The Washington Post, among others, is reporting that Sarah Palin acted, at best, improperly and, at worst, illegally in pressuring Walt Monegan to fire her sister's former husband, an Alaska state trooper.
A 263- page report released yesterday by the Alaska Joint Legislative Council found that, while Palin had legal authority to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan,
his dismissal came in part because he refused to remove her sister's ex-husband from the Alaska State Troopers.
Investigator Stephen Branchflower found evidence that Palin actively joined her husband, Todd, in pursuing a personal vendetta against the trooper and that she used state employees to try to settle a score in a bitter family feud.
The Joint Legislative Council is a bipartisan group of legislative leaders that acts on state issues during periods when the Alaska Legislature is not in session, much like our Legislative Budget Board. They hired investigator Stephen Branchflower (no relation to Ben's Longbranch Barbecue) to conduct the investigation. According to the Post,
Branchflower found evidence that Palin actively joined her husband, Todd, in pursuing a personal vendetta against the trooper and that she used state employees to try to settle a score in a bitter family feud.
"Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: To get Trooper Michael Wooten fired."
I've read large chunks of the report, which can be found here. The impression I'm left with can best be summed up in the phrase former faith-based initiatives czar John DiIulio used to describe the Bush-Cheney-Rove White House: Mayberry Machiavellis. The picture of Sarah and "First Dude" Todd Palin that comes acoss is petty, vindictive, and not even remotely presidential.
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