Levi Johnston, the former fiance of Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, on Thursday joined the crowd offering up potential reasons for Palin's decision to step down.

Johnston met with reporters to say that he heard her musing about a better life, one in which she could spend more time at home, reduce her stress, and accept the lucrative offers coming her way.

Back in December, a month after her election defeat as John McCain's running mate, Johnston said that Palin "had talked about how nice it would be to take some of this money people have been offering us and just run with it, and saying forget everything else."

Asked about Johnston's remarks, Palin's spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, said, "It is interesting to learn Levi is working on a piece of fiction while honing his acting skills."

Johnston, 19, and his family have engaged in a public feud with the Palins over issues like whether his mother and sister could visit his son, born to Palin's daughter Dec. 28, and respect. Now Johnston is the latest to join the rampant national speculation about why Palin made the decision to step down July 26 as governor.

Palin has attributed it to frustration over ethics complaints and politically ambitious legislators, saying attacks on her have been costly for the state. She has said that leaving office and handing power to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell 19 months before the end of her term will be better for Alaska.

Johnston was speaking to The New York Times, The Associated Press and Daily News in a meeting that was arranged by his personal agent and family attorney, Anchorage lawyer Rex Butler. Butler said he put together the session because media outlets had been calling and seeking Johnston's reaction to the governor's decision, and because Alaskans want to know why Palin made the decision to step down.

Johnston said Palin made the statement about taking the money to "just run with it," in early December, when he said he was living at the Palin home and watching television with the governor and her daughter. Palin has disputed that Johnston ever lived with the family at their Wasilla home.

"I know the truth about my family. I know details about whether Levi Johnston was allowed to live with my teenage daughter or not. By the way, it would be over my dead body that a kid would live with my teenage daughter," Palin said in April.

Johnston at the time was engaged to Palin's daughter, Bristol, then nine months pregnant with their child. He said Thursday that Palin had at times made comments, like when she was cooking dinner, to the effect that "it would be nice to have all that money."

Johnston said he believes Palin had other reasons for the decision, including a desire for more family time.

"I've seen how stressful this job was for her and she came home late at night and things like that," Johnston said.

He painted a picture of a family constantly receiving offers, even the young children.

Johnston said he believes Palin was talking about "books, talk shows, whatever, things like that" when she discussed taking the money, and that the big deal was the book.

But Palin didn't have to leave office to get a book deal -- she already has one, and the Alaska Department of Law signed off on her having it even as governor.

Johnston is working on his own book deal and said he hopes to be "maybe getting into some movies or something." In the meantime, he's doing carpentry work, living with his mother, and about to take his GED test to obtain his high school equivalency diploma.

He said his relationship with the Palin family has improved and he's able to see his son whenever he wants.

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.

ADVERTISEMENT