An attorney for Sarah Palin has delivered a
letter threatening legal action against an anti-Palin
blogger who was the source of a divorce rumor that the attorney
for the former Alaska governor called "categorically false."
Publication of
the letter at a Web site that repeated the rumor has
uncovered circumstantial evidence that the anti-Palin blogger
"Gryphen" is a kindergarten teacher at an Anchorage elementary
school.
Saturday, the
rumor that Todd and Sarah Palin were divorcing created an
online uproar. CNN stringer/anti-Palin blogger
Dennis Zaki published a thinly-sourced "news" item asserting
that "multiple sources" had confirmed the rumor first published
by "Gryphen" at his Immoral Majority blog.
Zaki obtained a copy of a letter from Palin attorney Thomas Van
Flein, ordering "Gryphen" to retract the allegations -- calling
them "complete fabrications, false and defamatory" -- or face
legal action. The Van Flein letter, published by Zaki with
the name of the recipient blacked out, ended with this
sentence:
"If you do not have an attorney, please let me know if you want
to be served with the summons and complaint at the
kindergarten where you assist or at your
residence." (Emphasis added.)
By publishing the letter, Zaki inadvertantly provided valuable
information to an anonymous tipster who compiled online
research indicating the identity of "Gryphen," whose Immoral
Minority blog received more than 170,000 visits in July.
Blogger Dan Riehl received the same information.
The tipster also forwarded examples of the Immoral Minority
blog's attacks on Palin, where "Gryphen" used vulgar obscene
language in reference to Mrs. Palin, including the so-called
"Trig Truther" suggestion that the governor was not actually the
mother of her fifth child:
"Wherever Trig came from he has proved to be a very valuable
asset to Sarah Palin indeed. But just where did Trig Palin come
from? As of today, as of this minute, and after over a month of
searching I cannot tell you. I simply do not know for certain. I
do know however where he did not come from. He did not issue
forth from Sarah Palin. He may have been conceived inside her
house (The jury is still out on that one), but he was not
conceived in her uterus. On that one fact I have absolutely no
doubt."
--
June 6, 2009
I am currently awaiting confirmation from Alaska
sources of the tipster's circumstantial identification of
"Gryphen," who has been inadvertantly put in career jeopardy by
his friend Zaki's publication of the Van Flein letter.
Media in Alaska will not be able to ignore the news that the
state's most notorious anti-Palin blogger is a kindergarten
teacher at public school. Having spent part of my early
career as a newspaper reporter covering the education beat, I can
predict that "Gryphen" will soon at the center of a maelstrom of
controversy.
UPDATE 9:21
p.m.:
Dan Riehl, who has even better sources in Alaska than I
do, reports that we are now "gold" on the
tipster's identification of "Gryphen" as Jesse Griffin, a
part-time teaching assistant at
Trailside Elementary School in Anchorage. At his Immoral
Minority blog,
Griffin now confirms the basics (without using his real
name), saying he has "every confidence that I will be
vindicated."
Huffington Post reports on the controversy, and the blogosphere is
beginning to fan the flames. Good luck with that vindication,
Mr. Griffin. Im sure the taxpayers of Anchorage won't
mind you calling Mrs. Palin all those ugly names --
"trailer trash Barbie" being a relatively mild example.
