Palin cleared by Alaska panel in ethics probe

Source: Agencies  |   2008-11-4  |     ONLINE EDITION

ALASKA Gov. and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was cleared yesterday of wrongdoing in an abuse-of-power investigation into the firing of the state's public safety commissioner.

The Alaska Personnel Board report, issued on the eve of the US presidential election, ran contrary to findings from a legislative inquiry that concluded in October that Palin had abused the power of her office by pressuring subordinates to fire a state trooper involved in a feud with her family.

Palin, who is Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, brought the issue to the personnel board herself after complaining the legislative probe was a partisan effort led by Democrats.

The board, a three-member panel under Palin's authority, was responsible for determining if she had broken any laws.

The investigation concluded there was no "probable cause" that Palin violated the state's executive ethics act in dismissing Walt Monegan as public safety commissioner.

It also cleared her of ethics violations in respect to her dealings regarding Michael Wooten, the trooper involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle with the governor's sister.

Timothy Petumenos, independent counsel for the Alaska Personnel Board who wrote the report, said the legislative probe did a good job of assembling facts but did not interpret the ethics law properly.

"The Ethics Act is primarily directed at personal financial benefit," Petumenos told a news conference presenting the report. "People have a lot of misconceptions about the scope of the Alaska Ethics Act."

Petumenos also said the governor and several other administration officials categorically denied some of the conversations and contacts about which Monegan testified. That testimony became much of the basis for the legislative report's conclusion that she pressured subordinates to fire Wooten.