The Alaska Personnel Board report on Monday cleared the Alaska Governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, of wrongdoing in an abuse-of-power investigation into the firing of the state’s public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan.

This report ran contrary to findings from a legislative inquiry that concluded in October that Palin had abused the power of her office by pressuring subordinates to fire a state trooper, her former brother-in-law Michael Wooten, involved in a feud with her family.

Palin had brought the issue to the personnel board herself. She initially said that she welcomed an investigation into Monegan’s removal, but she then declined to cooperate with the Legislature’s inquiry, which the McCain-Palin campaign insisted had been manipulated by pro-Obama Democratic lawmakers. Palin said that the Personnel Board was the appropriate body to deal with the matter, and she pledged to cooperate with the separate inquiry by the panel after filing a complaint against herself.

The Anchorage lawyer who conducted the investigation for the Personnel Board, Timothy J. Petumenos concluded, “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.”

Palin’s lawyer, Thomas V. Van Flein, said in an e-mail statement that the Governor is grateful that the investigation has provided a fair and impartial review of the matter in question, and that it upholds the Governor’s ability to take measures when necessary to ensure that Alaskans have the best possible team working to serve them.