Matt Ortega

Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) abused her power by using her office to prosecute a personal agenda against State Trooper Mike Wooten, her former brother-in-law, the Branchflower report [PDF] concluded. The report was released to the public by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of twelve to zero, which even surprised Alaska blogger, Mudflats.

The unanimous decision is important to note because when the report looked like it would be unfavorable to the legend pushed by the Palin administration, the McCain campaign swooped into Alaska to run her press office and immediately dispatched surrogates to tear apart the investigation as a partisan witch hunt.

Earlier today, McCain/Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton argued that Governor Palin and “First Dude” Todd Palin feared for the safety of their family with regard to Wooten. However, the Branchflower report specifically addresses this and rips that defense to shreds. Key excerpts on this point:

“Governor Palin has stated publically that she and her family feared Trooper Wooten. Yet the evidence presented has been inconsistent with such claims of fear.”  [Branchflower Report to the Alaska Legislative Council, p 67]

“Finally, it is noteworthy that in almost every contact with subordinate employees, Mr. Palin’s comments were couched in terms of his desire to see Trooper Wooten fired for reasons that had nothing to do with fear.”  [Branchflower Report to the Alaska Legislative Council, p 67]

“I conclude that such claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palin’s real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons.  [Branchflower Report to the Alaska Legislative Council, p 67]

All this week, Governor Palin hypocritically questioned the honesty and truthfulness of Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) when she was the actual liar all along.

Change or more of the same? Sounds like Palin offers four more years of Bush/Cheney dishonesty.