Bailey on leave in August, when she released a recording of Bailey urging a state official to take action against the trooper formerly married to the governor's sister. Algood indicated that Bailey passed on the order from the McCain campaign to shutter the Palins' accounts the day her Yahoo inbox was posted on the Internet. Gattis said the accounts' contents were backed up in case they needed to be accessed later.

[indianaman13]

hwy71so : how can you say the liberals are after the constitution? How many Republicans won''t testify before congress, even after ordered to by congress? What about Bush''s executive order that enables him to declare marshal law when ever he wants without congress questioning him for 6 months(would Washington do something like that?) as for the unborn fetuses, what about the alive soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan? Murder is murder whether a 3day old soul or a 23 year old soul. If your so against abortion, you better be doubly against the war. Those murdered fetuses never sin and go straight back to heaven, while those who willingly break God''s commandment of "Thou shalt not kill" by picking up a gun have a horrible sin to atone for. Stop being hypocritical.

[indianaman13]

I just heard republicans want to test teachers for capability. Sounds great, but don''t you think we should test Politicians as well? It would only be fair to everyone to test these crooks before they get into office

[xmanborg]

Couric: Can you tell me how Alaska has Relations with Soviets and what qualifies you as a diplomat with the Russians.

Palin: Well just recently is currently believed that the ocean levels rose and fell several times in the past. During extended cold periods, tremendous volumes of water are deposited on land in the form of ice and snow, which can cause a corresponding drop in sea level. The last "ice age" occurred around 12-15,000 years ago. During this period the shallow seas now separating Siberia from North America near the present day Bering Strait dropped about 300 feet and created a 1,000 mile wide grassland steppe, linking Asia and North America together with the "Bering Land Bridge". Across this vast steppe, plants and animals traveled in both directions, and humans entered the Americas. So that makes us all Russians because we all walked over that land together holding hands to North America and it makes us all Kin-folk in other words we are all related and one big family.

[actornaught]

It''s called, as Palin put it, "transparency". Which she doesn''t have, so THAT was a lie.

I like the part about how Sarah''s absence of transparency has helped people see right through her.

[indianaman13]

Whether or not she hid this or that does not matter. What matter is that she didn''t use the governments email account, a secure email account. What kind of state secrets could a terrorist hacker get about Alaska, which just happens to be only a couple hundred miles from Russia and a few hundred more away from China. National Security needs to be in the forefront of a Politicians mind at all times. Those who can''t think that, or won''t, need not be in office.

[dagrandma]

Hwy71So: Did you ever look into the numerous reasons one would have for voting "present?" Did you ever look into the numerous times John McCain was "absent?"

[dagrandma]

To those several posters who think it''s no big deal to have more than one e-mail account, you''re not looking at the big picture. I have several e-mail accounts. At one point in my life I was a state employee. I was not allowed to conduct any type of state business whatsoever using a private email account. Why? Because governmental e-mail accounts are subject to FOIA requests and therefore any and all governmental business should be conducted through the governmental e-mail account. If you use a private account to conduct governmental business, then you are either stupid or you have something to hide.

[expert47]

There have been rumors about Palins secret email accounts and how she used them to subvert the law in Alaska. If she''s willing to do this, what else is she willing to do? Once a crook, always a crook, and it''s just the difference in magnitude. Look at what secrets she''d be able to hide on a national level.

She manipulated the system to shoot wolves from aircraft, she took $25,000 in gifts from lobbiests and oil/gas people, she fired a guy who wouldn''t fire an ex-brother in law, she hired friends in jobs they were qualified for, like the woman who took over the Dept of Agriculture job ''because she likes cows''..

There are so many issues.. Palin is a hockey mom, she just carries a blade in her boot and is ready to use it on anyone who disagrees.

[cbsliberals]

If you are going to vote for Obama because you think Palin is not qulaified, please write to me...I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale...Obama has an offer on it that''s too low.

[angelou2]

PALIN HAS LIED TO US FROM THE BEGINNING! No matter how she does in tomorrow''s debate, I''ve had enough of all the hiding and lying.

[angelou2]

I ALREADY KNOW ENOUGH AND ALREADY made up my mind! Palin decided that she was not going to make herself available for interviews so that we could get to know her better, all I know is what''s in her records, current family problems, current investigations and what ever else the media made available to us. I don''t need to hear her double talk and beating around the bush on important topics.

[dibs977]

Palin is excellent at being an attacking pit bull with lipstick and she always seems to be laughing at other people. Please --let''s stop the insanity. I would say that she is a joke but it is too serious to be funny. Obama is a really great man and will lead us with integrity, intelligence and grace. Vote Obama.

[trigs_8]

She was "hand picked" by *** Cheney and will turn his safe over when tif time is right. Otherwise he''s going to take it with him.

[singlasalil8]

I think Palin should be knowing that anybody who works for state goverment cannot use personal email accounts to conduct official business. If they do, they are subject to discipline and possible termination.
In this age of information, why can''t she understand that anybody can blow anyone else apart with access to their private information.

This certainly shows her in-experience in the first place.
Do read what two largest news papers in Alaska have to say about her inexperience at

http://dailysource.org/special/palin/118#the_two_largest_newspapers_in_alaska_have_raised_concerns_about_her_experience_and_readiness

[superdem]

You right wing trolls need to read this story again - she had a private e-mail account she used to communicate with a "small circle of staff members" - that means her gubernatorial staff, her state-employed workers. This e-mail account was outside the state firewall. Why would the Governor need a clandestine account outside the firewall to communicate with state-paid staffers ? This is clearly not kosher, and you are nothing but partisan trolls to blow this off. Try this in a government setting and you will soon be punnished if not fired. So much for Palin''s commitment to "transparency." Cloaking devices are more her game.

[dmd208]

PALIN IS NO LONGER THE ISSUE! With all the intrigue and alleged underhanded dealing that have been associated with Sarah Palin, the problem for American citizens is not Palin, or her arguable lack of competence to lead the greatest country in the world in its darkest economic hour in recent history. The real issue here is John McCain, the candidate who chose Sarah Palin, knowing the dire economic, military, and social circumstances in which America currently finds itself.

Our economic, military, and social woes did not start after Sarah Palin was nominated. John McCain already knew the country was dangerously divided along gender, religious, race, cultural, class, and political lines before he began a political campaign clearly designed to divide and conquer. John McCain already knew the citizens of many other countries in the world see us negatively, and that our adversaries in the middle east and elsewhere make good use of American saber rattling well before John McCain began rattling his saber at Iran, North Korea, Russia, and so on. John McCain already knew, on day one of his current campaign, that if he were elected President of the United States of America he would need to make sure whoever succeeded him if he passed away, would be a competent individual, ready to immediately take on the mantle of President.
To paraphrase Sarah Palin, John McCain knew and he blinked, and in the situation America finds itself, he was definitely not supposed to blink.

[redbds]

OMG! She had a private email account. Call the FBI! There has to be a law against citizens of the US having private email accounts. Wait, she had more than one. That points to the kinds of excesses a McCain/Palin administration will look. You liberals crack me up. You will use anything you can to try to inpugn scandal on Palin. Look at your own candidates past if you want scandalous issues to talk about.

[forever1973]

Well, I''''ve got either 3 or 4 email accounts myself. Big deal!


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Posted by Hwy71So at 12:39 PM : Oct 01, 2008

Gee, are you a United States Governor with access to information relevant to U.S. security, among other things???

[jojo9357-2009]

WASHINGTON %u2014 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid her husband''s real estate and investment firm nearly $100,000 from her political action committee over the past decade, a practice that she voted to ban last year and that her party condemned as part of the "culture of corruption" when Republicans did it.

e-mail---$100,000.00 corruption

I pick McCain/Palin

[hangelle]

Upto1947 - so you''re going to vote for McCain because of articles like this. Gee, you''re so smart. I can see how you and Palin would connect.