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Palin Cleared of Wrongdoing in Troopergate Scandal

by Jon Azpiri | November 3, 2008 at 05:24 pm

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Sarah Palin did not violate ethics laws in the so-called Troopergate scandal, an independent counsel has concluded. An investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board concluded that Palin did not violate the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan because he refused to fire her sister's ex-husband, Mike Wooten.

The finding contradicts an October 10 report by the state Legislature that concluded Palin tried to have Wooten fired, thereby violating rules designed to prevent the personal lives of public officials interfering with their work.

Palin tried to stop the original investigation when she became the Republican vice-presidential candidate. The Alaska governor ultimately settled on having the Personnel Board perform the investigation.

The new investigation was conducted by Timothy Petumenos, who was hired as the independent counsel for the Personnel Board. Petumenos argued that the original investigation, conducted by former state prosecutor Steve Branchflower, was based on the wrong state law. Petumenos also suggested that Branchflower misinterpreted the evidence.

His findings and recommendations include:

-There is no cause to believe Palin violated the state ethics law in deciding to dismiss Monegan as public safety commissioner.

-There is no cause to believe Palin violated the state ethics law in connection with Wooten.

-There is no cause to believe any other state official violated the ethics act.

-There's no basis to conduct a hearing to "address reputational harm," as requested by Monegan.

-The state needs to address the issue of using private e-mails for government work and to examine how records are kept in the governor's office. Palin used her Yahoo e-mail account for state business until it was hacked.