The author of the new tell-all book on Sarah Palin claims he wrote a “fair” manuscript on the former governor of Alaska, despite claiming in his book that she slept with a famous basketball star, had an extramarital affair and dabbled in cocaine.
“I think I was as fair as I could possibly have been,” Joe McGinniss said in an interview that aired Thursday on NBC News, “given the fact that she told all the people who were closest to her not to talk to me.”
During the interview with reporter Savannah Guthrie, McGinniss defends the sources he used in the book, saying he spoke with about 200 people who knew Palin. At one point, he details how he’s confident Palin did coke.
“Well you talk to somebody who snorted it with her and you talk to many of Todd ‘s friends who describe him as having been on the end of the straw frequently in his youth,” McGinniss said. “I’m not saying Todd and Sarah Palin today abuse cocaine or even use it. But there is no question that they both did at one point in their lives.”
Palin’s husband, Todd, said the book is full of lies.
“This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife,” he said. “His book is full of disgusting lies, innuendo and smears.” (RELATED: Palin: GE is poster child of crony capitalism)
The book, “The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin,” hits the shelves Sept. 20.