Palin's Pledges of Government Openness Marred by Secrets

Gov Sarah Palin's promise for a new era of government openness as the reform governor of Alaska started to crack even before Sen John McCain's presidential campaign built a wall of protectiveness around her. Gov Palin (R-Alaska) was elected nearly two years ago with splashy moves like publishing the state spending checkbook online. She kept a campaign pledge to allow the public to view online communications between state officials and potential bidders on a major gas pipeline, a contrast to her predecessor. But her administration has claimed broad exceptions to Alaska's freedom of information rules to keep government e-mails secret, and it's shown reluctance to disclose documents about sensitive topics, ranging from polar bears to policy issues. And her state's online checkbook is limited in its detail. Disclosures about private e-mail accounts used by Gov Palin and her top aides have raised questions about whether they were trying to evade disclosure under the state's public records law. Her aides have denied this.