WASHINGTON — Hackers broke into the Yahoo e-mail account that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used for official business as Alaska’s governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.
“This is a shocking invasion of the governor’s privacy and a violation of law,” the McCain campaign said in a statement. “The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities, and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them.”
The disclosure raises new questions about the propriety of the Palin administration’s use of nongovernment e-mail accounts to conduct state business. The practice was revealed months ago after political critics obtained internal e-mails documenting the practice by some aides.
One of the e-mails was a July exchange with Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell discussing a talk-show host who had been critical of Parnell. Parnell declined to discuss the matter.
It wasn’t clear how hackers broke into Palin’s account, but it would have been possible to trick the service into revealing her password knowing personal details about Palin, including her birthday and ZIP code.
