Sarah Palin Cleared In Troopergate By Independent Review

The night before the 2008 Election, the politically charged Troopergate investigation has ended. The result? Sarah Palin has been cleared of any ethical violations, reports the Associated Press:

A report has cleared Gov. Sarah Palin of ethics violations in the firing of her public safety commissioner. The report, released Monday, said: “There is no probable cause to believe that the governor, or any other state official, violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with these matters.” It was prepared by Timothy Petumenos, an independent counsel for the Alaska Personnel Board.

A separate legislative investigation recently concluded that Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, abused her office by allowing her husband and staffers to pressure the public safety commissioner to fire a state trooper who went through a nasty divorce from Palin’s sister.

Palin fired Walter Monegan, but denies his dismissal was related to the trooper.

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

This news can only help the McCain-Palin ticket as it had been an ugly distraction hanging over the campaign, even if in a far back way. Now if only Barack Obama had any of his past uglies cleared up…

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