Now the Los Angeles Times verifies what talk show hosts were on about. The McCain campaign, with the help of a former Department of Justice prosecutor, has closed down access to the government of Alaska with respect to information about Sarah Palin.
"Jerry McCutcheon went to Sarah Palin's office here last week to request information about the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, the scandal that for weeks has threatened to overshadow the governor's role as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate.
"McCutcheon was given a phone number in Virginia to call: the national headquarters of the McCain-Palin campaign.
"Why, he wanted to know, did he have to call a campaign office 4,300 miles away to find out what was going on in Alaska government? The longtime civic activist phoned his local state representative, Les Gara, who quickly filed a protest.
"These days, many such queries about Monegan -- or anything else involving Palin's record as governor -- get diverted to McCain staffers. A former Justice Department prosecutor from New York flew in recently to advise the governor's lawyer and field reporters' calls about Monegan. Soon after, Palin's willingness to cooperate in the Legislature's probe of the affair ended."
One result: Sarah Palin's reputation in her home state has been destroyed.
"The resulting standoff has put Alaska on the verge of a constitutional crisis, as the legislative and executive branches each refuse to budge, and no one is sure who is in charge. Legislators say they will consider holding in contempt any witnesses who ignore subpoenas, and they have challenged the right of the attorney general, who is appointed by the governor, to advise state employees on whether to testify.
"The standoff has ended any vestiges of bipartisan goodwill for Palin in Juneau, after just 21 months in office. 'The level of money [the McCain campaign] sent up here to attack people is unprecedented in a small state like this. If [McCain] were truly a reformer, he'd end this nonsense and apologize to all the people he's attacked up here,' said Rep. Gara, a Democrat."
The Anchorage Daily News also has something to say about Palin's abdication. They have a full story on the sequence of events which led to McCain's stormtroopers taking over communications.
