Palin's attorney threatens to sue mainstream news organizations if they publish 'defamatory' stories. Attorney warns on 'defamatory material'

Ratcheting up her offensive against the news media, Gov. Sarah Palin’s attorney threatened on Saturday to sue mainstream news organizations if they publish “defamatory” stories relating to whether Palin is under federal investigation.

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 republish 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.

Much like Palin did in her Facebook statement Saturday, Van Flein savages the news media in his letter.

“Just as power abhors a vacuum, modern journalism apparently abhors any type of due diligence and fact checking before scurrilous allegations are repeated as fact,” the Anchorage attorney wrote.

Neither the Times nor the Post made any mention of the embezzlement rumors in their Saturday editions, but sources close to Palin consider the letter a warning shot to stay away from the topic.

In the letter, Van Flein writes: "'The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those "responsible for the abuse of that right.'… These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable."

Still, the decision to issue a public statement reciting all the facts in the case now all but ensures that there will be mainstream media accounts of the situation.

“While the Federal Government has a process to follow, and that process sometimes takes time, we can categorically state that we are not aware of any ‘federal investigation’ that has been ‘pending’ for the last seven years,” Van Flein wrote. “We are aware of no subpoenas on [the Wasilla supply company that supplied equipment for the construction of the sports arena and Palin home] regarding the Palins… .To be blunt — this ‘story’ was alleged during the campaign, evaluated then by national media and deemed meritless. Nothing has changed.”

Scores of left-leaning blogs posted speculation in the wake of Palin’s surprise announcement Friday and among the most common theories was that she was on the verge of federal indictment over the 2002 construction of the sports arena.

Making the case for his client, Van Flein writes that Palin, then the mayor of Wasilla, did not oversee the Steering Committee tasked with running the project.

“While her public support of this project was deemed pivotal by many, the actual construction, bidding, financing and other day-to-day management of the project was not in her scope of authority as Mayor,” Van Flein writes.

Van Flein also notes that the project was publicly bid and therefore Palin had little control over construction.

The attorney also addressed another of the bloggers’ claims: that Palin purchased building materials to build her own home from the same supply store as was used by those who built the arena.

“Prior to the construction of Lowe’s and Home Depot within the last few years in Wasilla, Spenard Builders Supply was the primary building supply company in Wasilla,” Van Flein writes. “It can hardly come as a surprise that it would sell materials to small homeowners or that it would also bid to supply commercial contracts.”

As for how the Palins financed their home on Wasilla’s Lake Lucille, Van Flein says they “used a combination of personal savings, equity from the sale of their prior home and conventional bank financing to build the house — like millions of American families. The deeds of trust are recordable public records. Basic journalism and fact checking would confirm this.”