The governor has come and gone, another has assumed the office and then has been elected in his own right, and activist Andree McLeod, four journalists and an author are still waiting for the state to release the public record of Sarah Palin's e-mails.
On Nov. 30, one of former Attorney General Dan Sullivan's last official acts before becoming Natural Resources commissioner was to authorize a 14th delay for the governor's office to provide the e-mails. Now, with delays number 15 and 16 pending, there may be an end in sight: May 31, 2011, according to a work plan announced by the governor's office this week.
McLeod filed her request for the file of official e-mails of then-Gov. Palin and her husband and adviser, Todd, on Oct. 1, 2008, just about a month after Republican presidential candidate John McCain picked Palin as his running mate. Most of the others made their requests around the same time.
Palin quit in July, 2009 and may now be contemplating a presidential run.
One of the journalists, David Corn of Mother Jones magazine, has written that he had hoped to have at least some of the e-mails in time for the November 2008 election. Now he's wondering whether they'll be available before the 2012 presidential election.
McLeod asked the state for every e-mail written by or received by Palin on her state e-mail account and all e-mails in any private account maintained by Palin and her husband that related to state business.
McLeod has accused the administrations of Palin and her former lieutenant governor and now successor, Sean Parnell, of abuse of power "with these delay tactics."
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