It must be a DNA thing. No matter how many times you prove that these people have done something wrong...........within days, they determine they are innocent.
Palin: Probe Cleared Me Of Any Wrongdoing
While Troopergate Report Said She Broke State Ethics Law, Alaska Gov. Says She's Exonerated
Oct. 12, 2008
(CBS/AP) Despite the finding of a legislative report that she had broken the state's ethics law in the scandal dubbed Troopergate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said Saturday that the report actually cleared her of any "legal wrongdoing or unethical activity."
The report, which was released by Alaska lawmakers Friday, examined whether Palin abused the powers of her office by exerting pressure to have her ex-brother-in-law, an Alaska State Trooper engaged in a bitter divorce and child custody fight with her sister, fired. After the state's public safety commissioner Walter Monegan rebuffed pressure to fire him, Monegan was fired by Palin.
The report affirmed that, as governor, she had the constitutional right to hire and fire at will, and therefore her termination of Monegan was lawful.
However, the report found that Palin, her husband Todd, and her subordinates used pressure and intimidation to try to force the firing of Michael Wooten, beginning before her swearing-in ceremony took place, and therefore broke the law.
The investigation said she violated Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, which states, "… each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."
Palin said she's happy the report affirmed her right to fire Monegan. But she said she still doesn't think she abused her power like the report says she did. In fact, she said she considered herself vindicated.
In a brief conference call with press reported by the Anchorage Daily News, Palin said, "I’m very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."
Palin said that her husband Todd was justified in complaining about Trooper Wooten (which the report finds he did for months on end), and said there was "nothing to apologize [for] there with Todd’s actions, and again very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing."
When reminded that the report's first finding was that she had broken the state's ethics law in pressuring for Wooten's dismissal, Palin responded that she felt she had done nothing wrong at all, and directed her response to the firing of Monegan, which the report said she had the authority to do:
"I think that you’re always going to ruffle feathers as you do what you believe is in the best interest of the people whom you are serving. In this case I knew that I had to have the right people in the right position at the right time in this cabinet to best serve Alaskans, and Walt Monegan was not the right person at the right time to meet the goals that we had set out in our administration.
"So no, not having done anything wrong, and again very much appreciating being cleared of any legal wrongdoing or unethical activity at all."
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