The office of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has told a state public employee union that if it wants to gain access to previously undisclosed emails from the Palin's office they’re going to have to pony up some serious cash.

Palin's office wants $88,000 to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request filed recently by the state's Public Safety Employees Association, the union that represents the governor former brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, an Alaska state trooper, who was involved in a bitter divorce and child custody suit with Palin's sister.

The union alleges Palin’s office illegally accessed the trooper's personnel and workers compensation file and disseminated confidential information to a top Alaska state trooper official in an attempt to get Wooten fired.

In August, the union filed an ethics complaint against Palin alleging unauthorized access to Wooten's personnel files.

John Cyr, the director of the PSEA, also filed a FOIA request for emails after an audio recording surfaced in July that showed Palin's director of state boards and commissions, Frank Bailey, telephoned police Lt. Rodney Dial last February to inquire about union issues involving state troopers and outlined disparaging details about Wooten's finances and personal behavior that appear to have come from his personnel file.

Labels: corruption, secrecy, Troopergate