On September 29, Joe Miller, the Tea Party stalwart and Sarah Palin fave who upset Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Republican Primary earlier this year, told the AP he would "try to answer the questions the press presents to us. We're going to try to be as forthright as we can."

Then came a report that he improperly used government equipment in the service of his 2008 campaign for State Party Chairman, and multiple newspapers filed to see local records. This follows other reports that the hard-core right-wing anti-welfare Republican obtained hunting and fishing licenses designated for low-income people while he was making $70,000 and had just applied for a mortgage.

So, media: No questions for you! "You can ask me about background, you can ask me about personal issues. I'm not going to answer," he said Monday night. He also claimed, without evidence, that "members of the media have gained access to my confidential file, my personnel file from the Fairbanks North Star Borough." Well, now we know which folders will have all the good stuff.

Miller vows silence on background until election [Anchorage Daily News]