Panel Exonerates Palin in Firing of State Commissioner
Firing was “proper and lawful”
Cites Palin for failing to rein in her husband . . . . Whhhhhhaaaattttttt????
Firing was “proper and lawful”
Cites Palin for failing to rein in her husband . . . . Whhhhhhaaaattttttt????
From Fox News
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sarah Palin "abused her power" as governor in the disciplinary case against a state trooper, according to a legislative panel's report released Friday, though it also found that her firing of a state commissioner was "proper and lawful."
The ethics inquiry, which Palin's supporters have called politically motivated, found that a family grudge was a factor in Palin's dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan -- but not the sole factor. The report says Palin failed to keep her husband from meddling in the discipline of the state trooper, her brother-in-law, following a contentious divorce.
The panel of state lawmakers released its report Friday after spending more than six hours in a closed-door session reviewing the findings. At the heart of the investigation was the question of whether Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, had pressured Monegan to fire Trooper Mike Wooten.
Palin has said Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.
Investigator Stephen Branchflower, who drafted the bipartisan panel's report, found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain.
"Today's report showed that the governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan," Meg Stapleton, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, said in a written statement.
Stapleton added that the panel's report shows that the inquiry was partisan and that Palin and her husband, Todd Palin, were "completely justified in their concern regarding Trooper Wooten, given his violent and rogue behavior."
Monegan, meanwhile, said he felt "vindicated."
"It sounds like they've validated my belief and opinions," he said. "And that tells me I'm not totally out in left field."
The nearly 300-page report does not recommend sanctions or a criminal investigation.
The investigation revealed that Todd Palin has extraordinary access to the governor's office and her closest advisers. He used that access to try to get trooper Wooten fired, the report found.
Branchflower said Sarah Palin violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.
Palin and John McCain's supporters had hoped the inquiry's finding would be delayed until after the presidential election, in which they face an uphill battle against Barack Obama and Joe Biden. But the panel of lawmakers voted to release the report, although not without dissension.
"I think there are some problems in this report," said Republican state Sen. Gary Stevens, a member of the panel. "I would encourage people to be very cautious, to look at this with a jaundiced eye."
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