The State Personnel Board, the members of which are appointed by the Governor of Alaska, issued a so-called surprise report finding the Governor innocent of ethics charges.
See James Grimaldi’s 2nd Alaska Probe Finds Palin Did Not Violate Ethics Rules in today’s online edition of the Washington Post:
After McCain selected Palin as his vice presidential nominee, her attorneys attempted to take the investigation out of the hands of the legislative investigator by asking the State Personnel Board to intervene. At a routine meeting this afternoon, the State Personnel Board, which is appointed by Palin, surprised attendees by announcing that its investigator would release his findings today.
Lets try to understand the scope of this ”surprise”. A panel of 8 Republican and 4 Democrats voted to conduct an ethics investigation and Palin agreed to cooperate with it. Then, when she was picked by McCain for his Vice Presidential candidate, she not only refused to coopertate, but tried to get the investigation transferred to the State Personnel Board, which is solely comprised of appointees of the Governor. When the Alaska Supreme Court refused to block the legislative investigation. The Legislative Council, comprised by Republican and Democrats, voted to release their independent investigator’s report. That report found Palin guilty of abusing a state ethics law. Now, on the eve of the election, Palin’s cronies issue a report absolving thier boss of any wrongdoing.
The only surprise is that the woman had the report released on the eve of the election, when all it can do is remind the public of her ethics problem.
If interested, see my earlier evaluation of this investigator’s “independence” or lack thereof; Sarah Palin to be deposed by Michael Clayton.
Filed under: Corruption/Abuse of Power, Election 2008, Sarah Palin | Tagged: Alaskan Legislative Council, ethics law, ethics problem, Michael Clayton, Personnel Board, Sarah Palin
