Palin Denies Abuse of Authority

Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times also reports today that Palin's response to the Alaska Legislative Council's findings as discussed yesterday is that she has not done anything unlawful or unethical.

Gov. Sarah Palin again insisted on Saturday that an investigation by Alaska lawmakers into the firing of her former brother-in-law found “no unlawful or unethical activity on my part,” and added that “there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to
get Officer Wooten fired.”

Well, we all have access to the report that the Alaska Legislative Council issued on the findings here and page 8 of the report clearly states the following in their first finding:

Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

"The legislature affirms that each public officer hold office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

So the report clearly states that she violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Unless the Act is not deemed a part of their law, I would think that violation of the Act means that she did engage in unlawful activity. Additionally, violation of their Ethics Act seems to indicate that, at least according to Alaskan law, she also engaged in unethical behavior.

And as far as her statement below that there was "no abuse of authority in trying to get Officer Wooten fired," she seems to have admitted that she tried to get him fired while not addressing the real issue in the case.

A reporter noted that the report concluded that she had abused her power as governor. Ms. Palin replied, “There was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired. In fact, remember, Officer Wooten is still an Alaska state trooper, which is up to the commissioner and the personnel top brass in the Department of Public Safety that decides who is worthy of a badge and carryin’ a gun in the state of Alaska. If they think that Trooper Wooten is worthy of that, that’s their decision. I don’t micromanage my commissioners and ask them to hire or fire anyone. And thankfully the truth was revealed there in that report that showed there was no unlawful or unethical
activity on my part.”

Yes, the second finding of the report indicates that firing executive branch department heads is within her "proper and lawful" authority as governor of Alaska. But this finding is merely addressing her ability to fire department heads. However, it is clear from the first finding that there are circumstances under which use of authority can be abused, and the Alaska Legislative Council deemed the particular circumstances under which the firing occurred to be an abuse of her authority.

Palin's response seems to indicate that she either doesn't understand (or refuses to accept) her ethical responsibility and the circumstances under which she can appropriately use her authority as governor of Alaska.