Sarah Palin emails: Newt Gingrich, Palin traded advice before relationship soured

When the Washington Post ran a story about Palin’s use of per diem allowances, Newt Gingrich was among those brainstorming ways to spin the story in Palin’s favor.

“Todays post page one leighow explains the palins could have charged the state per diem for each child under alaskan state law and did not do so,” Gingrich wrote in a Sept. 9, 2008, email to McCain advisors Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt. “This should be brought into a single number childrens days not charged equals $X that palin did NOT charge the taxpayers for that she was legally entitled to. Offsets 90 per cent of the story’s impact.”

It’s unclear how Palin received the email, but she forwarded it later that day to her staff.

RELATED: Read the Palin emails

That wasn’t the first time Gingrich sent brainstorms Palin’s way.

In a July 22, 2008, email, Gingrich sought Palin’s thoughts on popularizing Alaska’s system for distributing oil revenues to citizens.

“Someone recommended to me that we study the alaskan model of revenue distribution back to the citizens and get bills introduced in the state legislature in california florida and elsewhere that if they do go to offshore drilling they should split the revenue stream with a specified amount (maybe half) going to the citizens as a direct benefit,” Gingrich wrote. “How much does each alaskan get?…Do you have an expert who could explain all this to me?”

Palin forwarded the note to her staff: “Hmmmm. Newt’s asking us a question (?)”

Staffer Joe Balash replied, “THE Newt? Or is it the Geico Gecko?”

Palin’s relationship with Gingrich soured in 2009, however, according to former aide Frank Bailey.

“[Gingrich’s] defense and strong support during her vice presidential campaign should have earned him a lifetime debt of done-for-me-today friend,” Bailey wrote in his tell-all book, “Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin.”

According to Bailey, Palin became furious with Gingrich when he accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at a congressional fundraising dinner, pre-empting Palin, who had been sitting on an invitation of her own.

“Newt had inflicted one of those slights from which Sarah would never recover,” Bailey wrote.

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