Palin Violates Ethic Law
Alaska's governor and vice president hopeful Sarah Palin has been under quite a bit of scrutiny for allegedly abusing her power as governor to fire state employees for personal reason. The official investigation report was filed Friday October 9, 2008, and she was formally accused of “knowingly permitting a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda.”
The trouble started with State Trooper Mike Wooten, who also happened to be Palin’s ex-brother-in-law. Palin had attempted to get him removed from his position as a trooper, and when Alaska’s Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan refused to fire him, Palin fired Walt Monegan. This lead to the initial investigation, however it was found that Palin’s authority as governor gave her the right to fire him.
Palin was not, however, found to be completely innocent. Her intention of getting Wooten fired was found to be a violation of a state ethics law that bans government officials from using their positions to fulfil personal agendas.
Initially, Palin was very cooperative with the investigation, and she maintained her innocence, stating that Mike Wooten had made threats aimed at her family. That claim was found to be invalid in the investigation report. After receiving the vice president nomination, Palin and her campaigners began releasing statements claiming the investigation was the work of democrats and biased against her.
Meg Stapleton, a McCain Campaign representative, stated that the investigation was “Lacking evidence to support the original Monegan allegation, the Legislative Council seriously overreached, making a tortured argument to find fault without basis in law or fact.”
Regardless of Palin’s ethic violation, lawmakers do not have the authority to punish her in any way, and have not indicated that they even plan on seeking any action against her. Even without legal punishment, Palin and McCain’s campaign has been damaged as the alleged corruption seeps into the minds of voters.
