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Report: Palin Not Responsible For Todd's Acting Out
The key finding of the new Trooper-Gate report is that the earlier report, conducted by the state legislature, erred in finding that Sarah Palin broke state ethics laws by pressuring subordinates to fire Mike Wooten.
The new report finds that:
The Branchflower Report ... states that violation of the scope of code provision may be based on the governor's inaction as opposed to the governor's affirmative acts....
But ... the Ethics Act does not require a person subject to its provisions to police the behavior of third parties who are not subject to its provisions. To find that the Governor violated the Ethics Act by failing to control her husband's behavior would require one to add language to the Ethics Act that does not exist.
In other words, Sarah Palin can't be held legally responsible for Todd Palin's actions.
It bears repeating: this was a report that Palin herself initiated, so, despite some other breathless reporting in the press, it's no surprise that it exonerates her. The only independent report into the matter found that she broke state ethics laws.
Josh
Zachary
So Todd's her own personal Dick Cheney - send him out to do the wet work and cite executive privilege. You betcha!
November 3, 2008 10:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
So Todd's her own personal Dick Cheney - send him out to do the wet work and cite executive privilege. You betcha!
November 3, 2008 10:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Petumenos whitewashes important facts. For example, see his report, p. 13. He says the Palins met with AST in 11/06 and expressed their concern that Wooten was "a security threat."
Now look at the Branchflower report, p. 44, regarding the testimony of Gary Wheeler. He was at this meeting, and specifically asked the Palins "whether they perceived any threats from any individual or were afraid of any individual." Wheeler said "I got a negative response … they basically said no."
Wheeler has been a trooper since 1981. His sworn account directly contracts the claim made by the Palins, as reported by Petumenos. Did Petumenos interview Wheeler? No. (See Petumenos p. 9 for the list of people he interviewed.) Petumenos claims that he carefully took into account all the testimony that Branchflower gathered, but Petumenos is obviously ignoring this blatant and material contradiction between what Wheeler said and what the Palins said.
Wheeler's testimony is important, because it shows that the Palins were not sincerely concerned that Wooten was a threat. Because of Wheeler's testimony and other facts, Branchflower concluded that the Palins' "claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palins' real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons."
Nowhere does Petumenos mention Wheeler's testimony, or address this contradiction. This is an example of how sloppy, incomplete and slanted the Petumenos report is.
November 3, 2008 10:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
So Gov. Palin is not responsible for Todd Palin's actions, but is Todd Palin responsible for his actions??
There is a lot missing from this report.
November 4, 2008 8:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
I live in Alaska. The so called bi-partisan report was NOT.
In Alaska, just because you are a Republican does not mean you even SPEAK to another Republican. LOL And the Democrats on the committee were taking advantage of their moment in the sun.
The Repubs on the committee were 'old guard' and resent Sarah because she is one of the 'new guard'. She doesn't kiss their feet PLUS several of the 'old guard' have now been indicted and / or found guilty of Federal charges. They controlled this state for too long to let a newcomer come in and clean it up. They were in the pocket of the oil companies and didn't want to give up their 'sweet deals'. Uncle Ted's son Ben is a perfect example.
Thankfully, some of the 'old guard', like Lyda Green, didn't run again. We will not miss her. And as far as Uncle Ted goes, I think that what they found him guilty of is just the tip of the iceberg.
November 7, 2008 12:41 AM | Reply | Permalink