Update at bottom: Palin releases 'snarling' statement against Johnston, CBS

Milking fifteen minutes into a questionable career is one thing, but apparently the one man wrecking crew intent on humiliating Alaska's former governor is also a gentleman.

Claiming that Sarah Palin "joked about her son Trig's Down Syndrome, calling him her 'retarded baby'" and other things is just part of Levi Johnston's "job" now, but he won't reveal things that "could" and "will hurt her."

Johnston, who fathered a child with Palin's daughter Bristol and has since been leaking dirt about the former vice-president candidate, is now hinting that there may be even bigger scandals he's not discussing.

According to Johnston, after he and Bristol broke up the Palins shut him out, and since then the battle has been escalating. In a new interview, he told CBS's Maggie Rodriguez, "When she started coming out with these things and saying things about me, it was kind of like, alright, it's time, we're going to take the gloves off, I'm going to tell a little bit of something."

"Do you feel that you've betrayed them because you're airing this dirty laundry? asked Rodriguez.

"That might be true, but at the same time they threw me out," Johnston replied. "During that, that came out that Sarah didn't really like me, I knew Todd didn't like me. So they were kind of betraying me at the same time, backstabbing me, just putting on a front to me to make Sarah look good at the convention. ... I really don't care any more."

Johnston went on to say, however, "There are some things that I have that are huge, and I haven't said them because I'm not going to hurt her that way. ... I have things that would get her in trouble and could hurt her, will hurt her, but I'm not going to go that far."

When pressed by Rodriguez, Johnston said he was referring to "things she has done while she was governor" but "I'm not even going to talk about them. ... All the big things I've got, I'm keeping it in. It's just something that probably will never come out."

"I'm sure she's got something coming for me," Johnston concluded, but he added, "I'm not worried about her saying anything about me. ... I don't have anything to hide."

Palin fights back, tears into Johnston, CBS

On Wednesday afternoon, the former Alaska governor struck back at her serial antagonizer and the network who has repeatedly aired his accusations.

Reporting for ABC News' The Note, Rick Klein noted that Palin was "blasting away at the father of her grandson, issuing a blistering statement today that impugns Levi Johnston’s motives in continuing to speak out against the Palin family, and attacks his decision to pose for 'Playgirl.'”

Palin's statement:

We have purposefully ignored the mean spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family. We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied.

Trig is our 'blessed little angel' who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad.

CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies -- those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention.

People magazine referred to Palin's statement as "snarling."

This video is from CBS' The Early Show, broadcast Oct. 28, 2009.

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