The Anchorage Daily News is reporting that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin aide Frank Bailey has agreed to pay a fine of $11,900 for violating the state's ethics laws for writing a book that is heavily centered on emails that were sent during the time Bailey was in state office.
The fine is a result of a settlement between Bailey and the Alaska Department of Law. Although Bailey had given the department a copy of the book before it was published, he apparently left in emails that he was told to keep out of the final manuscript.
The fine was the result of a complaint filed by watchdog Andree McLeod, a one-time friend of Palin's who has filed numerous ethical complaints against the former governor and state officials. The complaint alleged Bailey had used and profited from inside information by using emails in his 2011 book about his time in the Palin administration.
"State employees know not to do this -- from commissioners on down to the admin clerk, they know you can't personally benefit form information acquired when you're working for the state," she told the Daily News.
The book, "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin," was published by an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Largely centered around Bailey's time as Palin's trusted adviser, its narrative relies heavily on emails sent between Bailey and Palin.
There have been at least a few books written about Palin's time as governor, but none as intimate -- because of those emails and because of Bailey's close relationship to Palin-- as "Blind Allegiance."
In addition to Bailey, the book had two other authors: Los Angeles, Calif., author Ken Morris and Anchorage's Jeanne Devon, the founder and editor of the popular political blog Mudflats. However, it's told in the first person and follows Bailey through Palin adulation to Palin dissolution -- dissolution largely justified through those emails, many of which follow what Bailey perceived as unethical machinations.
Such machinations included an illegal coordination with the National Governors Association -- headed at the time by Mitt Romney -- to produce Palin campaign commercials, and unethical actions by both the Alaska governor and her husband Todd related to the scandal known in Alaska as "Troopergate."
But perhaps more damning were the emails detailing intimate information about Palin's turbulent home life and the fact that she was looking for justification to quit her job before she did so in 2009.
No matter the explosive material, the book suffered in sales in large part due to the fact that the rough draft of the manuscript was leaked before publication by author Joe McGinniss, who had moved next door to Palin and was also writing a book about her.
This is how the New York Times described McGinniss' book: (D)ated, petty and easily available to anyone with Internet access, Mr. McGinniss used his time in Alaska to chase caustic, unsubstantiated gossip about the Palins, often from unnamed sources like 'one resident' and 'a friend.'"
Contact Amanda Coyne at Amanda@alaskadispatch.com