Showing posts with label sarah palin emails. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sarah palin emails. Show all posts

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Major victory for Alaskan Republican anti-Palin activist Andree McLeod: Alaska Supreme Court rules that emails from private email accounts conducting state business are "public records" and open for public inspection - UPDATE

By Patrick

Sarah Palin's nemesis Andree McLeod: 
Persistent and successful

Sarah Palin had a fairly large number of adversaries when she was the Governor of Alaska, but one person stood out right from the start: Republican anti-Palin activist Andree McLeod, who with painstaking research and courage for example not only discovered Sarah Palin's secret "network" of various Yahoo-email accounts for conducting state business, but then also tirelessly and undeterred by disappointing setbacks turned to the Alaskan courts in order to make Palin's secret emails accessible to the public. Not without reason was she called "Sarah Palin's worst nightmare" by Vanity Fair. Read an overview about various stories regarding McLeod's activities and lawsuits at Palingates.

Some of Andree McLeod's numerous activities were also featured in the following clip:



There have been setbacks for Andree McLeod during the ensuing legal battles which were aimed to make all of Sarah Palin's emails public, but right now, McLeod undoubtedly won a major victory which could pave the way for future Palin-related judgements: In a rather complex decision, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that "private emails regarding state business are 'public records' under the Public Records Act" and are "appropriate for preservation" - and, even more importantly, are open for "public inspection."

As it sometimes is the case with court decisions, the structure of the arguments in the decision is rather "unwieldy", so to speak, although the main points are very clearly expressed - and the decision by the Alaska Supreme Court contains a number of incredibly important clarifying remarks. The situation is complicated because the lower court, the Superior Court, changed its opinion during the previous proceedings and then made the decision to dismiss Andree McLeod's request for summary judgement despite the fact that, as the Alaska Supreme Court now rules, the underlying legal reasoning demanded a different decision. The Alaska Supreme Court now ruled that McLeod's lawsuit should not have been dismissed, as she was entitled to partial summary judgement.

The importance of this decision cannot be underestimated, taken for example that fact into account that originally the State of Alaska took the position that "failure to preserve a record", for example failure to preserve a private email, intentionally or not (!), automatically would have meant that such an email is "not a public record" and therefore "not available for public inspection." This position, which would have given Sarah Palin a free pass, is being called "extreme" by the Alaska Supreme Court, and the court thoroughly rejects it. The Alaska Supreme Court now firmly establishes that private emails can and should be preserved just like state emails or written records, and they can also be publicly inspected just like any other records.

Andree McLeod today released the following statement:

Anchorage, Alaska: This morning the Alaska Supreme Court took an important step in protecting the Alaska public’s interest in transparent and open government.

In its decision in McLeod v. Parnell (attached) the Court announced that the Alaska Legislature intended emails that state employees send or receive on their private email accounts to be “public records” for the purposes of the Alaska Public Records Act. Because those emails are “public records” they now are available for public inspection and must be archived by the State archivist.

In its decision, the Alaska Supreme Court characterized Andree McLeod’s four-year effort to establish that legal principle as “an important and substantial victory.”

A characterization with which Donald Craig Mitchell, the attorney who represents Ms. McLeod, agrees.

“The Alaska Supreme Court’s decision this morning demonstrates the importance of what citizen activists such as Andree McLeod can accomplish to advance the interests of all Alaskans in ensuring that all state employees, from the governor on down, conduct official state business in a manner that at all times and through all means of communication serves the public interest,” Mitchell said.

Included in the decision, the court believes that ‘…using private email accounts [for official business] is no more an obstruction of access to public records than communicating through paper letters.’

“Further examination is necessary. Important facts bear out in released emails that I finally received by the state a year-and-a-half after my attorney appeared in front of the Supreme Court that, in fact, a strategy did exist in the Palin administration to circumvent official servers with the use of private email accounts on personal devices,” McLeod said.

McLeod continued, “The legislature must update Alaska’s public records laws in order preserve and protect the public’s right to know and inspect official records vis-à-vis recent electronic and communication technological advances.”

Download the decision by the Alaska Supreme Court here.



Screenshots from the decision:








It is not clear right at this moment what the immediate consequences of this decision could be. But in any case, this is clearly a major victory for Andree McLeod and a (late) slap in the face for the former Governor Sarah Palin, who believed that she is safe from public scrutiny with the extensive use of her elaborate network of private email addresses (mainly yahoo-addresses, at least three of them). The decision might also have legal consequences for similar cases in other US states.

Our congratulations to Andree McLeod! Her persistence, despite some previous disappointing setbacks, is hugely admirable. Her tireless and effective activism serves as a shining example for other citizen activists in the USA who might be faced with similar situations.

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UPDATE:

As we discussed in the comments below, this decision by the Alaska Supreme Court is not a binding precedent for other courts in the USA, but the legal reasoning of this decision could be used as "persuasive authority" by other US courts. As the Alaskan case deals with relatively new legal territory, only very few decisions by upper courts will exist so far, if any - which is why this Alaska Supreme Court decision could prove very valuable for transparency activists!

Interestingly, a major new law suit in Wisconsin in a similar case has just recently been filed (h/t HopeForAmerica):

Common Cause and its partners have been at the forefront of efforts to expose the American Legislative Exchange Council’s dirty backroom dealings. ALEC had been bringing state lawmakers and corporate executives together under the guise of charity for almost 40 years, and they were getting away with it until Common Cause and allies blew the whistle.

In Wisconsin, ALEC lawmakers have tried to cover their tracks by moving their dealings from official e-mail accounts to personal ones outside the public eye. One lawmaker even had the audacity to specifically request (emphasis his) “Please send ALL ALEC material to the Representative’s PERSONAL e-mail.”

Lawmakers using personal accounts for official business isn’t a problem in and of itself, so long as they follow the law. Wisconsin state law even allows legislators to use personal accounts to conduct official government business, but any accounts used are subject to the same disclosure requirements that public accounts are.

When we asked five Wisconsin state legislators to turn over their ALEC communications, they ignored this law and excluded personal emails from their search entirely. Common Cause and the Center for Media and Democracy have filed suit against these five lawmakers to make sure they aren’t hiding any information that the public has a right to know.

The plaintiffs who started this lawsuit in Wisconsin will certainly be very happy about this new ruling from Alaska!

The website "Alaskapublic.org" yesterday published a very good report about this decision by the Alaska Supreme Court. It becomes apparent that Alaska might have to change the Alaska Public Records Act, which then could also set an example for other states in the USA. An Alaskan Assistant Attorney General confirms that it is now firmly established in Alaska that the "method" of transmission is not relevant, but only the "content" of the message. As simple as this sounds, this is a very radical notion and could in fact have far reaching consequences, as people these days communicate via many different channels:

The Supreme Court agreed private e-mails regarding state business should be part of the public record. And McLeod’s Attorney, Donald Craig Mitchell calls the decision a victory.

“All in all, I think this is an important development for vindicating the public interest in Alaska during the new telecommunications, e-mail age,” Mitchell said.

But the court did not agree with McLeod that state employees should be barred from using private e-mail at all for their work. Mitchell says that’s unfortunate. But he says the point may not matter given that Governor Sean Parnell has ordered any state business conducted on private e-mails to be copied to the state e-mail system so it can be preserved.

Dave Jones is an Assistant Attorney General with the Department of Law. He says the state is pleased with the court’s decision, which he says can be boiled down this way:

“What really determines whether something is a public record is its content not the means through which it’s transmitted,” Jones said.

Jones says in principal, the Supreme Court’s decision would also apply to text messages. A former state employee has accused the Parnell Administration of using text messages to hide state business from public records requests. Jones says he doesn’t know whether employees are engaging in that practice, but they shouldn’t be.

“Most text messages are by their nature going to be transitory, that is not something that is not appropriate for preservation,” Jones said. “But a state employee could not try to avoid the effects of the public records act by using a text message as a substitute for a public record.”

But Andree McLeod’s attorney, Donald Craig Mitchell, says even if the intent of the Supreme Court’s decision is clear, the public records law needs to be updated. He says state law on the issue hasn’t been revisited in more than two decades. And he says that means there’s a lot of confusion over how state employees should be using new communications technology.

“If anything comes of this, I hope it would be the legislature stepping up to the plate and reviewing this entire area and making some adjustments to the Alaska Public Records Act that would bring that act into the 21st century,” Mitchell said.

Senator Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat, agrees the law may need some tweaking.

“The question is are we collecting those private e-mail accounts? Are we collecting text messages? Are we collecting new modes of communication? Facebook messages for example. How do we make sure that those get pulled into the permanent public record files so the citizens are sure their business is being done appropriately?,” French said.

He expects lawmakers to take a look at the law during the next legislative session.

The h/t for the story by "alaskapublic.org" goes to our friend Phil Munger from the blog "Progressive Alaska", please also read his post about this decision by the Alaska Supreme Court.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Review of The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin. Don't Expect An Announcement From Palin Soon As The Undefeated Morphs Into The Undecided

Guest Post by a Politicalgates Reader

Joe McGinniss surpasses my expectations for this long-awaited book, which documents his return to Alaska--site of his 1976 best-seller, "Going to Extremes"--this time to explore the state's Idaho-born ball of thermonuclear fission that is named Sarah Heath Palin. Those who've been following the linguine-like tangles of the Palin saga still will find a great deal of new and fascinating information, presented in McGinniss' engaging, can't-put-it-down fashion. Even if you haven't been paying attention to Sarah Palin at all, The Rogue will knock your socks off.

McGinniss speaks to many of the individuals on the record who have been bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated by Palin in power, including former Wasilla mayor John Stein, former Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan, and ex-Alaska state senator Lyda Green (Chuck Heath Sr. reportedly inquired winsomely of Green before her retirement, "Why don't you quit now, you fat old cow?"). From his first days in Wasilla, McGinniss experienced first-hand the reign of terror and lunacy that was set into action by Palin's election as mayor in the mid-'90s. He also recounts dozens of acts of hospitality and kindness, having been offered a WELCOME sign, state flag, keys to the houses of total strangers, blueberry pie ("I figure Sarah Palin didn't get around to it yet," which she hadn't), freshly caught fish, festive dinners of yak burgers and yak loaf, and innumerable firearms. McGinniss declined only the guns. The state of Alaska is a character in this book as well, described with tenderness and exasperation, like a family member. It's easy to see why people fall in love with the place--and why so many residents, documented by McGinniss, are disgusted to have the image of their state co-opted by someone who quit her job to cash in on being a semi-professional Alaskan.

The lack of an index is my only quibble about this fine contribution to my Palin shelf. Read it alongside Geoffrey Dunn's "The Lies of Sarah Palin" for as close to a complete look at a unique American figure that one can find... as of this writing.

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By Kathleen

Joe McGinniss writing at his blog reveals that he has been on a tour of the USA via satellite radio. He also discloses that his publisher backs both the the publication of The Rogue and its author. Many readers here at Politicalgates believe that it would be a good thing if Sarah Palin actually does dare to sue the publisher as "discovery" would be a great thing.

In an effort to appease her rabid fans, last night Sarah Palin announced that she still hasn't made a decision as to whether she is running or not, and don't expect a decision in the next 24 hours from her either. Sarah Palin does not keep her promises, even to her fans -- are we surprised? No --- she imposed the deadline and now seems unwilling to keep to it. Typical dithering Sarah. Still, the longer she takes in her deliberations the crazier her fans will become and that can only be a good thing.

Of more concern during the interview Palin further distances herself from the two main parties which she regards are embroiled in the politics of "crony capitalism". A concept that she is not exactly unfamiliar with as our contributer Nomadic View has already outlined in a previous post. For Palin "crony capitalism" is just another popular sound bite that she has embraced alongside "American exceptionalism", "The Little Guy", "Commonsense" and even more recently the resurrected slogan "I'm a maverick". If she runs I believe that she will run as a third party candidate because the GOP doesn't want her and it is also my view that her rejection by the GOP was probably engineered by none other than Palin herself.

Palin has sensed the mood of a sizeable number of Americans who feel flattened by a poor economic climate and she smells blood in the air. Distancing herself from the decision making that has led to the present situation may certainly do her no harm. I also expect that Palin thinks that a lot of the negative issues that presently surround her will have quietly faded into the distance by the time the actual election period commences. In the meantime the problem Palin faces is how to make herself relevant in a positive sense rather than a negative one. Can she do that? I don't think so.

Note what Palin says at the end of the interview:

"Whatever it takes to retire this permanent political class that has embraced it (crony capitalism) we're gonna do it."



That sounds as if it could get ugly to me.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Sarah Does Dallas: 48 Hours in April

by Leadfoot_LA

Much has been written over the past few days about clues found in Sarah Palin’s emails to support the fact that she did not give birth to her son Trig. It has been pointed out that when the "Letter from God" Sarah wrote was printed in Going Rogue, the line about God “rushing” her pregnancy was excluded (we now see it is included in the email version.) Joe McGinniss covers it masterfully here. Others have commented on how the emails show no evidence of any prenatal care appointments.

We’ve also noticed that Sarah doesn't mention anything about coming home from Dallas early on April 17th, she just says that she's on her way home. Todd says her speech "kicked ass." Her schedule is discussed obsessively in the emails, and every minute of each day is carefully tracked by her staff. The lack of emails notifying them of a change on the 17th make it perfectly clear that she had no choice but to sneak into town and accept Trig under cover of darkness. This is a woman who obsessively craves attention and makes every event all about her. It would be pretty common for any woman in labor to tell her staff that she has headed to a hospital. But Sarah, our lady of perpetual victimhood?! She definitely would have told everyone under the sun that her blessed gift from God was making his way into the world early. The fact that she didn't send one email from her ever-present Blackberries to notify them means that she was hiding something.

Consider if she had given her staff advance notice. It is clear from the emails that they worshiped her, even “love” her. They most certainly would have showed up in the hospital waiting room with flowers and balloons. The media may even have gotten wind of it. She couldn't have that because she wasn’t IN the delivery room – she was simply there to pick up Trig. Sarah’s only option was to have her friends and staff find out after the "birth."

Nobody waited for Trig.

Now we need to examine what happened from that point on. Once Sarah had arrived in Wasilla, after the Reckless Ride, you’d think she would at least try to act like a woman who had just given birth, right? You would be wrong. Last night our own AKRNC left this brilliant comment:

“According to Sarah's timetable, she's a friggin' superwoman. April 17 @ 1:30 a.m. Alaska time, she's awake w/leaking amniotic fluid, stays awake all day giving her speech, then takes two flights while having "contractions" and arriving in Anchorage to give birth 7 hours later on April 18 @ 6:30 A.M. Feeling all wide awake and ready to go to work, she's sending emails only 3 hours later. She would have gone approximately 32 hours without anything but short naps, including going through induced labor via Pitocin I.V. and she's not tired??? Bullshit, Sarah, those e-mails tell me you didn't give birth. I've spoken to many women in their 40's and they all say the same thing. The older you get, it's much more difficult to be pregnant, you become tired much more easily and labor is more difficult at 40 than it is at 30 or 20. Is there anything this woman doesn't lie about???? Anything?...

I don't think there's a woman alive who hasn't just curled up and wanted to go to sleep after being in labor for hours and being awake for more than 30 hours straight as Palin depicts herself with the emails being sent a few hours after Trig's "birth." There are so many smoking guns in this story of hers that they end up being a smoking cannon going off to warn everyone that she's lying, as usual.”

I’d like to add that this is a woman who hated her job! She took every possible opportunity to AVOID doing her job. The legislature took to wearing “Where’s Sarah?” buttons. But we are to believe that she so desperately wanted to get back to work immediately after giving birth that she started sending mundane emails about topics of little importance within hours?! Are we to believe that she did not take ONE DAY off of work, from this job she hated so much?

(Not to mention that Blackberry use is strongly frowned upon, if not prohibited, in hospitals.)

Also absent in the emails is an inter-office announcement of Trig’s arrival. Any time anyone gives birth at my office, an email goes out that says something like: "just wanted to let you all know that Sarah gave birth early this morning to a healthy baby boy. Both mother and baby are resting and doing well. Sarah will return to work in about 6 weeks, so if you need anything during her absence, please see me instead. I will be covering her duties while she is out."

But in Sarah's case, nobody did have to cover her job duties at all. She didn’t miss one day of work. Not. One. Day. (That’s for you, Julia O’Malley.)

On Monday April 21, journalist Lisa Demer has some questions for Lieutenant Governor Parnell. He asks Sarah if it is ok if he admits he was only asked to step in for one event (see p. 10) on Sunday April 20. Sarah responds to Parnell and gives her blessing on the email (see p. 20). So here we have it in writing that Parnell was not ever told he would have to take over Sarah’s duties while she was on maternity leave, and in fact only covered one event for her two days after Trig’s “birth.” Sarah was back in the office on Monday, with her premature baby in tow. According to Sarah in Going Rogue, he had jaundice and a hole in his heart, but was able to make the 1-hour drive (each way) to Anchorage to visit with his mother’s co-workers.

Now why would a woman who hated her job not take ANY maternity leave? Well the emails also make it very clear that Sarah was beyond concerned about how the record reflected the days immediately surrounding Trig’s birth:

On Monday, August 2, Palin asks Janice Mason:

“How is it reflected in my TAs the couple of days I was “off duty” when I had Trig? April 18, the day he was born, I signed a bill into law and conducted a few State actions while in the hospital (and that should be recorded for the record)…but are there a couple of days in there that show I wasn’t in the Anchorage office? I didn’t see any…”

Which made me wonder, what happened on August 2 to spur this request? The answer was easy to find. Guess what was in the local paper that day:

On that exact same day, Sarah likely found out that she was indeed McCain’s choice for VP. Coincidence? Come on now – you all know that Sarah does not believe in coincidences.

And like the writing on her hand, Sarah will not drop it. She asks again on August 6:

“Did april ta's look complete? What did find around Trig's birth date?”

She was clearly afraid of something. Perhaps the record reflecting she took maternity leave for a baby she didn’t have, which would be fraud. Or perhaps she was worried that the record did not show enough time off duty for a woman who had supposedly had a baby. Either way, the McCain camp was asking questions, she was worried, and was covering her tracks.

Sarah should still be worried. Because we won’t drop it either. We will be here until the truth is exposed for all to see. Sarah Palin did not give birth to Trig.