Claim in Palin's book already disputed

"Going Rogue" isn't even out yet, but a former McCain staffer's taking issue with one thing she writes in it

Published November 13, 2009 1:25AM (EST)

It wasn't hard to predict that Sarah Palin's forthcoming memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life," would feature some dubious claims, including ones that would be disputed and even debunked pretty quickly. It is, however, a little surprising to see that one assertion Palin reportedly makes in the book has been challenged days before the book is set to be released, and while it's still under an embargo.

The Associated Press managed to obtain a copy of "Going Rogue," and published a glimpse into some of what the former Alaska governor's book contains on Thursday. One of the things the AP noted was that Palin discussed $500,000 in legal fees she says she's faced recently, and that she claims about one-tenth of that sum was the result of a bill she got from Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, which wanted her to pay for having vetted her to be the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

"She said when she asked the McCain campaign if it would help her financially, she was told McCain's camp would have paid all the bills if he'd won; since he lost, the vetting legal bills were her responsibility," the AP reports.

A former advisor to McCain quickly came out to deny that there was any such bill. CNN's Peter Hamby quotes the unnamed "former senior campaign advisor" as saying, "That is one hundred percent untrue... All those bills are from her personal attorney Thomas Van Flein, mostly relating to the Troopergate investigation and other ethics investigations. It is not legal to pay for those investigations out of general election funds, even if the campaign was so inclined."


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

MORE FROM Alex Koppelman


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Going Rogue Political Books Sarah Palin War Room