Breaking: Palin abused power in Troopergate

The Alaska legislative investigation into whether or not Governor Sarah Palin committed any improprieties with regard to former DPS head Walt Monegan and her ex-brother-in-law and state trooper Mike Wooten has now concluded. The report issued by investigator Steve Branchflower has concluded that Palin abused her power in pressuring Monegan to fire Wooten.

The report was made public in a 12-0 bipartisan, unanimous vote. While the McCain-Palin campaign continues to lie and spin this as a partisan witch-hunt, ever step of the way it's been bipartisan. The Legislative Council, a bipartisan group of legislators earlier voted unanimously to proceed with investigating Palin. And even if it were partisan the Alaska State Legislature is controlled by a Republican majority, and those legislators would be able to put an end to anything they deemed as partisan or unfair. They didn't and Palin abused her power.

"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," Branchflower's report says.

"Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional. It is an individual responsibility imposed by law, and any effort to benefit a personal interest through official action is a violation of that trust. ... The term 'benefit' is very broadly defined, and includes anything that is to the person's advantage or personal self-interest."

One more time, with apologies to Senator Joe Biden, "That's not change. That's more of the same."

To make matters worse today, the McCain-Palin campaign released their own report on Troopergate earlier in the day and prior to the release of the Branchflower report. That's like Dick Cheney inviting the oil companies into the White House to write energy policy. Of course, their conclusions were predictable.

Without a doubt, the next time John McCain and Sarah Palin talk about reform or being "mavericks" (and I hate using their term), they will be lying. Sarah Palin is no different from former Congressman Tom DeLay, incarcerated former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, and formerly incarcerated former Congressman Bob Ney, just to name a few of the ethically-challenged Republicans who have inhabited Washington, D.C. in the past few years.