Levi Johnston: Palin Wanted to Adopt Son

Father of Palin's Grandson Says Former Governor Had Plan to Keep Daughter's Pregnancy Secret

(AP)  Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's grandchild, said the former Republican vice presidential candidate wanted to adopt his child so that people wouldn't know her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Johnston said Palin had a plan to deal with Bristol's pregnancy.

"Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging - she wouldn't give it up. She would say, 'So, are you gonna let me adopt him?' We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn't want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid," Johnston told the magazine for its October edition, which goes on sale Saturday. Excerpts of the interview were posted Wednesday on the magazine's Web site.

Meghan Stapleton, Palin's spokeswoman, did not immediately respond to request for comment, but has previously discounted Johnston's allegations. Palin has been keeping a low profile since she resigned on July 26 with more than a year left in her first term.

A week after Republican presidential candidate John McCain named Palin as his running mate, the campaign issued a statement that her unwed daughter was pregnant. It also said Bristol, now 18, and the young man would marry.

Johnston, 19, lived in the house for two months awaiting the birth of the baby, Tripp, who was born in December. The couple called off the wedding shortly after their son's birth.

Since then, Johnston has complained in national interviews that the Palins limited his access to the boy. He's also said he's pursuing a career as an actor or model.

Johnston said the Palin home in Wasilla was not what most people would think.

"The Palin house was much different from what many people expect of a normal family, even before she was nominated for vice president. There wasn't much parenting in that house. Sarah doesn't cook, Todd doesn't cook - the kids would do it all themselves," Johnson told Vanity Fair.

Palin has four other children. The youngest, Trig, is 1 year old.

Johnston also repeated claims that Palin said she wanted to quit and write a book or host a TV show.

When Palin returned to Alaska following McCain's unsuccessful run for president, she was different, Johnston said.

"Sarah was sad for a while. She walked around the house pouting. I had assumed she was going to go back to her job as governor, but a week or two after she got back she started talking about how nice it would be to quit and write a book or do a show and make 'triple the money.'

"She would blatantly say, "I want to just take this money and quit being governor," Johnston said.

He also claims Palin is not the hockey mom or outdoorswoman she claims to be. He said she rarely attended her oldest son's hockey games, and asked Levi how to shoot a gun.

"She says she goes hunting and lives off animal meat - I've never seen it," Johnston said.

Chuck Heath, Palin's father, said his daughter has been out of Alaska for the past month writing her memoirs.

Later this month, the former governor is expected to appear at her first commercial speaking engagement during a visit to Hong Kong to address the CLSA Investors Forum, a well-known annual conference of global investment managers. Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Alan Greenspan have spoken at the event, hosted by brokerage and investment group CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets.

[JVgirl]

If Levi can give it out he'd better be ready to to take it in return. When you strike out at someone they are going to hit you back and they are going to give as good as they get. He had better be ready for the Palins to retaliate. He is forgetting that they hold the cards. They have his son. They might retaliate by cutting off his access to his son completely or at least restricting his visits even more than they do. One thing is for sure he'll be sorry for this and he'll suffer for it in some way. Sarah Palin won't let this pass. Remember how she retaliated against her ex-brother-in-law for what he did?

[JACKSD]

JV-Palin is the one who started it first, Levi is the one who is retaliating.And if the family makes it difficult for him to be with his son, I hope the court comes down hard on Sarah for interfering in her daughter's life.He's probably wanting to make some big money for 2 reasons - 1. a good lawyer 2.he is good looking and should do it while he's young.

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
je ne vois rien d'étrange a ce que sarah palin veuille adopter l petit garçon, c'est une femme et mére et la voila grandmére, elle saura s'en occuper ... en la voyant comme avec le bébé...je trouve qu'ils sont adorables au revoir

[mnone]

Why run a story like this even if it's a slow news day? I am so tired of the "media" beating up on the children and grandchildren of a politician just because they are afraid of her. I think it was telling when the anchor asked the "reporter" if she thought Levi was credible and she obviously thought not. But we run the story anyway. Good One! No wonder ratings are falling!

[ianlou]

Come on Sarah, let hear you tow the party line and espouse the virtues of abstinence only sex education and the rhythm method of birth control.

[sddemocrat]

I wonder if Levi got charged with statutory rape if he would do these interviews from prison. Maybe he read Phillip Garrido's book on how to keep your child safe from abductor's. Too bad he didn't cover how to keep your child safe in your own home from sexual predator's.

[Sloughfoot]

Time for a Palin epitaph.

[tallgirlL]

The whole Palin family are Jerry Springer material.

[sddemocrat]

Sounds like everyone in this little family soap opera is disfunctional. Bristol should have just gotten an abortion and then Levi would have any fodder for his tabloid rantings. Congratulations Levi, you win the academy award for being a drama queen.

[sddemocrat]

What is the statute of limitations on statuatory rape in Alaska? I heard on CNN that Levi has been approached by Playgirl and the gay magazine Unzipped to do some photo shoots. You know, if Levi had paid for Bristol get an abortion we wouldn't be listening to him whine about how bad he had it in the Palin household. If it was that bad, how come he got Bristol pregnant? Was it to satisfy his own agenda??

[jere3]

This story stinks!! Why is it that we now have a communist appointed to be a special advisor to the President in the last few days and nothing is said about that, yet we have to tear into the Palin family....Who cares, lets watch what our country is doing THAT WE ARE NOT TOLD ABOUT ON THE NETWORKS!! I can only find things like this out on FOX and just why is that?

[jere3]

***...thanks for the reply to my comment..I was wondering if you were talking about NBC and ABC that recently lost their power and money and are willing to say or do anything to regain power ?...I just would love to see more about the Czars that are being appointed that we know nothing about..Being a senior citizen and liviing thru many presidents, I would really love to know what else our new goverment has in store for us..I am not impressed at all by the new COMMUNIST VAN JONES appointed as the Presidents special advisor...wowey. Check him out if you want to hear something scary and it's in his own words. p.s. And this was just last March that he spoke... Thanks again...

[democrat1]

I am so glad for those of us to see past the crap. If Palin's own family values,morals were this upside down why... PEOPLE would we want this person to assist in leading our nation.I AGREE she has no buisness near the grounds of the white house..I am still in shock that she was the choosen one..(what was in mccain mind)..lol
That just goes to show how many people in the world would rather vote the race card then who would be the most qualified individual for the job...OMG I could only imagine if she was in office...(Can You)lol
We thank you for that one Mccain..

[Hosheen]

Another report from Trailer-trash central. With a special note from hypocrite heaven!

[peacefulperson]

Johnston's story isn't even believable. Doesn't he know that adoptions are recorded documents? How would they have kept her big bump a secret? I'm so tired of Levi and the stories he makes up to keep his name in the news. Why do interviewers keep paying him for this stuff? The whole Palin/Johnston stuff is soooo 2008.

[JVgirl]

Don't worry he's only showing the kind of man that he really is and his lack of character and his ignorance and stupidity. He thinks it's going to gain some fame because he's an actor and model wanna be. He's only doing it for the publicity.

[democrat1]

MAGGY/HARRY I SEE THAT BOTH OF YOU TELL THE STORY THE WAY YOU WANT THE PUBLIC TO VIEW IT.ITS AWFUL HOW YOU ALLOW YOUR PERSONAL VIEWS TO INTERFERE WITH NEWS REPORTING. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR WHAT SIDE YOU CHOOSE!! BUT ITS DISTURBING TO ME HOW YOU CAN DOWNPLAY A STORY OR A PERSON CREDITBILITY OR MAKE SUCH A BIG DEAL OUT OF NOTHING. I NOTICE MAGGY ALWAYS HAVE TO AGREE WITH WHATEVER HARRY SAYS TO GET THOSE BROWNIE POINTS. PLEASE FIND A BACKBONE!! YOUR ONE SIDED PERCERPTION OF THE NEWS IS NOT WHAT VIEWERS WANT TO HEAR.STICK TO THE STORY AT HAND. example: WHEN MRS. OBAMA DRESSED IN SHORTS WHILE ON VACATION IN 104 DEGREE TEMP YOU DIDNT DOWNPLAY THAT. JUST STOP PEOPLE TELL THE NEWS THE WAY CONNIE CHUNG TELLS IT AND SET YOUR PERSONAL VIEWS ASIDE!!! THE PEOPLE HAVE MAID THEIR CHOICE ON THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB AND BESIDES A PERSON THAT CANT INTERVIEW WELL IS NOT WHAT I WANT TO TO LEAD OUR NATION AS AMERICANS !!! NO MATTER WHAT THE RACE IS...
PEOPLE GET OVER IT...

[anti-global2]

This just makes the possibility that Sarah Palins youngest child is not really hers after all and is in fact her daughters. The doctor who delivered the child still won't speak to anyone which makes it even more suspicious, since coming out and saying I delivered the child and Sarah is the mother would have ended all of the speculation.
I believe her daughter has actually gotten pregnant as a minor twice. If this is the case what kind of role model is her mother?
This family has alot of skeletons, no doubt about it, and they are definately trying to keep them hidden.
Finally it is a good thing they didn't take on another child since the rumors of the divorce between Sarah and her husband keep gaining credibility.

[JVgirl]

It's obvious that you're another one who can't count to nine. Trig Palin was born April 19, 2008. Tripp Johnston was born just 8 months and 10 days later on December 29, 2008 and he was a full term 9 month baby who weighed over 7 pounds at birth. As any woman will tell you it is physically impossible to have a baby in April and then give birth again just 8 months and 10 days later to another full term 9 month baby! It can't be done! Common sense should tell you that IF Trig were Bristol's child then Tripp would have either been born prematurely (he was NOT) or he would not have been born until the last of January at the earliest! All of you who claim that Trig Palin is actually Bristol's child are only showing your ignorance! It's time you gave up on that stupid claim because you can't prove it and you know it and it's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS EVEN IF HE WERE BRISTOL'S! That is Palin family business and ONLY Palin family business!

As far as the skeletons are concerned, what family doesn't have skeletons? Mine certainly does and if you dig deep enough and check far enough back in your family history you'll find that yours does, too! Also they have a right to keep their "skeletons" hidden if they want to! They shouldn't have to tell the world everything about them! The Palins have a right to some privacy just like everyone else! Some things about them are private and just plain no one else's business even if Sarah does stay in politics! She shouldn't have to tell everything about her family! The other politicians don't! They're allowed to keep some things private! Why should Sarah Palin be treated any differently? She deserves the same respect!

And another thing, until we hear from Sarah's own mouth that she and Todd are getting a divorce there is no credibility to that rumor either! It's a rumor and that's all it is!

[bubbadubba]

I remember all those old women wearing expensive clothes and jewelry in those white plastic straw type hats chanting " Palin, Palin, Palin!" like the good little party robots they are.
I mean really, Palin is totally unqualified to be President of the United States. Palin did McCain in. If McCain had chosen Romney as his VP McCain would now be President.

[peacefulperson]

McCain didn't have what it took to be elected. He's dour, old and his ideas and voting record parroted Bush too much to be electable. People really did need a change from Bush, not a "Bush, round two."

[sleepyric]

I don't believe any of the people associated with the Palin clan. Seems they all say anything and everything to get paid. Guess it's better than working in the cannery. I do believe, however, that Palin dumped the governor job to make more money. So she is a quitter, and an opportunist with no real substance other than her big you betcha mouth. She spews a line of crap that only the most retarded among us will believe.

[bubbadubba]

Palin in 2012! Palin in 2012! Palin in 2012.
LOL

[dblbar1]

Maybe if Palin HAD METTLED in her daughter's life, the girl wouldn't have gotten knocked up.......apparently Palin was too busy with her own agenda to keep a rein on the daughter. It taked TWO to make a baby, so the boy isn't all to blame.

[JVgirl]

Neither is Bristol. If he had kept his pants on and kept them zipped up she wouldn't have gotten pregnant, too!

[dblbar1]

maybe if sarah palin hadnt meddled so much in her daugher's life, levi and bristol might still be together raising their own little family. she is exactly what all men fear: the manipulative, controlling, meddling mother-in-law. what a nightmare!

Maybe if Palin HAD MEDDLED in her daughter's life, the daughter wouldn't have gotten knocked up at such an early age. It takes TWO, to make a baby, and apparently Palin was too busy promoting her own agenda....