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Friday, December 26, 2008

Since when do machetunim of Vice-Presidential candidates get Secret Service protection??
Posted by Jill | 2:56 PM
Why was Sherry Johnston, Sarah Palin's supposed future mother-in-law, under Secret Service protection during the election campaign?
The mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend sent text messages discussing drug transactions less than a month after the young woman's mother, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate, according to court documents filed this week.

[snip]

Authorities say the case against Sherry Johnston began in the second week of September, when drug investigators intercepted a package containing 179 OxyContin pills. That led to the arrest of the suspects, who agreed to be informants.

According to the affidavit, Johnston sent a text message to one informant Oct. 1, writing: "Hey, my phones are tapped and reporters and god knows who else is always following me and the family so no privacy. I will let u no when I can go for cof."

The trooper's affidavit indicates that Sarah Palin's candidacy factored into the investigation, with state officials delaying execution of a search warrant until this month, when Johnston was "no longer under the protection or surveillance of the Secret Service."


It is not normal procedure for people beyond a candidate's immediate family to receive Secret Service protection. Here's who the Secret Service is authorized to protect:
* The president, the vice president, (or other individuals next in order of succession to the Office of the President), the president-elect and vice president-elect
* The immediate families of the above individuals
* Former presidents and their spouses for their lifetimes, except when the spouse remarries. In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the former president leaves office
* Children of former presidents until age 16
* Visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States, and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad
* Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election
* Other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President
* National Special Security Events, when designated as such by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security


It says nothing there about "the mother of your daughter's boyfriend." So why was Sherry Johnson under the protection and/or surveillance of the Secret Service? Did George W. Bush authorize her to receive this protection? And why would this unusual Secret Service protection prevent issuing of a warrant if the Alaska state troopers had reason to believe a crime was being committed?

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4 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
One possibility:
The SS always keeps a watch on those who have threatened its protectees. Might it be that Ms Johnson had made threats against Ms Palin. Certainly seems possible given that a shotgun wedding was in the works.

And do you know if Ms Palin is a Grandmother yet? Wasn't Bristol supposed to have given birth by now? Weren't they supposed to be married before the kid arrived?
12/26/08, 4:47 PM  
Blogger Bob said...
I'm disappointed. We lost out on a juicy scandal during the general campaign. It is peculiar how Bristol & her pregnancy & proposed marriage disappeared even from the celebrity gossip shows & magazines, that sort of real life soap opera stuff usually has better media legs.
12/26/08, 5:00 PM  
Blogger Jill said...
It appears that Baby Palin-Johnston hasn't arrived yet. He was due on 12/19. I don't know how long one waits to induce, but you'd think that something would be happening soon. Unless the baby has arrived and has quietly been put up for adoption and the "wedding" cancelled in the hope no one will notice.

I wonder if the IOKIYAR rule will apply to the 2012 standard bearer having her daughter's mother-in-law be a drug distributor.

Another thing that's interesting is that all mention of "manufacture" have disappeared.
12/26/08, 7:18 PM  
On behalf of Gov Palin's cousin, the proprietress of one of my favorite yarn shops (Close Knit) I am offended that the Governor's machatunesteh got Secret Service protection while the store was left totally unguarded. Not that it was broken into or anything, but once word got out that the shop belonged to relatives of the Republican Veep candidate, surely they worried that largely Democratic and thus hateful Portland would attack it. (If you don't spot this as sarcasm then go back and reread it now that you know. Hee!) Never mind that the store is owned by lifelong Democrats themselves. (I'm sure that's a great scandal in the family. LOL!)
12/27/08, 2:59 PM  
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