PrintJuly 5, 2009
FBI shoots down liberal bloggers on Palin 'investigation'
The liberal blogger Brad Friedman (BradBlog) fancies himself a " citizen investigative journalist," pushing several conspiracy theories over the years about electronic voting machines and their manufacturers.
But the gossip mongering Friedman outdid himself when he "broke" the news that "federal investigators" were about to hand down indictments in what he calls the "Iceberg Scandal:"
Okay, I've now been able to get independent information from multiple sources that all of this precedes what are said to be possible federal indictments against Palin, concerning an embezzlement scandal related to the building of Palin's house and the Wasilla Sports Complex, built during her tenure as Mayor. Both structures, it is said, feature the "same windows, same wood, same products." Federal investigators have been looking into this for some time, and indictments could be imminent, according to the Alaska sources.
The BRAD BLOG has not been able to receive confirm from any federal sources on this. Our information comes from local Alaskans who follow Palin, and who have been keeping an eye on this for some time, while keeping it quiet at the request of federal investigators.
No confirmation, but hey! Let's smear the woman anyway with rumors of wrong doing.
It's obvious that Friedman never talked to the FBI who announced that Palin is not under investigation according to this Josh Meyer piece in the LA Times:
A day after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin resigned, a federal official in her home state dismissed one potential explanation for her sudden and unexpected resignation: a rumored FBI investigation into the former Wasilla mayor on public corruption charges.Ooops! Another "scoop" by Friedman bites the dust. It's about what you'd expect from a guy who boasts about writing for that bastion of journalistic integrity, Truthout.org where serial exaggerator Jason Leopold insisted for months (and was backed up in writing by his hapless publisher) that an indictment of Karl Rove was on the way, thus sending the netnuts into paroxysms of ecstasy. Later, most sane liberals tip-toed away from Leopold and Truthout when it became apparent that Leopold, another self styled "investigative journalist," was no better than a gossip monger like Friedman.
Despite rumors of a looming controversy after the Republican governor's surprise announcement Friday that she would leave office this month, some of them published in the blogosphere, the FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity.
"There is absolutely no truth to those rumors that we're investigating her or getting ready to indict her," Special Agent Eric Gonzalez said in a phone interview Saturday. "It's just not true." He added that there was "no wiggle room" in his comments for any kind of inquiry.
Palin makes a mistake here, I think, by threatening legal action against mainstream media if they reprint tripe like Friedman's. Jonathan Martin of Politico:
Ratcheting up her offensive against the news media, Gov. Sarah Palin's attorney threatened Saturday to sue mainstream news organizations if they publish"defamatory" stories relating to whether Palin is under federal investigation.Not only is such a move chilling to the First Amendment but useless as well. Her media strategy now should be to ignore the press and speak over their heads directly to the people. She is quite effective at that and should continue it rather than playing chicken with people who buy ink by the barrell (or who have a national platform on cable news).
In an extraordinary four-page letter, Alaska-based attorney Thomas Van Flein warns of severe consequences should speculation that until now has largely been confined to blogs about whether Palin embezzled funds in the construction of a Wasilla, Alaska, sports arena find its way into print.
"This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law," Van Flein warned, citing Alaska liberal blogger Shannyn Moore.
Friedman's piece was picked up by dozens of liberal blogs. One wonders if any of them will bother to issue a "clarification" now that the facts are out.
