Sarah Palin took cocaine and cheated on Todd, book claims (VIDEO)

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Sarah Palin snorted cocaine, hooked up with NBA player Glen Rice and cheated on her husband Todd, according to media reports citing excerpts from a new unauthorized biography of the former Alaska governor.

"The Rogue: Searching For The Real Sarah Palin," by Joe McGinniss, is due to be released in the U.S. next week.

But according to Sky News, U.S. celebrity paper the National Enquirer cites an advance copy of the book as claiming that — among other things — Palin:

  • snorted cocaine off the top of an overturned oil drum while snowmobiling with friends;
  • smoked marijuana in secret liaisons with a university professor while studying at Mat-Su College in Alaska;
  • had a six-month affair in the mid-1990s with her husband's business partner, Brad Hanson;
  • had a one-night stand with 6 foot, 8 inch former NBA champion Glen Rice nine months before her marriage

The claims in the book — including that Todd Palin also used cocaine and was "on the end of the straw plenty," have been widely reported in the U.S. and elsewhere.

McGinniss, who wrote about Richard Nixon's campaign in "The Selling of the President," moved to the house next to Palin's home in Wasilla, Alaska, to research the book, the Guardian reports.

Palin warned him to not to spy on her family, saying she suspected he was trying to look in her daughter's window from his property.

Meantime, the book — and its author — have come in for some scathing criticism by the New York Times:

Although most of “The Rogue” is dated, petty and easily available to anyone with Internet access, Mr. McGinniss used his time in Alaska to chase caustic, unsubstantiated gossip about the Palins, often from unnamed sources like “one resident” and “a friend.”

The book has amped up speculation about any bid Palin intends to makes to join the 2012 U.S. presidential race.

At very least, the NY Post writes, Palin "could be waving good-bye to status as Tea Party darling."

Palin has not yet commented on the claims in the book. However, Todd Palin released a statement late Wednesday condemning McGinniss, ABC News reports.

“This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife,” Todd Palin said via SarahPAC’s Rebecca Mansour. “His book is full of disgusting lies, innuendo, and smears. Even The New York Times called this book ‘dated, petty,’ and that it ‘chases caustic, unsubstantiated gossip.”

In a Facebook post Wednesday night condemning President Barack Obama’s jobs speech, Sarah Palin made no mention of McGinniss’ book.

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