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California state senator says school tried to hide Palin's contract

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  1. Freedom of Information
A California lawmaker and students at a state university said they would hand over documents to the state attorney general…

A California lawmaker and students at a state university said they would hand over documents to the state attorney general on Tuesday that would prove the school tried to destroy evidence of the speaking fee it agreed to pay former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for an upcoming anniversary gala, California Watch and The Los Angeles Times reported.

State Sen. Leland Yee was contacted last week by California State University Stanislaus students who retrieved pages 4-9 of the university’s contract with Palin after finding shredded documents in dumpsters on a day the school was closed. Yee has called on the attorney general to investigate CSU’s resistance to an open-records request for the information.

“To some extent, this is our little Watergate here in California,” Yee said at a press conference. He believes that the school will pay the former vice-presidential nominee upwards of $100,000 for her June appearance.

The university circulated an email message assuring students that public money would not be used to pay Palin and is adamant that the Stanislaus Foundation, which organized the event, is exempt from state open-records laws.

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