National Enquirer claims Sarah Palin had an affair

Sarah Palin

The John McCain camp has threatened legal action against the National Enquirer for reporting that his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, had an affair while married to her husband, Todd.

In a statement responding to John McCain’s threat to sue the tabloid for alleging that his running mate, Sarah Palin, had an affair with her husband’s colleague, the National Enquirer issued the following statement, “Our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign’s vetting process.”

According to the National Enquirer article: "Todd discovered the affair and quickly dissolved his friendship and business associations with the guy. Many people in Alaska are talking about the rumor and say Todd swept it under the rug."

The man at the center of the campaign, according to Alaska Abroad, a blog by an Alaskan journalist, reports that the allegation refers to the time when Palin was mayor of Wasilla in the mid-1990s.

Palin’s husband Todd and his business partner Brad Hanson owned a snowmobile dealership. Apparently Hanson, who was also married, and Sarah got on famously; Alaskan Abroad’s sources say the two were "flirtatious but never consummated the relationship".

"When Todd found out, he reportedly dissolved the partnership and sold the dealership. Hanson is now a member of the Palmer City Council."

Brad Hanson is currently a city council member in Palmer, Alaska.

The McCain campaign has gone on record as saying the "affair story" is nothing more than a "vicious lie".

"The smearing of the Palin family must end. The allegations contained on the cover of the National Enquirer insinuating that Governor Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false. It is a vicious lie," said McCain Chief Strategiest, Steve Schmidt.

"The efforts of the media and tabloids to destroy this fine and accomplished public servant are a disgrace. The American people will reject it."

The National Enquirer has gained some respect in recent weeks as the media outlet which broke the extra marital affair story of former Presidential candidate John Edwards. It made key revelations in the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal that led to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. The revelations about Sarah Palin’s adulterous affair were headlined on the cover of the recent edition of the tabloid, which promised to reveal SARAH PALIN’S DARK SECRETS.

Palin is at the center of another major scandal titled "Trooper Gate". She has hired an attorney to try and diffuse the matter.

An investigation is under way into whether Palin used her office to push for her ex-brother-in-law’s firing from the Alaska State Police and whether she ultimately fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan for refusing to sack him.

Mike Wooten was the state trooper and ex-brother-in-law of Palin’s. The Alaska Governor has denied any wrongdoing, saying her decision to fire Monegan involved budgetary concerns and moving the department in a new direction.