Sarah Palin was guilty of abusing her power as governor, according to the report released following a three month investigation by the Alaska legislature. The investigation over whether Palin exceeded the limits of her authority in order to carry out a personal feud against an Alaskan state trooper began before Palin was selected to be John McCain's running mate.
The report states that "impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda” against Trooper Michael Wooten, who was involved in a heated custody battle and divorce proceedings with Palin's sister. However, it also clears Palin of any wrongdoing in the firing of Wooten's supervisor Walt Monegan, stating that "she had the right to fire (him) for almost any reason, or no reason at all.”
The conclusions of the investigation are not serious enough to warrant any charges against Palin and it is unclear what, if any, action will be taken as a result. It does state that Palin's actions were in violation of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Among the report's findings are that Palin allowed her husband Todd to use state resources in attempting to get Wooten fired, tried to press for harsher punishments on Wooten for his misconduct after Monegan told them he had done everything he lawfully could and a chastisement of Palin for not responding to any questions throughout the investigation.
Palin denies any misconduct and her lawyer says that the report is an attempt to "smear the governor by innuendo." Today while on the campaign trail Palin emphasized, "If you read the report, you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about replacing a cabinet member." A spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign added that it was a "partisan led inquiry run by Obama supporters and the Palins were completely justified in their concern regarding Trooper Wooten given his violent and rogue behavior.”
The McCain campaign has flown operatives into Alaska to wage a public relations campaign to discredit the investigation and Palin's lawyer is already calling for the state Personnel Board to launch their own investigation.
