The so-called 2nd independent counsel’s report embarasses the State of Alaska

The gravamen of the report is that the independent counsel failed to find sufficient evidence that Sarah Palin had used her office to affect a personal interest; the dismissal of her brother in law.B

To get to where Mr. Petumenos wants to take you, he first opines that a court could find that the Alaska Ethics Act required a finding that Palin sought both a personal and a financial gain, since Alaska Statutes only prohibit substantial impropriety if, as to a specific matter, a public officer’s personal or financial interest is significant and their interest is not shared by the general public ro a large class of persons to which Palin belongs.  See AK (Alaska Statute) 39.52.110(b)(1).

Unethical conduct is prohibited, but there is no substantial impropriety if, as to a specific matter, a public officer’s

            (1) personal or financial interest in the matter is insignificant, or of  a type that is possessed generally by the public or a large class of persons to which the public officer belongs;

 

[The report is availble here, courtesy of the Alaska Daily News.  Links to pertinent Alaska Statutes and Regulations are at the bottom of this page of the Alaska Department of Law website.}

 

Arguing that the use of both words may be the kind of argument that high priced advocates are routinely paid to make, but where they are connected by the disjunctive, it is just the kind of arguments that the courts routinely dismiss.

 

Attorney Petumenos them makes the better argument, which is that Palin’s personal interest in getting her brother in law is speculative, while Alaskan law requires a personal interest must be significant for it to be the basis of an ethics charge.  Petumenos then proceeds to confuse the weight of the proffered evidence with the magnitude of  the personal interest that it was offered for in Branchwater’s report.

 

The accumulated evidence of Palin’s efforts to get  her sister’s ex leaves no room to doubt the significance of the Gubernatorial vendetta.

 

The report leaves little doubt as to why it was released so late on the eve of  the election,when there would be little if any time for scrutiny.