JUNEAU, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin, touted as a reformer when picked to be the GOP vice presidential nominee, says she will donate to charity more than $1,000 in campaign contributions from two Alaska politicians implicated in a federal corruption investigation.
Palin said Thursday that she also is giving back $1,000 from the wife of one of the men. The move came a few hours after the Associated Press reported that Palin had accepted the money during her successful 2006 campaign when she promised to rid Alaska's capital of dirty politics.
"Governor Palin has made a career of holding herself to the highest standards of ethics. As soon as the governor learned of the donations today, she immediately decided to donate them to charity," campaign spokesman Taylor Griffin said.
Palin took aim at gift-giving to state officials as part of her ethics agenda but has kept more than $25,000 in gifts in the 20 months she has been governor, The
The Post reported that the 41 gifts Palin accepted included artwork, free travel, a gold-nugget pin valued at $1,200, a $2,200 ivory puffin mask, a woven grass fan worth $300, and a $150 ivory necklace. A spokeswoman for John McCain's campaign said the gifts had no undue influence on Palin, according to the newspaper (AP)."
