For the past few days, political rumors have swirled about Joe Miller's departure from his part-time assistant attorney job with the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Some have said he was fired. Miller said he resigned due to differences of opinion over borough policy.

Thursday evening, after Miller's campaign manager, former Anchorage assemblyman Paul Bauer, allowed two reporters to read Miller's resignation letter on the front porch of his East Anchorage home, it became clear that Miller's parting from the FNSB attorney's office was anything but friendly. A quick scan of the letter revealed friction between Miller and his boss, borough attorney Rene Broker, over a conflict of interest between Miller's public and private work, his work on litigation related to the trans-Alaska pipeline, and vacation time he had requested to go elk hunting on Afognak Island.

"Twice now, within the last week, you have taken inappropriate actions with regard to my work with the Fairbanks North Star Borough," the letter begins. The August 2009 letter, addressed to Broker, was written on letterhead from Miller's private legal practice. When reached via telephone Wednesday, Broker declined to comment on Miller's performance or whether he had resigned or been asked to leave.

Miller is challenging U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary. He has been endorsed by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express, a national group headquartered in California.

The letter was redacted to omit the name of another attorney in the office and the names of certain cases. Bauer said Miller blacked out certain information on the advice of his attorney because he believes parts of the letter are protected under client-attorney privilege. Bauer also said the campaign isn't releasing the actual letter because if people saw the redactions they would think something sinister was going on.

In the letter, Miller wrote that Broker had asked him to draft a memo on the borough's opinion in a case (the name of which was redacted) after he had voiced concerns that there was a conflict of interest because he was already working on a related case.

"I believe you were attempting to force a conflict where none needed to exist," he wrote.

Another conflict flared up over a hunting trip Miller was planning. "This morning you told me you had canceled my long-time preapproved leave for my boy's elk hunt on Afognak," he wrote. Miller wrote that Broker said his vacation was denied because she needed him to prepare for an annexation hearing, but that she had already told him that she would handle that hearing.

"The backdrop to all of this is our significant difference in opinion regarding the North Haven Communities, PILT, continued retention of (redacted) firm, and the partial contingency fee agreement, matters directly and indirectly related to the ongoing TAPS litigation," Miller wrote.

At the end of the letter, Miller wrote that it was time for him to leave public service. He requested that he be allowed to use his remaining leave, but that if his request was denied his resignation will be effective on Sept. 23, 2009. (It appears the request was not granted, because Miller's last day with the FNSB was Sept. 1, 2009.)

In a statement handed out by Bauer on his porch, Miller said he hopes the borough will waive attorney-client privilege so that he can fully describe why he voluntarily left employment.

"Joe Miller and the Campaign will not allow the borough to hide behind the attorney-client privilege when he needs to describe the reasons why he voluntarily left," the statement said. "Joe Miller's seven-year record with the Fairbanks North Star Borough was second to none."

Contact Joshua Saul at jsaul(at)alaskadispatch.com.