WASILLA, Alaska -- Sarah Palin and John Bitney go way back. They were in the same junior-high band class. Mr. Bitney was a key aide in Gov. Palin's 2006 gubernatorial campaign. When she took office, she gave Mr. Bitney a job as her legislative director, and a few months later stood beside him at a news conference and praised his work. "Whatever you did, you did it right," she told Mr. Bitney and his team. Seven weeks later she fired Mr. Bitney for what her spokeswoman now describes as "poor job performance." What happened in between? According to Mr. Bitney,...