A 263-page report released yesterday by the Alaskan legislature has concluded that Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin personally exerted pressure in her capacity as Governor of Alaska to get Trooper Michael Wooten dismissed, while at the same time allowing both her husband and aides to press for his firing, based on his attitude and previous disciplinary problems.
Concluding that Palin's lobbying was a clear violation of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, the committee's report stated that "such impermissible and repeated contacts create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior's displeasure and the possible consequences of that displeasure."
While the Legislature may choose to subsequently censure Palin for her behaviour, or impose a fine of up to $5,000, the political fallout from the report's findings could prove far more damaging - particularly given the amount of political capital spent by the Republican party in a failed attempt to delay the report's release until after the general election.
Speaking at a conference afterwards, McCain spokesperson Meg Stapleton said that the "legislative council seriously overreached, making a tortured argument to find fault without basis in law or fact," and condemned it as "a partisan led inquiry run by Obama supporters." Rejecting the McCain camp's accusations by highlighting the investigation's origins prior to Palin's much publicized selection as the GOP's vice-presidential nominee, Democratic State Senator and the committee's chair Kim Elton said that "when we began investigating this, we had no idea that Sarah Palin would be a part of the national ticket."
The former state trooper at the centre of the dispute, Walter Monegan, said that he felt "vindicated" by the report's findings, adding that "it sounds like they've validated my beliefs and opinions. And that tells me I'm not totally out in left field."
