What happened in the firing of John Bitney by Sarah Palin. Did Sarah Palin fire John Bitney because of an alleged Bitney affair with Debbie Richter?

John Bitney was a top aide in Sarah Palin’s 2006 governor campaign.

Seven weeks after winning the election, Palin reportedly fired John Bitney officially for “poor job performance” reports the WSJ today.

But was there more, asks the paper.

“According to Mr. Bitney, Gov. Palin got a call from another old friend, Scott Richter, informing her that his wife, Debbie Richter, and Mr. Bitney were having an affair. Mr. Bitney had kept that secret from the governor, even as he told her of his divorce, he said.

“When Gov. Palin was notified by Mr. Richter in July 2007, she called Mr. Bitney into her office. She already knew he was going through a divorce, and, Mr. Bitney said, he had “led her to believe there weren’t going to be any more surprises.” “

John Bitney tells the WSJ that Palin “was hurt, disappointed and upset, and that she didn’t know what she wanted to do” and that days later a chief of staff told him it was time for him to leave the governor’s office.

Bitney was friends with Palin for reportedly 30 years says HuffPost citing Politico. Bitney told Politico that Todd and Sarah Palin “were upset with me about my divorce and who I was dating, and they didn’t want that in the governor’s office.”