From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby
Sarah Palin's book is officially scheduled for release next Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – A former senior campaign adviser to John McCain is rejecting Sarah Palin’s claim that she was billed for the costs of vetting her before she was selected as the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Palin’s book “Going Rogue” is set to hit the bookstores next Tuesday, but the Associated Press reported the claim Thursday after purchasing a copy of the book before the sale date. The AP reported that Palin writes about the legal fees she began to accumulate after returning to Alaska once the campaign ended, most of which were the result of having to defend herself from ethics charges.
The AP said that Palin writes about receiving a bill for about $500,000 from the McCain campaign to pay for expenses relating to the vetting process that took place before she was named as the vice presidential nominee.
"That is one hundred percent untrue," said the McCain official, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity in deference to McCain. "All those bills are from her personal attorney Thomas Van Flein, mostly relating to the Troopergate investigation and other ethics investigations. It is not legal to pay for those investigations out of general election funds, even if the campaign was so inclined."
Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton would not confirm the accuracy of the AP report.
I think the part where the Palin team wouldn't respond... well, either way, this should be pretty easy to prove, either way. If the $ was to pay for troopergate and she was that confused by it, well, I'm not sure she's ready to balance a national budget.
