An independent legislative investigation concluded that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin violated ethic laws and abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to have former brother-in-law, Trooper Michael Wooten, fired. At the same time the inquiry stated that she was within her right to dismiss her public safety commissioner, the trooper’s boss.

A 236-page report – which was the subject of a high-stakes political showdown that went all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court - was released by lawmakers in Alaska on Friday.

Investigator Stephen Branchflower concluded that Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, communicated her displeasure with Wooten, because of a messy divorce between him and Palin’s sister. She allowed her husband, Todd Palin, and subordinates to apply pressure to have Wooten fired.

Stating that such action was a violation of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, the report says: “Such impermissible and repeated contacts create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior’s displeasure and the possible consequences of that displeasure.”  

The report also found that Palin’s unhappiness that Wooten had not been fired was ‘a likely contributing factor’- though ‘not the sole reason’ - in the firing of former Commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan. Palin, who has been fighting off allegations of wrongdoing in the so-called Troopergate case, insisted Monegan was fired because he ignored her demands to cut budgets in his department.

In an analysis of the inquiry, distributed before the report’s release, Palin’s campaign said: “The governor has consistently demonstrated, in statements and through documents she has made available, that she reassigned Mr. Monegan because of legitimate policy differences and disputes over budget.”

Twelve members of the legislature’s 14-member Legislative Council, deliberated in closed session over the findings before voting unanimously to release the report publicly. It was not immediately clear what actions the legislature would take in light of the findings - Palin could be either be censured or the legislature could choose not to act at all.