The OTHER Palin story of the day. The AP gets access to MORE Palin e-mails.

The other day the Associated Press got their hands on some interesting Palin administration e-mails concerning the planning behind the natural gas pipeline in Alaska.

From the AP:

E-mail exchanges also show at-times close communication between staff and representatives of the Canadian company Palin picked to build the line. In June 2008, after her recommendation of the company and less than two months before the Legislature voted on the contract, Palin agreed to host people involved with the project at her home for a salmon feast and "informal gasline chat."

"There's a Costco in Juneau, if you know what I mean," Palin wrote. "And my family is quite capable of setting out food and cleaning up afterwards."

The correspondence is contained in more than 2,000 pages of e-mails between Palin's office and others surrounding the pipeline process. The e-mails were released to The Associated Press this week under a public records request filed in 2008, when Palin was the Republican vice presidential nominee. Palin resigned as governor last year.

It appears fairly obvious, and of no surprise to most of us, that Palin was only going to work with a company that was not part of the "old boy's network". But that also meant she did not get the best deal, or the best people to do the job.  She chose the company willing to kiss her ass and treat her like she might have a clue as to what she was doing. In the end of course, the deal stalled.  Just like the experts always knew that it would.

Some e-mails suggest the administration closely watched how its position was playing in the media and was sensitive to any criticism.

In one exchange dated May 5, 2008, Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin, a Palin administration official, questioned why Palin would take a trip "back east" that month, on the cusp of the special legislative session Palin called to consider her eventual recommendation that TransCanada receive the license to build the pipeline and up to $500 million from the state.

I do not remember just  what Sarah was supposed to be doing on this date (and if any of you know feel free to weigh in) but I do want to point out that this was supposedly only 17 days after Sarah gave birth to a premature baby with Down's syndrome.  So besides leaving during a critical time in getting this gas line deal worked out she also left during what should have been an important time in the life of her newborn son.

And possibly the least surprising revelation of all is that there were reams of e-mails that were deemed protected by the attorney-client privilege.


The AP requested different groups of e-mails, including from June 1, 2007, and Dec. 1, 2007, to cover the submission period for companies vying for the pipeline contract. Only one, dated Nov. 30, 2007, was apparently included. Public records officer Linda Perez said she would look into why other e-mails weren't included.

E-mails released run into late 2008.

The governor's office also released a 72-page log detailing e-mails it was withholding for what it described as reasons including attorney-client or executive privilege. Subject lines on those e-mails included "Messaging/Strategy," "Myth Busting," and "Bad News.

In many ways this also relates to Palin's overreaction to her new neighbor Joe McGinniss.  EVERYTHING is about keeping the secrets secret.  Can you imagine just how much energy is expended by Sarah, her family, and her staff to keep those damn skeletons in the closet  where they belong?  It must be exhausting.