Palin's trusted aide resigns, to spend more time with family

New York, Feb.25 (ANI): Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's senior adviser and spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, has resigned, saying she would like to give more time to her family and the responsibilities attached with that.

According to a report in Politico, Stapleton has been a Palin confidante since December 2006 and one of the governor's most trusted aides.

Stapleton said she resigned to spend more time with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, Isabella.

"While it has been an honor to help Governor Palin and her family over the last few years, I am also honored to have this incredible opportunity to stay home with my precious miracle, Isabella," Stapleton told POLITICO.

She added: "[She is] 2 years old, [and] I have missed significant moments in her life, but I look forward with great happiness to celebrating milestones as well as mundane moments with her as I refocus my priorities. I also look forward to seeing my saint of a husband again, too!"

Since the end of the presidential campaign, Stapleton has been one of only a handful of aides and trusted contacts maintained by Palin through her transition from governor, to national political figure, to author, to Fox News contributor and one of the unofficial leaders of the tea party movement.

In that time, Stapleton was a key strategic adviser and the pipeline for anyone seeking Palin's attention, including Republican officials and reporters.

Prior to working for the former governor, Stapleton was director of scheduling and advance for Republican National Committee Co-Chairwoman Jeanie Austin, an assistant for Malek at Thayer Capital Partners and a local television news reporter in New York, Pennsylvania and Alaska.

Palin and her now ex-aide have been talking about her stepping down for some time, and it became official on Wednesday - Stapleton's birthday. (ANI)