Alaska is about to release more than 24,000 pages of Sarah Palin's emails from her time as governor. But officials are also going to withhold another 2,415 pages the state deems privileged, personal or otherwise exempt from Alaska's disclosure laws.
News organizations and individuals requested the Palin emails under Alaska's public records law more than two years ago when she was running for vice-president.
The messages are finally now about to be released as the former governor contemplates a bid for the presidency. State officials expect to send the emails to a commercial printer to be copied this week, a process that is estimated to take about four days.
Copies of the emails will then be shipped in boxes from Juneau to the people and news agencies who requested them, said Linda Perez, Gov. Sean Parnell's administrative director.
It remains to be seen how many of the released emails are going to be at least partially blacked out. State lawyers reviewed printouts of each email and suggested which emails -- or which portions of emails -- to withhold. Gov. Sean Parnell's office made the final decisions.
Perez on Tuesday contacted the organizations and individuals who requested the records and let them know that some emails would be witheld or redacted. She said they have the option of filing an administrative appeal of the decision or to seek an injunction in superior court.
News organizations that requested the records include the Daily News, the Associated Press, MSNBC.com, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and CNN. Individuals include Geoffrey Dunn, author of the recently published book "The Lies of Sarah Palin," and Andree McLeod of Anchorage, who has had ethics complaints against Palin dismissed by the state.
McLeod has pointed out that Perez and Parnell's chief of staff, Mike Nizich, held the same positions during the Palin administration as they do under Parnell.
"I don't hold out much hope that all of these emails haven't been scrubbed of any incriminating information," she said Tuesday.
Read more of this story at adn.com