[UPDATE 4] 9:28pm The report is out, and in brief it says: [sic]”She definitely did abuse power and break trust with the people, but we don’t recommend a criminal investigation.”
What this means is that those of her base will continue to be excited by what a Mavericky Maverick she is, and those on the fence will have yet another reason to question every word that comes out of her mouth.
She broke the public trust and abused the power of her office.
Expect the MSM to talk about this all weekend in between discussing how much the GOP has hosed the economy.
………………….
The “Troopergate” report on Governor Palin’s abuse of power is in the hands of the Legislative Council right now. They got their hands on the 200+ page report and 600+ pages of backup documentation this morning at 9am local time (1pm ET).
I am going to keep tabs on this and update this diary as events unfold.
MuFlats is a good source for information and commentary.
Alaska Daily News has a blog and articles on it, you can expect them to provide updates.
Todd Palin provided 25 pages of testimony to the council. Contrary to his earlier statements that he had never had any contact with any public officials on the topic of firing his former brother-in-law, he now admits to “hundreds” of conversations urging state officials on the topic.
More to come.
[UPDATE 1 – 8:48pm] h/t to Fogiv!
Anchorage Daily News has this:
An investigation has concluded that Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power in pushing for the firing of an Alaska state trooper, according to a report unanimously released by the Legislative Council.
Finding Number One:
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides
“The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”
Finding Number Two:
I find that, although Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin’s firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.
Finding Number Three:
Harbor Adjustment Service of Anchorage, and its owner Ms. Murleen Wilkes, handled Trooper Michael Wooten’s workers’ compensation claim properly and in the normal course of business like any other claim processed by Harbor Adjustment Service and Ms. Wilkes. Further, Trooper Wooten received all the workers’ compensation benefits to which he was entitled.
Finding Number Four:
The Attorney General’s office has failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 written request to Governor Sarah Palin for information about the case in the form of emails.
AKM will continue to update there, check at Mudflats for more.
[UPDATE 2] 9:10pm PDF of the report
[UPDATE 3] 9:17pm MSNBC story
The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn’t the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor.
The investigation revealed that Palin’s husband, Todd, has extraordinary access to the governor’s office and her closest advisers. He used that access to try to get trooper Mike Wooten fired, the report found.
[UPDATE 5] 10:32pm Mudflats has more. Worth the read. This comment pretty well sums up the situation:
Crust Scramble – SouthGA (17:49:18) :
I gotta say it again. McCain would have to drop her like a rock if illegalities were substantiated. Now, thank you God, she’s gonna be the gift that keeps on giving.
Priceless.
[UPDATE 6] 10;55pm – FOX News responds by getting Palin’s best friend Christin on the air. “It’s a partisan attack by a panel that had a lot of Obama supporters on it”. Then cut to the recent picture of Palin’s legs and talk about sexism. “Fair and balanced”, eh?
[UPDATE 7] 12:01am – BBC World News leads with Troopergate ahead of the Global Financial Collapse story.
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