TURLOCK — Sarah Palin criticized California Attorney General Jerry Brown on Friday over his investigation into her speaking arrangement at a gala dinner at a cash-strapped California university.
The 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate's speech at the 50th anniversary celebration at Cal State Stanislaus has generated intrigue and scrutiny since the nonprofit foundation holding the event first announced her visit in March.
The visit set off a pitched legal feud. Brown launched an investigation into the finances of the university's foundation arm amid allegations that the nonprofit violated public disclosure laws.
"Jerry Brown and friends, come on, this is California," she said. "Do you not have anything else to do?"
More than 360 donors paid $500 per ticket to attend the black-tie fundraiser in the school's cafeteria as a throng of students protested her appearance nearby.
"I was expecting quite a few protests, I thought that would be cool," Palin said. "It's been nothing but absolute loveliness here in this part of California, in spite of some of the hoopla around this dinner."
In preparation for her arrival, workers transformed the rural, public school's humble cafeteria into a glitzy Gala Hall, draped with crimson tablecloths and surrounded by chain-link fences. Officials still refuse to divulge the terms of