Unlawfully Abused ....
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Unlawfully Abused ....
| Fri, 10-10-2008 - 8:33pm |
Breaking news...
A bi-partisan panel in the Alaska legislature has ruled that Palin unlawfully abused her authority in the firing of Walt Monegan.

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PDF of the report:
Sopal
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Sopal
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I agree but they just had Howard Fineman of Newsweek on the phone saying that the campaign is calling it a "political witch hunt" and they are being "set up by democrats"
Darn those left wing conspiracies...
October 10, 2008
Legislative Panel: Palin Abused Authority
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:48 p.m. ET
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled her reputation as a reformer on John McCain's Republican ticket.
Investigator Stephen Branchflower, in a report by a bipartisan panel that investigated the matter, found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain.
The inquiry looked into her dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.
The panel found that Palin let the family grudge influence her decision-making even if it was not the sole reason Monegan was dismissed. ''I feel vindicated,'' Monegan said. ''It sounds like they've validated my belief and opinions. And that tells me I'm not totally out in left field.''
Branchflower said Palin violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.
Palin and McCain's supporters had hoped the inquiry's finding would be delayed until after the presidential election to spare her any embarrassment and to put aside an enduring distraction as she campaigns as McCain's running mate in an uphill contest against Democrat Barack Obama.
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.''
The nearly 300-page report does not recommend sanctions or a criminal investigation.
I've begun reading that pdf and the summary of the findings are not exactly the word used by Shuster.
Sopal
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Well....I think one more McCain campaign meme can safely be put to bed: that of "can we TRUST Barack Obama?"
We've got a bipartisan panel comprised of more Republicans than Democrats, concluding after a thorough investigation that Palin "violated the public trust" by pressuring Walt Monegan. That's an OFFICIAL investigation and conclusion, not Internet rumors and campaign speculation.
Methinks Mrs. Palin won't be able to credibly flog the "we just can't TRUST Barack Obama" meme anymore. Nor, for that matter, will McCain.
Wow!
And of course the fops are trying to fop, oops I mean fob, off responsibility on everyone but themselves.
"The campaign's report blames former campaign opponent Andrew Halcro, who has a blog, of conspiring with Wooten to pin Monegan's dismissal on the family's dispute with Wooten."
It was a bipartisan panel! Oh well, so much for bipartisanship.
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