Did McCain/Palin Obstruct Justice in the Johnston Case?

h/t mark fairbanks alaska flickr/dkos

It seems that Sarah Palin has a newsworthy scandalette for every holiday. For Thanksgiving she was preening in front of a turkey slaughter; for Christmas, she is smack dab in the middle of a felony controlled substances investigation. The New York Times reports on the investigation of Sherry Johnston, the mother of Bristol Palin’s supposed fiance:

Johnston is the mother of 18-year-old Levi Johnston. Gov. Sarah Palin announced in September that her 18-year-old daughter Bristol was pregnant and Johnston was the father.

Authorities say the case began in the second week of September — a couple of weeks into Palin’s campaign as Republican vice presidential candidate — when drug investigators intercepted a package containing 179 Oxycontin pills. That led to the arrest of the suspects, who agreed to be informants.

According to the affidavit, Johnston sent a text message to one informant Oct. 1, writing: ”Hey, my phones are tapped and reporters and god knows who else is always following me and the family so no privacy. I will let u no when I can go for cof.”

Ten days after Johnston said there wasn’t enough privacy for a drug sale, she texted again to set up a meeting at a store, according to the affidavit. The document says the informant received $800 to make a purchase, meeting investigators later with 10 pills of 80-milligram Oxycontin.

A second purchase was made the following day, authorities said. This time the informant wore a hidden camera and a microphone.

Interesting. This little sting was percolating the entire post convention portion of the election. Sounds like they had Johnston cold from the first controlled sale, which if the article is correct, appears to have been made on October 11, and certainly by the following day when they made the second controlled transaction. A skeptic might think that it was ripe for arrest during the election, like say anytime after October 12; and might wonder why it was extended into late December for arrest.

Well, gee whiz, lookee here! From the Washington Post:

The trooper’s affidavit indicates that Sarah Palin’s candidacy factored into the investigation, with state officials delaying execution of a search warrant until this month, when Johnston was "no longer under the protection or surveillance of the Secret Service."

Who could have ever predicted this? I wonder what role John McCain and Sarah Palin played in this admitted political delay? What role did the Secret Service play, if any; or is that blame shifting? What role did the Brooks Brothers suited RNC goon squad that was up in Alaska during the election play? There are a lot of questions regarding this little obstruction.

I wonder if anybody is asking them?