Second Troopergate Report Clears Palin

[Laivasse]

With all the McCain campaign's mugging about 'Forget this first report, just wait and see what the NEXT one says... *NUDGEWINK*' this is hardly a surprise. A personnel board hand picked by Palin comes out in favour of her? Heart attack.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/palin_troopergate

Palin — running mate of Republican presidential candidate John McCain — violated no ethics laws, according to a report released by the state personnel board on the eve of Election Day. An earlier, separate investigation by the Legislature found that Palin had abused her office.

Petumenos said his conclusions differ from the report by the legislative panel's investigator, former prosecutor Stephen Branchflower, because the earlier probe assumed facts without having all relevant data at hand. He said Branchflower used a wrong statute as the basis for his conclusions, misconstrued the available evidence and did not consider or obtain all the material evidence to reach a proper finding.

Petumenos concluded that Palin did not seek the trooper's firing after she became governor. "Also absent from the evidence reviewed is any assertion that the Governor directed anyone in the Department of Public Safety to terminate Trooper Wooten, or directed anyone on her staff to seek the termination of Trooper Wooten," the report said.

This sounds like cloud cuckoo land if you've read the testimonies from the original report. I haven't read this second one yet.

Alaska Personnel Board investigations are normally secret, but the three-member panel decided to release this report, citing public interest in the matter given Palin's status as a candidate for national office.

Petumenos said that during her deposition given under oath, Sarah Palin denied Monegan's claim that she had two conversations with him about the trooper.

Monegan stood by his contention, also given under oath in both investigations, that the conversations took place.

"I'm disappointed that she didn't acknowledge them," he said.
...
Personnel board members are appointed by the governor, who can fire members for cause.

Still very disappointing, and extremely cynically timed - oh so it JUST HAPPENS that you managed to finish the investigation and get the report out on the eve of the election AND it contains a favourable conclusion for Palin.

The very last bit of that final quote says it all.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Hahaha! Yeah, I read that and was like, "GTFO." What a joke.

 

[Raziaar]

Well she's 1 for 2.