THEY TOLD ME THAT IF GEORGE W. BUSH WERE RE-ELECTED, no one’s email would be safe from the prying of jackbooted thugs motivated by politics, not national security. And they were right!

I emailed Nick Denton about this, and he replied: “We didn’t publish Bristol’s phone number. (Tho we did call it. And we did publish shrunk screenshots of the emails.) You know also that we’d have no hesitation in publishing similar info about Obama or Biden. If we’re sleazebags, we’re equal-opportunity sleazebags.” I like Nick, but this was not Gawker’s finest hour.

UPDATE: Reader Rahul Banta writes: “Maybe this is why John McCain doesn’t use email?!” That would be smart.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Some legal analysis from Orin Kerr. Orin doesn’t discuss civil liability, though. If it were my email, I’d probably file a civil suit. The discovery alone might be fun.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Taking sides? “The Secret Service contacted The Associated Press on Wednesday and asked for copies of the leaked e-mails, which circulated widely on the Internet. The AP did not comply.”