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The Alaska Senate on Friday found Gov. Sarah Palin's husband and nine state employees, including some of her top aides, in contempt for ignoring subpoenas to testify in the Legislature's Troopergate investigation.

But that feud exploded into the race for the White House after an independent investigator concluded that Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, unlawfully abused her power as Alaska governor to push for her former brother-in-law to be sacked as a state trooper. The politically-charged finding ensured that the so-called Troopergate controversy dominated political headlines barely three weeks before the Nov 4 presidential election. The report found that Mrs Palin violated a state ethics law prohibiting public officials from using office for personal benefit - in this case, pursuing her family's grudge against Trooper Mike Wooten following his messy divorce...

(snip) Today, however, in an episode of political theater that would make Josef Stalin blush, French gave it his very best shot: The investigator he hired and directed, Steve Branchflower, has labored mightily and given birth to a bloated and redundant 263-page report which boils down, for purposes of the ongoing presidential campaign, to two paragraphs that completely contradict one another. And the one of them that's unfavorable ignores the most important — indeed conclusive — evidence on point, but goes on to provide Branchflower's guess as to whether Gov. Palin has done anything improper. Please understand this, if you...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her power as Alaska's governor in the firing of her former public safety commissioner, but violated no laws, a report for the state Legislature concluded Friday. Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law from the state police force was "likely a contributing factor" to Monegan's July dismissal, but Palin had the authority as governor to sack him, the report by former Anchorage prosecutor Stephen Branchflower states.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state's public safety commissioner. The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn't the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor. The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing a commissioner to settle a family dispute. Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated. Monegan says he was dismissed as retribution for resisting pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's...

<p>ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A state legislative panel has concluded that Sarah Palin abused her power in the firing of the state's public safety commissioner.</p> <p>The findings were released after lawmakers emerged Friday from a private session in Anchorage where they spent more than six hours discussing a politically charged ethics report into the firing by Gov. Palin.</p>

Branchflower Report Released: Palin was within her rights to fire Monegan The headline that will be screamed from the rooftops everywhere is Branchflower's claim that Palin "abused her power." But he also admits she was within her right to can Monegan. I've skimmed through much of it and the basic conclusion is that Todd Palin was trying to exert pressure to get Wooten fired, and Palin should have stopped him from doing this. She herself is not accused of doing anything. Pretty thin gruel. But of course, the media will have an orgy with this.

(FAIRBANKS) – In response to the political turn taken by the Legislative Council's inquiry into Walt Monegan's removal from office, today Christopher Huffman, a Fairbanks small business owner, filed an Alaska Freedom of Information Act request with Senator Kim Elton, Senator Hollis French, Stephen Branchflower, and Walter Monegan. The request seeks "all documents pertaining to the Alaska State Legislature inquiry" into the Monegan matter, including all documents related to the hiring of Stephen Branchflower and the evaluation of any other candidates for the position; all communications between Mr. Branchflower, Mr. Monegan, Sen. Kim Elton, or Sen. Hollis French and other...

Lots of paper is flying connected with Troopergate today. Now: > Five Republican lawmakers went to court asking a judge to issue an emergency order blocking the legislature's investigation. Earlier blog post here. > House Speaker John Harris sent a letter this morning to Sen. Kim Elton, chairman of the Legislative Council, demanding that the body convene within a week "for the purpose of discussing the status of the investigation currently underway by Stephen Branchflower...The political landscape certainly has changed since this investigation was authorized by the Legislative Council on July 28, 2008. What started as a bipartisan and impartial...

I have run across some very explosive audio from an Alaska Joint Judicial Committee Hearing. What you will hear is the committee discussing who's really running the investigation. One of the committee members tells the "independent" investigator Branchflower that he has the right to put someone on the subpoena list who was omitted for some reason. However, investigator Branchflower refuses to do so, saying that he must consult with Mr. French, the Alaskan Democratic Senator leading the "troopergate" investigation. This confuses the committee member, who wonders why he has to consult with Hollis French at all. Does that mean Hollis...

A lawyer for Gov. Sarah Palin is taking another stab at derailing the Legislature's ethics investigation into the firing of her former public safety commissioner, accusing the retired prosecutor who is conducting it of acting unethically himself. In two letters released Wednesday, Thomas Van Flein called the investigation "unlawful and unconstitutional" and said the man hired to run it, former prosecutor Stephen Branchflower, has a conflict of interest because he's a friend of the fired commissioner. Citing "your seemingly biased conduct of the investigation in recent weeks," he urged Branchflower to stop interviewing witnesses — the second time this month...