Full "Troopergate" Report Here For Download

You've read the headlines and my blog, now read the full 265-page "Troopergate" scandal report and judge Sarah Palin's actions for yourself.  

Just click here to download it:

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2008/10/10/16/Branchflowerreport.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf

Sarah Palin Accused of Abuse of Power - Violated State Ethics Law

In her attempt to oust the Alaska State Trooper, Mike Wooten, who was her brother-in-law and accused of abusing her sister during their marriage, Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin was found guilty of violating a state ethics law.  

The Alaska Legislature's investigation determined that both Palins played a large role in attempts to strong arm subordinates to have Wooten removed.  One of the key persons involved as a victim was now former public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, who explained in detail how Palin's husband Todd visited him or asked him to come to her office -- not his -- on the matter of Wooten.   


As the NY Times reports, ...

The report says she knowingly “permitted Todd Palin to use the governor’s office and the resources of the governor’s office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired.”

Further, it says, she “knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda.”

Now that the "cats out of the bag" what does it mean for Palin?  Well, she's not going to jail, but in the court of public opinion it totally removes her tag as a "good government reformer" because of the charge of abuse of power.  Moreover, it will almost certainly spillover onto Senator John McCain and open fresh questions regarding how well the McCain staff failed to "vet" Governor Palin.  


The other question is will this news impact McCain's overall polling, which was already behind Senator Obama's after the economic disaster, which shows no sign of abating.  This certainly can't help, but just how much it hurts will not be known until Tuesday, after the public's first two working days of media coverage of the matter.


The McCain staff is already spinning this as the work of "Obama supporters" but as it's an ethics violation, those powerful words will override such fingerpointing.  It's a scarlet letter of the worst kind to have as a public official.