Massive Palin e-mails set to be released

JUNEAU, Alaska, June 9 (UPI) -- Alaskan officials say they plan to release more than 24,000 pages of former Gov. Sarah Palin's e-mails this week.

The e-mails are being released in response to public records requests first made in 2008, The New York Times reported.

Palin sent the e-mails when she was governor till about one month into the 2008 presidential campaign, when she was the running mate of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., mostly using private accounts. More than 2,000 pages of e-mails have been withheld because of executive privilege claims. Many of the documents being released have been edited by state lawyers, the Times said.

The release would be massive. Linda Perez, the administrative director for Gov. Sean Parnell, Palin's successor, said, "Oh, it's going to be six boxes now, not five,"

The e-mails are scheduled to be released at 9 a.m. Alaska time Friday, which is 1 p.m. on the East Coast.

The paper documents weigh about 250 pounds and have a printing cost of $725 per set, the Times said. For the time being they can only be obtained in Juneau -- reachable only by plane or boat -- or by having them shipped to newsrooms.

A number of news media outlets, including MSNBC and the Times, say they plan to set up searchable Web databases of the material.

Meanwhile, Palin is touring some cities in what seems like a campaign and may move from Alaska to a ranch in Arizona, the Times said.