The last word? Probably not!

FBI says Palin isn't under investigation
RUMORS WRONG: Agent rebuts circulating allegations cited by Anchorage blogger.

By SEAN COCKERHAM
scockerham@adn.com
Published: July 5, 2009

The FBI is taking the unusual step of declaring that Governor Sarah Palin is not under investigation, as Palin herself left for Western Alaska and communicated to the world through her Twitter account.

"We are not investigating her," FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez said on Sunday. "Normally we don't confirm or deny those kind of allegations out there, but by not doing so it just casts her in a very bad light. There is just no truth to those rumors out there in the blogosphere."

Radio talk show host and blogger Shannyn Moore held a press conference in Anchorage July 5, 2009, in response to claims by Governor Sarah Palin's attorney that Moore has defamed the Governor.

Palin has ignored requests for an interview since she abruptly announced Friday that she will be resigning as governor after two and a half years in office. She's used her Facebook page and Twitter account to speak for her and declare that she'll defend herself against attacks as she leaves office.

"Critics are spinning, so hang in there as they feed false info on the right decision made as I enter last yr in office to not run again," she said Sunday via the Internet social media Twitter. "So I'll make attempt to keep up w/attaching corrected info."

Palin "tweeted" that she would be going to two "West AK" villages on Sunday and indicated she'd soon be joining her family for a day of fishing at its commercial setnet site on the Nushagak River in Bristol Bay. That was the best indication of her whereabouts, as neither Palin's personal nor state spokeswomen responded to requests for comment. She remains the governor until July 26.

There's been raging national speculation about why she is resigning. Palin, in her Friday speech announcing it, cited frustration over all the ethics complaints filed against her. She said she didn't want to be a "lame duck" with no plans to run for re-election, and intended to take on an unspecified new role advancing the values she supports.

Palin's personal attorney, Thomas Von Flein, on Saturday denounced rumors that Palin resigned because she is under criminal investigation, and threatened legal action against anyone publishing such "defamatory" material about the governor. Van Flein specifically targeted Shannyn Moore, a blogger and radio talk show host in Anchorage.

Moore fired back on Sunday by calling a press conference in front of the governor's downtown Anchorage office and calling Palin "a coward and a bully." Moore said she only pointed out that rumors existed -- and she never claimed them to be fact.

"What kind of politician attacks an ordinary American on the Fourth of July for speaking her mind? What's wrong with her? The first amendment was designed to protect people like me from people like her. Our American revolution got rid of kings. And it got rid of queens, as well. Am I annoyed? You betcha," Moore said.

She said that "Shannyn Moore will not be muzzled."