Wednesday November 5, 2008
Sarah Palin waves to supporters as she arrives for Republican presidential candidate John McCain's election night rally at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa on November 4, 2008 in McCain’s home town of Phoenix, Arizona.
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Sarah Palin once greeted John McCain's male campaign staffers wearing nothing but a towel, according to Newsweek's Special Election Project.
According to Newsweek, at the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to Palin's room to brief her. After a minute, Palin came into the room with a towel wrapped around her body, and another on her wet hair.
Palin told them to chat with her husband, Todd, "I'll just be a minute," she said.
The Special Election Project allowed reporters to gather information on the presidential campaigns with an agreement that none of their reporting would be published until after Election Day.
Read other shocking revelations from The Special Election Project.
Newsweek also dished that Palin spent more on shopping sprees at high-end department stores than originally reported.
"While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy," Newsweek reports. "One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family--clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus."
The report continues: "According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill."
Palin also allegedly used "low-level staffers" to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards.
"One aide estimated that she spent 'tens of thousands' more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband," Newsweek reported. "An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as 'Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,' and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.
Look back at photos of Palin-McCain on the campaign trail.
Finally, Schmidt, would not permit Palin to speak on election night.
"McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended," Newsweek reported. "Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request."
Join Us on
Facebook and
Twitter for even more up to the minute celebrity news and photos!
Posted by Rachel Paula Ab... at 4:22 pm ET
