Palin Violated Ethics Act, `Troopergate' Probe Finds By Tony Hopfinger Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin abused her authority and violated state ethics rules by letting her husband use her office to press for the firing of a state trooper, a state legislative investigator reported.
``Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda,'' according to the report that was issued today in Anchorage. Even so, the report said Palin's dismissal of former state Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, who had refused to fire Trooper Michael Wooten, was a ``proper and lawful exercise'' of her authority to fire department heads for any reason. Monegan contends the governor dismissed him for refusing to fire Wooten, who was involved in a divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister. The report on Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, was released less than a month before the Nov. 4 election as she is trying to help the party's presidential candidate, John McCain, overcome Democrat Barack Obama's lead in national polls. `Deeply Troubled' `It's one more blow to a deeply troubled campaign,'' said Julian Zelizer, a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. ``The report on Palin raises more questions about why McCain made this choice and how much he really cares about fighting corruption.'' The report said Palin had been asked to cooperate with the investigation by giving a sworn statement, and that she hadn't done so. Investigator Stephen Branchflower wrote in the report that, ``I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating'' a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, which bars any official action to benefit a personal interest. Violation of the ethics act could result in sanctions, including up to $5,000 in civil fines by a state ethics board, according to the law. McCain's campaign has criticized the probe as partisan because the lawmaker leading it is a Democrat. `Partisan Inquiry' Meg Stapleton, a spokeswoman for McCain's campaign, said the report ``shows that the governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan. The report also illustrates what we've known all along: this was a partisan led inquiry run by Obama supporters.'' Members of the Legislative Council voted 12-0 to release the report even though there wasn't agreement on the findings, lawmakers said. ``I don't think there is a consensus on the conclusions,'' said Representative Bill Stoltze. Palin, 44, maintains she didn't abuse her power and that she fired Monegan July 11 over budget disagreements. Yesterday, McCain's campaign released a statement that accused Monegan of ``multiple acts of insubordination'' and called his firing a ``straightforward personnel decision.'' Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined to comment on the report. Branchflower's report said that while Monegan's refusal to fire Wooten wasn't the sole reason for his dismissal by Palin, ``it was likely a contributing factor.'' `Provide Cover' While Palin has said that she and her family feared Wooten, the investigator said he concluded that ``such claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palins' real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons.'' The probe was conducted for the Legislative Council, a bipartisan committee of 14 lawmakers that conducts business when the Legislature isn't in session. The council voted unanimously to start the probe on July 31. The lawmaker directing the probe, Hollis French, is a Democrat. At the heart of the dispute is a years-long feud between the Palin family and Wooten. She and her family accused Wooten of using a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson, shooting a moose without a permit, drinking on the job and other acts of misconduct, all of which allegedly occurred before she was elected governor in November 2006. His Wife Branchflower listed instances in which Palin's husband, Todd, contacted state officials after his wife became governor in an effort to get Wooten fired. There also was evidence of her ``active participation,'' he wrote. ``Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional,'' Branchflower wrote. Democratic State Senator Kim Elton, chairman of the Legislative Council, said he is reserving judgment until another investigation -- this one being conducted by the State Personnel Board -- is completed. Palin has agreed to cooperate in that probe, saying she believes the body, which is comprised of three political appointees, is a less partisan venue to investigate Monegan's firing. ``It's probably not fair to draw any conclusions before seeing the other report'' by the Personnel Board, Elton said. The board, which has hired an Anchorage attorney to conduct the investigation, has not set a deadline. Republican State Representative John Coghill said some of the efforts to fire Wooten were understandable. ``Who's going to blame Todd Palin for looking out for his family?'' he said. An investigation by the Alaska state police before Palin became governor sustained some of the claims against Wooten and dismissed the rest. He was put on unpaid leave for five days in 2006. Palin was elected governor later that year. Todd Palin gave a sworn written statement to the investigator this week in which he denied pressuring Monegan to fire Wooten. ``I had hundreds of conversations and communications about Trooper Wooten over the last several years with my family, with friends, with colleagues and with just about everyone I could, including government officials,'' Todd Palin's statement said. To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Hopfinger in Anchorage at [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
