Tenn. man suspected in Palin e-mail hack

WASHINGTON - The FBI searched the residence of the son of a Democratic state lawmaker in Tennessee over the weekend, looking for evidence linking the young man to the hacking of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account, two law enforcement officials said yesterday.

David Kernell, 20, has not returned repeated phone calls or e-mails from the Associated Press since last week. His lawyer said yesterday that the family is going through a difficult period.

"The Kernell family wants to do the right thing, and they want what is best for their son," said attorney Wade V. Davies of Knoxville. "We are confident that the truth will emerge as we go through the process. David is a decent and intelligent young man, and I look forward to assisting him during this difficult period."

Kernell is the son of state Rep. Mike Kernell, a Memphis Democrat and chairman of Tennessee's House Government Operations Committee. The father declined to discuss the possibility his son might be involved in the case.

"I had nothing to do with it; I had no knowledge or anything," Mike Kernell told the AP last week.

"I was not a party to anything of this nature at all," he added. "I wasn't in on this - and I wouldn't know how to do anything like that."

David Kernell's Knoxville apartment is in a complex about five blocks from the University of Tennessee campus in a neighborhood popular with students. No one around the complex yesterday said they knew Kernell or saw the FBI agents over the weekend. No one answered the door at the apartment yesterday.

Last week, someone gained access to one of the Yahoo Inc. e-mail accounts that Palin uses, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate. The McCain campaign confirmed the break-in and called it a "shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law."

Palin used "gov.sarah" in one of the Yahoo e-mail addresses she sometimes uses to conduct state business. The hacker targeted a separate "gov.palin" account.

The hacker used an Internet address that was traced to David Kernell's apartment complex. The FBI obtained logs Saturday establishing the connection from Gabriel Ramuglia of Athens, Ga., who operates an Internet anonymity service used by the hacker.

"I think he just didn't realize the severity of what he was doing until afterwards," Ramuglia said.