After the stunning announcement by Senator John McCain on Friday that he had chosen 44-year-old Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running-mate, new information emerged over allegations that Ms. Palin tried to use her gubernatorial office to take revenge on her former brother-in-law.

Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s surprising selection to be his vice-presidential running mate, took Alaska by surprise, too, not long ago. Ms. Palin rose to prominence by bucking the state’s rigid Republican hierarchy, impressing voters more with gumption, warmth and charm than an established record in government.

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the Federal District Court here rejected arguments by Mr. Stevens’s lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, that the senator needed to be in Alaska to campaign for re-election. Judge Sullivan suggested that he might conduct the trial in Washington from Monday to Thursday, to allow Senator Stevens to go back to Alaska on weekends to campaign.