Todd Palin’s Partner Seals Divorce Papers

The National Enquirer — yes, the same paper that broke the story of John Edwards’ affair — is currently digging into the reason why one of Todd Palin’s partners would suddenly file to have his divorce proceedings sealed.

We might soon find out that reason, as that motion has been denied.

Perhaps with all the vetting of Sarah Palin that’s now going on by the media, her husband’s partner has decided that he just doesn’t want his personal issues revealed to everyone, however irrelevant they might be to anything going on at the moment.

On the other hand, perhaps this sudden desire to seal the papers has something to do with the Enquirer report that Sarah Palin had an affair with her husband’s business partner.

The McCain camp responded strongly, and has threatened to sue the Enquirer:

“The smearing of the Palin family must end. The allegations contained on the cover of the National Enquirer insinuating that Gov. Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false. It is a vicious lie,” said McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt.

You can see the cover story here.

This could turn out to be about as true as 3/4 of the stories printed by the Enquirer, but if it turns out that there is any substance to this, I’d say people better look out when the Enquirer comes calling.

If John McCain’s team had done some proper vetting of its VP candidate, perhaps the media wouldn’t have to waste its time with stories like this. But unfortunately, since they didn’t, it’s all fair game.

UPDATE: The Smoking Gun got a hold of the divorce papers, and here’s the reason why Todd Palin’s partner wanted the records sealed:

According to the filing, Richter wanted the documents deemed confidential in a bid to cloak details about his home, workplace, and phone numbers because “reporters and news agencies” were using that information to contact him. Richter, a 39-year-old contractor, noted that he is “friends and land owners in a remote cabin” with the Palins and, as a result, journalists were intruding on the “cabin life and private life” of him and his 11-year-old son.

Looks like the Enquirer might have a lawsuit on its hands.