An interesting theory.
This certainly mimics the kind of treatment Palin was getting in 2009-2010 by the media, in which there were endless garbage stories like this, consistently given big-headline status, no matter how idiotic or untruthful the smear (”Levi claims Sarah had the hots for him!”).
It served its double-purpose, smearing Palin in the eyes of the LIV crowd, and making the weak-kneed RINOs want to dump her because of all that unseemly “drama.” The fact that so many GOP-ers happily went along with this Alinsky-style hellstorm is one of the prime reasons for my exit from the Republican Party.