Palin is sued for access to e-mail

Alaska Republican watchdog Andree McLeod filed a lawsuit Friday seeking another round of Gov. Sarah Palin’s e-mail messages and a court order preventing the would-be vice president from destroying the records.

McLeod initially filed one request under Alaska’s open records law for Palin’s e-mail in June, long before Palin joined Sen. John McCain on the Republican presidential ticket. Friday’s suit stems from that request and an additional records request she filed on Oct. 1.

McLeod is seeking copies of the e-mails in Palin’s Yahoo! e-mail accounts, arguing that Palin conducted state official business with those private e-mail addresses. She also asked the Alaska state court in Anchorage for a temporary restraining order that would bar Palin from destroying or deleting the Yahoo! e-mails while the suit is pending.

“I’m seeking the court’s help by requesting them to tell the governor to obey Alaska’s public record laws. That includes retrieving official state emails from those private accounts and using official state email accounts for state business from now on,” McLeod said in a statement.