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I did nothing wrong, says Palin
11/10/2008 22:05 - (SA)
Washington - Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin on Saturday insisted she had done nothing wrong after an Alaska state probe found that she abused her power as the state's governor.
Asked on the campaign trail by a reporter if the charge were true, Palin replied: "No, and if you read the report you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about it. You have to read the report."
A probe by Alaska's Legislative Council out Friday concluded that Palin had violated ethics rules for public officials by allowing her husband, Todd Palin, to use her office to press officials to fire her former brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten.
"Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda ... to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired," read a section of the 263-page report.
'She failed to act'
"She had the authority and power to require Mr Palin to cease contacting subordinates, but she failed to act," the report added.
A Republican-dominated bi-partisan committee launched the investigation following Palin's decision to sack Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in July.
The inquiry found that although Palin was within her rights as Alaska governor to dismiss Monegan, she had breached ethics rules by allowing her husband to badger officials into firing Wooten.
Monegan claimed he was fired because of his refusal to sack Wooten, who had been involved in an acrimonious divorce with Palin's younger sister in 2005.
"The evidence supports the conclusion that governor Palin, at the least, engaged in 'official action' by her inaction if not her active participation or assistance to her husband to get trooper Wooten fired," the report said.
McCain-Palin spokesperson Meg Stapleton said the report showed Palin had acted "properly and lawfully" in axing Monegan, and dismissed the investigation as politically motivated.
- AFP
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US Elections Special Report
