Palin guilty in Troopergate

Palin abused her power, legislative inquiry finds

The governor's unhappiness over a trooper not being fired probably contributed to the public safety commissioner's dismissal, the report says.Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin violated ethics laws and abused her power as governor in pressing to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, an independent legislative investigation concluded today.

In a report whose release was the subject of a high-stakes political showdown that went all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court, investigator Stephen Branchflower concluded that Palin communicated her displeasure with the trooper, Mike Wooten, and allowed her husband to apply pressure to have Wooten fired.

The report also found that Palin's unhappiness that Wooten had not been fired was "a likely contributing factor" in the firing of former Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan. Monegan testified that he had received repeated communications from Palin and her husband over Wooten.Comment:  So much for McCain's "vetting" of his VP choice. And for his claims that he's the "reform" candidate who will clean up the Republican culture of corruption.

For more on the subject, see Troopergate:  Native Pressured Native.