Jury Selection Begins for Lib Student Who Broke Into Palin's Email Account

Sarah Palin is expected to testify against the son of a prominent liberal politician from Tennessee who hacked her email account during the 2008 election.

David Kernell, the son of liberal Tennessee State Representative Mike Kernell was indicted in October 2008 by a federal grand jury in Knoxville, Tennessee., for intentionally accessing without authorization the e-mail account of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Kernell was a member of the UT for Barack Obama organization.
He listed it on his Facebook account:

David Kernell, the son of Democratic Rep. Mike Kernell of Memphis, is worried that conservatives on the jury will not appreciate his actions. The young Obama supporter broke into Sarah Palin’s email account and distributed the emails over the internet. He faces up to 50 years in jail.
The AP reported:

A former college student charged with hacking Sarah Palin’s e-mail account fears some jurors in heavily Republican East Tennessee could be dazzled when the conservative star testifies.

Jury selection begins Tuesday and Palin’s testimony could soon follow in the case against 22-year-old David Kernell.

He was a University of Tennessee student majoring in economics when prosecutors say he hacked into the Yahoo! account Palin sometimes used for state business. At the time she was Alaska’s governor and the GOP candidate for vice president.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips has denied a defense motion to have prospective jurors answer a questionnaire asking if they have strong political feelings about Palin. Kernell’s attorney, Wade Davies, cited Palin’s speaking slot at a tea party movement convention and frequent television appearances. She is hugely popular with conservatives.

Convictions on all four felony charges — identity theft, wire fraud, intentionally accessing Palin’s e-mail account without authorization and obstructing an FBI investigation — could send Kernell to prison for up to 50 years.

Photo of author
Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

You can email Jim Hoft here, and read more of Jim Hoft's articles here.

 

Thanks for sharing!