Grand jury indicts Dem legislator's son as hacker of Sarah Palin's e-mail
Last month, as The Ticket reported here, someone hacked into the private e-mail account of Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin, then the new Republican vice presidential candidate.
The hacker posted some of her e-mails, photos and copied her personal phone book.
Maybe the hacker forgot Palin is now the world's most closely guarded hockey mom. The FBI and Secret Service investigated. They raided a Knoxville home days later.
And Wednesday a federal grand jury there indicted David Kernell, the 20-year-old son of longtime Democratic state legislator Mike Kernell.
The indictment says the younger Kernell, an economics student at the University of Tennessee, accessed the account by resetting the password and adding his own.
He allegedly read and copied much information in the governor's personal account, including family details, e-mails, phone numbers and family data such as birth dates. Additionally, the charges say he copied much of the information via screen shots and posted them online along with the new password, allowing others to access Palin's account before the illegal entry was discovered and the account sealed.
Kernell turned himself in to authorities. No trial date was set. If convicted, he faces a maximum $250,000 fine and five years imprisonment, no doubt using only snail mail.
--Andrew Malcolm
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Photo credit: Associated Press
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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He is a American left wing hero. He's a Obama foot solder. Little Mr progressive silver spoon will get a slap on the wrist and a pat on the back for his share of dirt.
After all he was just getting involved and trying to make America a better place..right? Sara has no right to be where she is...right? Daddy's party was stuck in the mud and he gave the pro Obama media a story that cast doubt on Sara. He's a good boy and will be well taken care of. I think he's professor material.
Posted by: Jay | October 09, 2008 at 07:25 AM
You really can't blame the kid. He ascribes to the relativist liberlism of his father and the democrat party. After all, he was only 5 years old when White House interns (no, not her; she was brought in to service the alpha-male) illegally distributed confidential FBI background files on 900 republicans to Billary's friends. And if you were young when a crime is committed, you can't be blamed for consorting with criminals (or in Barry Obama's case, terrorists). If this kid's party wins we will long for the good old "stagflation" days of Carter. Sadly, although he's plead guilty, he won't be sentenced until after he gets to vote for Barry O and the "senator from MBNA".
Posted by: DrBanks | October 09, 2008 at 03:18 PM