Joe McGinniss, author of Random House would-be blockbuster The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin, has confirmed the authenticity of the e-mail posted by Andrew Breitbart earlier today, which suggests that the book may have included allegations that McGinniss was aware he had not substantiated.
McGinniss told Mediaite:
My email to Jesse Griffin was an effort to secure Alaskan help in obtaining further corroboration of allegations about Sarah Palin that came to my attention during my research. My reporting continued beyond the date of the email, and only information that checked out to my satisfaction and that of my publisher was included in the book. Ultimately, I published only those allegations which I found to be credible. Other allegations that could not be sufficiently verified, including some of those referenced in my email, are not in my book.
McGinniss did not, apparently, describe to Mediaite what new facts, unavailable to him on January 27, 2011, had emerged to justify the publication of allegations he described at that time as “tawdry gossip” and lacking “factual evidence.”
A close reading of the book suggests that the only new “evidence” to emerge concerned Trig Palin’s purportedly “faked” birth, a conspiracy theory McGinniss admits he cannot prove. McGinniss cites “blogs” and anonymous residents of Wasilla as sources for his claim that “more and tougher questions about Trig’s birth” emerged in the spring of 2011.
Other allegations appear to have been published without any further verification.
The recipient of McGinniss’s email, Jesse Griffin, also published a response to Breitbart’s post at his own blog, The Immoral Minority. Griffin denied that he was the source of the leaked email–implicitly confirming its authenticity–and defended McGinniss:
Okay obviously I cannot address this issue without also addressing the story about a leaked email between Joe McGinniss and myself that is making the rounds, suggesting that Joe did not have the facts to back up the allegations in his book. (By the way he certainly does.)
Yes I have seen the article, as well as the vicious attacks directed at Joe and myself.
However at this time I cannot provide a comment because I believe that there is an ongoing investigation.
What I can tell you right now is that I DID NOT leak, or provide access, to any e-mails between myself and anyone else. Period!
I will also let you know that I will not help to provide traffic to that site by allowing a conversation about the article on this blog. I apologize, as I really dislike censorship, but I am sure you understand the decision.
Finally, this morning, Shailey Tripp contacted us through our website, inquiring about how McGinniss’s email had been obtained. Tripp is known to have been in contact with Griffin about her accusations relating to the Palins.
Tripp is the “self admitted prostitute” who was arrested on related charges in January 2011. The National Enquirer attempted, unsuccessfully, to link her to Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd.
In a telephone conversation this morning following her initial contact, Tripp claimed that McGinniss had contacted her via email to ask about Trig Palin. “I didn’t have anything to contribute to him, so he lost interest in speaking with me,” she said. Tripp declined to provide that email, referring further questions to an attorney.
Big Journalism contacted Random House earlier today, and we are still awaiting a response.
Read: Explosive Email Shows Anti-Palin Author McGinniss, Random House Likely Published Literary Hoax
Read: Caught: Random House Published Palin Smears After Lawyers Allegedly Told McGinniss No Proof Existed
Read: Random House on Sarah Palin’s Privacy: A Tale of Two Press Releases
Read: Random House Doubles Down, Defends Anti-Palin Literary Hoax; McGinniss Spins Emails of Omission
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