Also see: Palin Abused Her Power
"Alaska board clears Palin in ethics case involving trooper
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was cleared last night by a state personnel board of any ethics violations in the firing of Alaska's public safety commissioner.
The report from Timothy Petumenos, an independent counsel for the Alaska Personnel Board, said there is no probable cause to believe Palin, Alaska's governor, or any other state official violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with the firing of Walter Monegan.
A separate legislative investigation concluded last month that Palin "abused her power" in seeking to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper. The investigation into the case found that while the refusal of Monegan, then public safety commissioner, to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was "not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor." Wooten had been in a messy divorce with Palin's sister.
Although the Legislature's investigator found that Palin violated the state's ethics law banning public officials from using their offices for personal gain, it did not say whether she should be censured by the Legislature or whether the matter should be referred for criminal investigation (AP)."
