Just call them the Associated (With Hackers) Press.

A reader e-mailed AP reporter Ted Bridis yesterday after Bridis’s article on the Palin e-mail hacking disclosed that the AP was refusing to cooperate with the feds and suggested that Palin was to blame for the crime.

Bridis’s report states: “The Secret Service contacted The Associated Press on Wednesday and asked for copies of the leaked e-mails, which circulated widely on the Internet. The AP did not comply. The disclosure Wednesday 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 — prior to Palin’s selection as a vice presidential candidate — after political critics obtained internal e-mails documenting the practice by some aides…”

Here’s the e-mail exchange:

—–Original Message—–
From:
Sent:
To: Bridis, Ted
Subject: Palin’s email theft

Hi,

You think that this story “raises questions” about *her* use of her own email? Questions from whom? You?

This isn’t really the point of the story. It appears that you are using the theft of the mail to put forth your own anit-Palin feelings. It’s a trend.

Perhaps you should tell us what happened, and not try to give us your opinion on what questions it raises. Alright?

Did the AP steal the mail? “Questions have been raised about whether the Associated Press stole Gov. Palin’s private email…”

And here’s the response my reader received from Bridis:

From: “Bridis, Ted” TBridis@ap.org
To:
Subject: RE: Palin’s email theft

If Gov. Palin hadn’t been using a consumer-level Yahoo! account (more than one, actually) this crime wouldn’t have happened because the hacker exploited the service’s “forgot-my-password” mechanism, which is inherently insecure.

Previously disclosed e-mails indicate her administration embraced Yahoo! Accounts, among other reasons, because of questions over whether personal e-mail accounts are covered under Alaska’s Open Records Act. Palin’s critics in Alaska were poring over records they had obtained from the governor’s office of official internal e-mail communications and causing political hay.

The issues are inextricably linked.

The AP publicized Palin’s other personal e-mail accounts, as well as her husband’s, which were derived from information obtained illegally by the hacker. Bridis says having Yahoo accounts is an open invitation for hackers and that the victims are to blame for invasions of privacy.

By refusing to cooperate with the federal investigation into the hacking crime and publicizing the Palins’ other personal Yahoo e-mail account information, the AP openly invited hackers to break into those family accounts as well and endorsed illicit activity to raid private family photos.

The issues are inextricably linked, to borrow a phrase, and raise questions about the propriety of AP’s continued flacking for Barack Obama under the guise of objective journalism.

***

Ace: “Even by the hacker’s account, and AP’s, there is no official business hidden in the emails. So what the f*** are they doing claiming that if she hadn’t illegally used private emails to hide state communications, the crime wouldn’t have happened?”