Palin is also reporting that she took out a home loan from Wells Fargo for "legal fees to fight false allegations while governor." She didn't give a date or amount.[Editor's Note: This doesn't appear to be correct. See the updates at the bottom of this post - JP]
One of the last of the complaints filed against Palin charges that the legal defense fund which was set up to pay Palin's legal bills is itself not legal under Alaska law. That complaint was filed with the knowledge that the fund would be frozen while it was being investigated, therefore forcing her to pay her lawyers out of her own pocket. The aim of her political opponents has always been to destroy Sarah Palin any way they can. So they staged an all-out assault not only on her character and her family, but on her personal finances as well.
According to reports, the twenty or so complaints had driven Palin's legal bill over the $600,000 mark. That's a considerable sum of cash for a governor with an annual salary of $125,000 to lay her hands on, so she was forced to borrow the money. Wizbang's Jay Tea (h/t: C4P) explains:
"...she had run up about half a million dollars in legal bills, and pretty much every single complaint had been tossed. In other words, she had incurred debts equal to twice her family's net income and 40% of their net worth for absolutely nothing. And with the latest complaint going after her legal defense fund, it was shaping up to get more and more and more expensive, with no relief in sight. The agenda of her opponents was clear: to use Alaska's flawed ethics laws (the 'flaw' being that no one foresaw a cabal filing an endless chain of worthless complaints purely to drive up the target's legal bills) to bankrupt her and her family."The legal fees might also explain why Sarah Palin went to work immediately after resigning to write her book and get it finished in as short a period of time as possible. According to her financial disclosure, she received $1.25 million from her publisher as a retainer for her memoir, which is due out next month. Book advances are usually paid half on signing and half on acceptance of the finished manuscript, with the agent usually taking at least 15% right off the top. If these were the terms of Sarah Palin's deal with HarperCollins, then after her agent -- Washington D.C. lawyer Bob Barnett -- took his cut, she received approximately $500,000 of her advance, which would not have been enough to pay her attorneys in full.
"So she took what she saw as the only solution: she resigned. And once she decided that, she saw no reason to drag matters out."
The former governor most certainly was feeling the pressure to complete her manuscript in order to receive the rest of the retainer from HarperCollins. Just speculation on our part, but Sarah Palin doesn't strike us as the type of person who wants to be beholden to anyone, so her goal was apparently to pay her lawyers ASAP.
Some other details from her financial disclosure:
Palin reported that she received $73,000 in salary and $6,370 in per diem during those final months before resigning as governor.Now that she is no longer the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin will not be required to file any more financial disclosure reports with that state's Public Offices Commission.
Todd Palin reported receiving $34,086 during that time as a BP production operator. He also reported $32,260 from his commercial setnet fishing operation in Bristol Bay, under the business name "Toad's Fisheries."
Todd Palin also reported $3,500 in winnings from the Iron Dog snow machine race.
First Update: Sarah Palin spokesperson Meg Stapleton e-mailed the following brief statement to Sean Cockerham:
"The Governor has complied with Alaska disclosure law by her filing yesterday. Now, as a private citizen, her business dealings, including her publishing agreement, are confidential."Second Update: A closer look at the disclosure forms reveals that Cockerham must have blurred the lines between two separate items, the Palins' home loan and the former governor's legal fees. The two do not appear to be related. A h/t to C4P for catching McClatchy's error and another to Shane Vander Hart for bringing it to our attention.
Third Update: We contacted Sean Cockerham, pointed out the discrepancy in his story and asked him to print a correction. He replied that he is trying to contact Sarah Palin's attorneys "to clarify information that's related to this." The reporter says he will correct any "reporting that is in error."
- JP
That's disgraceful. Every time someone asks me why Palin resigned I tell them people were purposefully trying to bankrupt her. This new info that she had to take out a damn home loan makes it all the more disgusting. Resigning was one of the most brilliant, albeit toughest moves she's made this year. And look at all the things she's accomplished. I'm fully confident that those charges of "quitter" are going fall on defeat ears especially with this news.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet she stuck it out till she snagged the pipeline deal for Alaska. What a brave woman!
ReplyDeleteLook on the bright side.
ReplyDelete1 ,The kooks failed bankrupt her.
2. She has the money and then some to pay off all her bills.
3. She is driving the left more so now then she could have done as Governor.
So the Palin haters failed all around.
C4P is reporting that the home loan is likely unconnected when you look at the actual disclosure form. It is listed separately and they have the Wells Fargo Home Loan on several disclosure forms.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. Wow. Reading this just makes me feel so awful that those people did that to her. I can't imagine going through something like this. It just reinforces again how strong and brave she is. She never once let this burden show. What a great role model for her children. She and Todd created a very strong family.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information. Great post.
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ReplyDeleteAgreed, Shane. Cockerham apparently connected some unrelated dots.
ReplyDeleteI updated and corrected our post. Will McClatchy do the same?
- JP