FACT: The National Enquirer Magazine pushed this story in its September 15th issue. An advanced press release sent by the Enquirer said,
"The National Enquirer's coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin's extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor's daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards' exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign's vetting process. Despite the McCain camp's attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum."
A post appearing on the Alaska Abroad blog (since deleted, but still visible through a cached RSS feed) claimed,
My sources in Alaska say the incident occurred in mid 1990s, right around the time she became mayor of Wasilla. Todd Palin's partner in a Polaris snowmachine dealership in Wasilla, Brad Hampton, and Sarah were reportedly flirtatious and but never consummated the relationship.
When Todd found out, he reportedly dissolved the partnership and sold the dealership. Hampton is now a member of the Palmer City Council. He was married at the time of the reported flirtation.
Many more rumors and insinuations soon followed. The Caffinated Politics blog assembled a comprehensive list of them. Needless to say, the McCain-Palin campaign emphatically denied the story and harshly criticized those who were running with it. After these rumors were published, there was a mad dash to dig up the court records for accused paramour Brad Hampton's recent divorce. As a result -- in a reasonable move designed to protect his 11-year-old son -- Hampton filed a sealing request for the divorce records. Naturally, this sent liberal conspiracy theorists into a frenzy, since they considered it to be "proof" that Palin and Hampton had something scandalous to hide. However, The Smoking Gun reported conclusively that Sarah Palin's name was never mentioned anywhere in the divorce records, only in the sealing request.
Other than one anonymously-sourced rumor, no real evidence for a Sarah Palin-Brad Hampton love affair exists.
The National Enquirer, however, continues to dig dirt on Palin.
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