From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. –

Prominent Republican fundraiser Fred Malek has emerged as one of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s staunchest defenders, although he has known her only since she was tapped last fall as Sen. John McCain’s Republican running mate. Malek, a wealthy investor, tells the Washington Post's The Fix political blog that "my strength is loyalty, my downfall is loyalty. I'm the guy who waved goodbye to [former President Richard] Nixon from the White House lawn."

Malek was also one of the few high-profile Republicans last week to offer unequivocal support of Palin’s decision to step down as governor, telling me last week from his vacation home in Aspen that he thought she had made the right move: "I did have the impression she was not happy in the role in she was in," Malek said. "We see her through a political prism, but I think we sometimes forget she's a wife and mother of five kids and has responsibilities that are very dear to her."

Malek told The Fix that he knew Palin only slightly from the campaign, but said he was irritated by the post-campaign sniping of former aides. "It really torqued me," he said.

So he took her under what The Fix called his "considerable Washington wing." Palin and her spokeswoman Meg Stapleton were Malek’s guests at the famed Alfalfa Club dinner this winter, where he served as something of a tour guide and escort to official Washington. He also recently escorted Palin and her husband to the Senate-House dinner, an annual Republican fundraiser in Washington, D.C., for congressional candidates. Palin’s appearance at the event was controversial -- she had been asked to speak at the dinner but was replaced with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich after a mix-up over whether she would attend.