Emails Reveal Todd Palin's Power

'First Dude' had say in virtually every aspect of Sarah Palin's administration
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 5, 2010 11:25 AM CST
Emails Reveal Todd Palin's Power
In this Nov. 1, 2008 file photo, then-Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, steps from her tour bus with her husband Todd at the West Port High School in Ocala, Fla.   (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin, File)

Todd Palin had a massive amount of power in his wife’s administration in Alaska, recently released emails confirm. The missives, obtained by NBC through the state’s public records law, show the “first dude” was heavily involved in judicial appointments, contract negotiations with public employees, and state board appointments. He also received background checks on a corporate CEO, and passed financial information marked “confidential” from the oil company that employed him to a state attorney.

Other emails shed light on the Palins’ personal use of state resources; in one, the governor discusses ways to disguise the electrical work needed to install her new tanning bed in the governor’s mansion, and in others her staff looks for public events to justify personal travel. The state also withheld 243 emails on the grounds of executive privilege—including one on how to deal with “media questions about Todd Palin’s work and potential conflict of interests.” (More Sarah Palin stories.)

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