E-mails show Todd Palin's role in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- E-mails show Todd Palin was an active, if unpaid, member of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's administration, NBC News reported Friday.

Almost 3,000 pages of e-mails, 1,200 individual messages, were released by the state of Alaska after NBC News and MSNBC.com filed a public records request.

Another 243 e-mails were withheld on the grounds that Todd Palin is protected by executive privilege.

The subject lines of the unreleased e-mails cover a wide range of issues from gas pipeline bids, the state budget and higher education to the governor's per diem travel payments and "strategy for responding to questions about pregnancy." Sarah Palin gave birth to her fifth child while she was governor, and her daughter, Bristol, had an out-of-wedlock baby.

Todd Palin was known to have played a part in the scandal nicknamed "Troopergate," the Palins' effort to get her sister's ex-husband fired from his job as a state trooper. The e-mails show his involvement in state government went far beyond family matters.

Nicknamed the "first dude," Todd Palin did fill some of the traditional jobs of a governor's spouse, including giving a tea for former governors' spouses.