Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin: Gas Prices Are So High We Might Not Finish Our PAC-Funded Vacation (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | June 1, 2011, 11:25AM

Plenty of Americans are worried about whether they'll be able to pay for their family vacations this summer due to the high price of gas. Sarah Palin is worried that her PAC won't be able to afford it.

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Topics: Sarah Palin, SarahPAC

Joe Arpaio

Joe Arpaio Defends Sarah Palin, Says Sheriff Dupnik Too Political (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 11, 2011, 10:02PM

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, not exactly known for his bipartisanship, thinks that fellow Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik of Pima County is getting too political in his rhetoric in the wake of the mass shooting over the weekend that killed six people and gravely injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ).

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Topics: Clarence Dupnik, Gabby Giffords, Gabrielle Giffords, Jared Lee Loughner, Jared Loughner, Joe Arpaio, Sarah Palin, SarahPAC

Trooper-Gate

AZ Rep-Elect Hires Palin-Connected Dentist As COS

Rachel Slajda | January 3, 2011, 11:10AM

A congressman-elect from Arizona has hired a retired Wasilla dentist closely tied to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his chief of staff.

Rep.-elect Paul Gosar (R-AZ), himself a dentist, hired Rob Robinson as his top aide, Roll Call reports today. Palin endorsed Gosar after Robinson, a political friend of hers, introduced them.

Both Gosar and Robinson are members of the American Dental Association and served together on the organization's governmental affairs council. Robinson moved to Arizona last year to work as Gosar's campaign manager.

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Topics: Paul Gosar, Rob Robinson, Sarah Palin, SarahPAC, The Palins, Thomas Van Flein, Trooper-Gate

2012 elections

Sarah Palin Profile Reveals Her Facebook Ghostwriter And Spendthrift Ways

Christina Bellantoni | September 1, 2010, 11:23AM

She's earned $13 million since the 2008 presidential race that shoved her onto the national stage, but Sarah Palin apparently is a crappy tipper. A new Vanity Fair profile of the former Alaska governor paints a picture of a woman who has skyrocketed to success -- stepping on staff, friends and family along the way -- but who is so deeply concerned about controlling her public persona that she hired a friendly blogger to write her much-ballyhooed Facebook posts.

The wide-ranging profile documents hotels where Palin stiffed bellhops; her demands during the presidential campaign and on her busy speaking circuit; tensions with residents in her home town; and Palin's fashion preferences (and includes a sidebar with more details on the RNC clothing flap) -- up to and including mentioning her use of Spanx and push-up bras. But after the more salacious details, Vanity Fair writer Michael Joseph Gross also drops strong suggestions there's something fishy with some of the political action committees paying Palin to boost candidates across the country -- but he doesn't quite nail it down.

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Topics: 2012 elections, Sarah Palin, SarahPAC, Vanity Fair

Campaign Finance

Sarah Palin Spends Like A Politician: Consultants And Pals Make Up Bulk Of PAC Payments

Christina Bellantoni and Rachel Slajda | July 14, 2010, 11:16AM

To hear Sarah Palin tell it, she and her mama grizzlies are people-powered, grassroots examples of how Americans can get involved in politics. But a close look at SarahPAC's campaign finance report shows she spends her donations on the same old, standard consultants as every other politician. And like many others, she still finds ways to keep her inner circle in the money.

She pulled in just shy of $866,000 in donations from people hailing from Kissimmee, Florida to Rancho Palos Verdes, California. But Marylander Laurie Beitman's $35 and the bulk of Palin's small-dollar donations is going to more than Republican candidates the former Alaska governor wants to see win this fall. By our count, Palin spent nearly $400,000 on consultants, lobbying firms and the standard direct mail and fundraising firms politicians frequently use. (The AP had a stricter consulting tally, $210,000.) Just about the only maverick-style item she purchased was $4,000 worth of sausage.

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Topics: Campaign Finance, PACs, Political Consultants, Randy Scheunemann, Sarah Palin, SarahPAC

Sarah Palin

Palin Spent Almost $4K On Supporters' Sausages

Rachel Slajda | July 13, 2010, 10:05AM

How do we get on this list?

Sarah Palin's political action committee spent some $3,800 in the past quarter on "gift bag items" from an Alaskan company called Indian Valley Meats, according to SarahPAC's latest FEC reports.

Indian Valley, according to its (drool-worthy) web site, sells gift boxes full of Alaskan meats: smoked salmon, caribou sausage, musk ox jerky, reindeer hot dogs, trail sticks, honey mustard sauce and more.

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Topics: Alaska, Republicans, Sarah Palin, SarahPAC