And what is to become of the "Troopergate" investigation?

After months on the vice presidential campaign trial, Sarah Palin stepped back into her job as governor Friday with an Alaska controversy still unsettled: Troopergate.

But it's looking like the public may never get a clear answer about what really happened. Two highly anticipated investigations came up with dramatically different results, and lawmakers seem poised to move on.

State legislators interviewed this week say they haven't come to a consensus on what should happen next, although some said they plan to look further at side issues about personnel complaints in general, subpoenas, and the use of private e-mail accounts.

The first report, done for the Legislature by retired state prosecutor Steve Branchflower, concluded that Palin abused her power in allowing her husband and top aides to push for the firing of a state trooper who is her ex-brother-in-law. Failure to stop these activities violated the state ethics law, Branchflower said.

The second -- done for the state Personnel Board by Tim Petumenos, a prosecutor turned defense lawyer -- came to the opposite conclusion, finding that Palin didn't know what her family or staff were doing so couldn't be held responsible.

Even if she did know, he says, there's no evidence that she or anyone else violated the state Ethics Act.

I don't think it is telling tales out of school to say that for the Alaskans for Truth this issue is far from over. In our discussions we have weighed the integrity of the Petumenos report and have found it wanting. In the opinion of most the Branchflower report is the most comprehensive of the two, as Petumenos seemed to have used the hard work done by Stephen Branchflower to do much of the heavy lifting for him. Then Petumenos simply reinterpreted the findings and issued a report more favorable to the Palins. Exactly what he was hired to do.

Petumenos also allows Palin to make the ridiculous claim that she did not directly talk to Walt Monegan about Trooper Wooten which is refuted by HER OWN E-MAILS.

"This trooper is still out on the street, in fact he's been promoted," said a Feb. 7, 2007, e-mail sent from Palin's personal Yahoo account and written to give Monegan permission to speak on a violent-crime bill before the state legislature.

"It was a joke, the whole year long 'investigation' of him," the e-mail said. "This is the same trooper who's out there today telling people the new administration is going to destroy the trooper organization, and that he'd 'never work for that b****', Palin'.)"

The fact of the matter is that we have learned to our dismay that our Governor is simply not a credible source, and has lost the benefit of the doubt with many Alaskans.

So Tim Petunemos was hired to derail the Branchflower report, and essentially failed to do so. It is pretty clear that the Anchorage Daily News and other local reporters remain unconvinced (I have heard anecdotal evidence that many reporters had to suppress actual laughter as they read the Petumenos report for the first time), and Alaskans for Truth have definitely not been swayed by the findings.

Currently the state legislators have talked publicly about pursung the following:

Legislators say they intend to address some side issues raised by the dueling reports. They include:

• Subpoenas. Seven state employees didn't show up when subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The matter went to court, a judge ruled they were legally required to comply, but ultimately they only answered written questions late in the investigation. The Palin administration is appealing the ruling.

Legislators still want to examine whether there was an abuse of process, Chenault said. State Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, wants to know if there was any witness tampering.

• Private e-mails. Petumenos raised concerns about the use of private e-mail accounts for state business. Palin and an aide, Frank Bailey, both deleted some e-mails, though there's no way to know if any were related to the investigation. They testified they were told they didn't have to keep e-mails, but that advice was wrong, Petumenos wrote.

I can guarantee that there will be pressure applied on them to favor the findings of the Branchflower report over the hack job done by Petumenos. In the Branchflower report there are numerous actionable items that we feel the legislature should address.