Friday, July 10, 2009

How many ethics complaints have been filed against Sarah Palin? Well as of today it is a whopping 18! Sanford and Ensign are lightweights!




Longtime political activist Ray Ward has filed the 18th ethics complaint against Governor Palin. Ward claims Palin has been paid for radio and television interviews dating back to just after she lost her vice-presidential bid.
Palin's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, tells CBS 11 News the allegations are "categorically false," and says it fits a pattern of harassing and false ethics complaints.
You know what that means don't you? It means they are absolutely true!

Every day is "opposite day" with Van Flein.

The governor cited ethics complaints as a major reason she was resigning, saying they were distracting the state's agenda from progressing and had cost taxpayers $2-million.

The state personnel board has thus far vindicated the governor in fifteen complaints.


It will be interesting to see if they are still willing to sweep this one under the carpet with her leaving office. Come on Personnel Board! It is time to "man up"! After all, what have you got to lose?
One complaint was founded, and the governor repaid the state for her children's travel expenses. Our partners at the Anchorage Daily News are reporting the governor's office has admitted their math was not correct in saying the ethics complaints cost the state $2-million.
You're kidding? You mean those numbers were not accurate? Stunned! That's what I am, stunned!
Let's not forget that Dennis Zaki said there would be three more ethics charges and an IRS investigation. This is the second ethics charge filed since he made that claim. Does anybody doubt the validity of his predictions now?

39 comments:

  1. Wow, who could've found out that she actually got paid for interviews! And I recall, quite clearly, that an Alaska governor cannot gain any financial benefit during their tenure where it could be held that there was a quid pro quo.

    So, she gets paid, the quid pro quo is favorable press to pump her up in the event she runs for office again?

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  2. FEDUP!!!2:55 PM

    WHY are they filing ethics charges? WHY NOT a lawsuit instead?
    Ethics charges will just be thrown out by her hand-picked guys that have no accountability. A lawsuit however would have to go before a judge, and even if the judge is handpicked by her (like the two she just appointed to Palmer and Fairbanks), they are accountable at least to the Bar Association - they can be fired by the Bar if they do something that is not ethical.

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  3. Anonymous2:56 PM

    Sarah Palin is her own personal iceberg.

    Jessica

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  4. Brink Lindsay of the Cato Institute compared Palin to Marion Barry. If that isn't the insult of insults, I don't know what is.
    He also called her a clown but, heck, I knew that already.

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  5. The Personnel Board might have been afraid to find her guilty on previous complaints. After all, their jobs are at stake, and they had plenty of examples of what happens if you cross the Queen. NOW, however, they do not have to fear her - this is going to be good. No more need to cover for Palin!

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  6. Anonymous3:05 PM

    Ray Ward might as well file a ethics charge about payments to Sarah's daughter from People magazine and Candies.

    Does not the statute cover payments to children of governor also?

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  7. I agree if they can file lawsuits, they should. She also received a huge advance towards her book which is clearly against the Alaska ethics law.

    Now that she is out of office if she is found guilty of something, will it even matter?? The only way I see it mattering is if jail time is involved. If it's just money, like a fine she has to pay, her base is stupid enough to keep giving her money. I also wonder how the media will treat her as citizen Sarah.

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  8. Paid for interviews? Hmmm, is this why she didn't want those emails Celtic Diva wanted to get out? I wonder what her going rate is per show?

    I could never have imagined this.

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  9. Anonymous4:01 PM

    One way or another, it seems to be about money with Sarah. Getting paid for outside stuff before she leaves office. Her family enjoyed enrichment (Bristol's thing with the Candies People). I read a post over at Mudflats where someone decided to spell Sarah's name with the dollar sign: $arah. That's what we'll have to call her; it's all about the money.

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  10. Patti.. I made a comment on Mudflats the other day about the striking similarities Palin has to Marion Barry. I have lived in Northern VA for 20 years, and in DC proper before that, and I am still stunned that Marion Barry holds elected office to this day. The main difference between Barry and Palin? The self anointed "mayor for life" (now a city councilman) NEVER QUIT. Not after being caught with hookers and coke, imprisoned, charged with failure to file returns and tax evasion (which he is still on probation for), drug addiction, and most recently stalking and paying off his most recent girlfriend.

    Barry, like Palin, never admits he is wrong, never apologizes, and blames everyone else for his problems. And like Palin, he has a very vocal, supportive base of people in DC who still elect him. It is stunning, huh? Granted Barry will never seek higher office, but he is still part of the local political "establishment" in DC. To some people here, he can do no wrong, JUST LIKE SARAH and her followers. BUT AT LEAST HE'S NOT A QUITTER.

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  11. Anonymous4:04 PM

    is she going to get paid for one in Fairbanks on guns? I just read about it in one of the papers

    perhaps a call to the radio station?

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  12. If payemnt for her book was not considered an ethics violation, then why would any interviews be?
    The law appears to be clear on that, so why would this ethics board find any different. Maybe the time and effort should be looking into the ethics board themselves or the lawyer/s that advise them.
    Obviously, Palin is getting what she wants, when she wants.

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  13. You said 18 but ADN showed 18 last week.. by that count with these last 2 added if I am correct that would be up to 20 I thought... Am I completely crazy?

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  14. Anonymous4:18 PM

    I still doubt, not hard to predict ethics complaints when they are being filed weekly and you know the filers.

    The IRS investigation is still just a rumor. No meat to that one...yet anyway.

    I'll believe it when i see it

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  15. FEDUP!!!4:25 PM

    Hmmm... I wonder if that might actually be the reason then that she quit: She got the first installment of her yet-to-be-chost-written-book?

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  16. Diane no one has filed a lawsuit or ethics complaint about the book income. Have they anyone???

    Personally I have mixed feelings. I think an official should be allowed to write a book. Maybe I am missing something. Either way, it is a violation of the ethics laws or act. I am surprised no one has filed that one yet. Maybe that's why she is leaving, before someone challenges her on that. I just saw Fed Ups message -it makes sense. Maybe her lawyer clarified that with her the day before she quit.
    Seems $arah likes expensive clothes and shoes! She is not a working class plain hockey mom as she likes people to think.

    There still could be an IRS investigation.

    These are all rumours and guesses, so sue me.

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  17. Anonymous5:36 PM

    What happens to all of the ethics violations complaints when $arah leaves office? Do they just go away? Does she hold out her knuckles for a good rapping when she hands over the key the state?

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  18. Isn't it interesting that no MSM seems to be reporting on Coale saying that SP's legal fees have been paid and that the Trust paid for her kids travel, there are no outstanding bills at this point as far as I can tell?
    I haven't seen anyone pick it up and they are still asking for money to be donated to pay for those bills as of today.
    Ethics complaints against the Governor will be dismissed once she is no longer in office won't they? So no bills will be associated with the new complaints since I don't expect the Personnel Board to act on anything that they can soon dismiss.

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  19. Anonymous6:28 PM

    Pacos Gal..Coale did not say the Trust paid the travel expense, only that they paid the legal expense related to that. Honest. Listen to Margaret Carlson's interview again.
    However, Coale did tell Margaret that 'most' of the legal bills have been paid.
    I agree these new complaints will not be investigated. Heck the board doesn't even meet before she is gone....

    Your friend,
    Rob in Ca

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  20. Virginia Voter:
    Okay. So I guess it wouldn't be insulting to Palin to be compared to Barry. It would be a mutual admiration thing.

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  21. ahhh, okay Rob, heard it wrong, and hello again.

    I guess I just get so tired of the spin, when it's so much BS. Oh well, a week away from it all coming up.

    Ethic complaints going no where, money raised for a bogus cause, lies and more lies. It's enough to make a person exhausted trying to keep up with it all. *yawn*

    Take care

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  22. crystalwolf aka caligrl7:16 PM

    Gryphen...What a beautiful *ICEBERG* Pic!
    Lovely :)

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  23. Cathy7:18 PM

    What is the status of her incomplete financial disclosure statements from 2008? Wasn't APOC investigating the proprietary info about Artic Cat and family financial gains? This needs to be made public before she leaves office.

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  24. Anonymous7:22 PM

    Gryphen, thanks for the info. Wonder if Palin has made it in the Guinness Book of World Records as the governor with the most ethics violation complaints?? I am patiently waiting for the IRS investigation results.

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  25. Anonymous7:43 PM

    Someone did file an ethics complaint about the book. They dismissed because she said she would write it in her "spare" time, not during working hours.

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  26. Anonymous8:41 PM

    Gov's chief of staff press release http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1964
    says that it is number 19. But Nizich says gov or a member of her staff so maybe that accounts for the different totals.

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  27. Anonymous9:02 PM

    Did Palin file taxes for 2008 yet? I believe she filed an extension.If so,she would need to finish her tax filing in August.If she has been paid for interviews,etc,that would need to be included.Maybe it has something to do with the timing of her quitting.

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  28. Anonymous9:16 PM

    Wow that is BS about the book. That board does a terrible job-they must pick people they know will let Scarah off!

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  29. Comments on the latest ethics complaints, via the Quitter's twitter:

    'More precious time, public & private resources wasted today w yet another frivolous false ethics charge, I'll send presser. So sorry, Alaska'

    'Chief of Staff releases stmnt on 19th frivolous ethics complaint. Says Ethics Act repeatedly abused. http://tinyurl.com/kvud5e'


    Ana Marie Cox was on Rachel Maddow's show tonight, and shared this quip (as told to her by a GOP strategist):
    "Sarah Palin is like an ice sculpture, the more she's exposed to the elements, the faster she'll wear down"

    Keep up with those elements, Alaskans!

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  30. Cathy @ 7:18 PM

    Good question. I believe the situation is that APOC wrote a letter to SP asking for answers to certain questions about the relationship with Arctic Cat. SP sent a letter back (mid June?) claiming the contract was confidential, but offering to let APOC look at it themselves.

    I haven't read anything about the matter since; I think the ball is in APOC's court, to respond to SP's letter.

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  31. Anon @ 7:43 PM

    I'm not sure that anyone actually filed an ethics complaint about the book deal. If I read correctly, SP preemptively sought a ruling from the Department of Law whether her writing a book while governor was OK, before she committed to the book deal.

    Here is what was reported (for better or worse!):

    "The law department has looked into whether the governor having a book contract conflicts with the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Acts, including its prohibition on accepting outside "employment for compensation.

    "The department concluded a book contract isn't employment, because it's not regular work for a salary or wage. State employees are allowed to provide services for their own financial benefit as long as it's on their own time, does not conflict with their official duties and does not involve using state equipment or resources, said the legal opinion, signed by deputy attorney general Richard Svobodny.

    "A book publication project is compatible with your position as governor so long as it does not interfere with your official duties," Svobodny wrote to Palin."

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  32. I believe that Palin got a ruling saying the book deal was OK. I wondered at the time why it was OK.
    Not only the money, the time spent writing the book, but also what would the excuse be when she had to promote the book?
    Would she have combined politics and book promoting to get it paid for?
    I remembered asking questions about it when it first came out.
    Why has no one else commented on the fact that the Gov. loves Alaska so much that she resigns at the end of the month and then takes a week off to fish? Didn't she have any loose ends to take care of before she left, or was he administration so devoid of substance that she can just walk out the door?

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  33. Anonymous6:51 AM

    Sarah should have watched Veggie Tales, just don't lie.

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  34. Anonymous6:54 AM

    dianedp: I am only an exec assistant and I couldn't just walk away without tying up lots of loose ends. Amazing a Gov can just walk away.

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  35. Anonymous7:15 AM

    Hi.

    Maybe it's not true that she was paid for interviews. Should she till be given the benefit of the doubt? Sure, I will, until proven otherwise. However, I don't really think it warrants yet another tweet from HRH or a press statement from Nizich. Can't they just QUIETLY handle it? Oh, that's right; no they can't.

    Nizich's press release contains (at least) several falsehoods though, making him WORSE than the people he is complaining about--since he is supposed to be a respectable member of government. The lies I caught: he says it is against the law for those filing ethics complaints against the Gov to publicly announce it. This is not true to the best of my knowledge. Also, he says all 15 previous complaints were dismissed with "no finding of wrongdoing". This is also false. If that were true, there would have been no re-payment of portions of her children's travel expenses back to the state. I'm pretty sure there was something else I'm forgetting she had to pay back as well.

    This statement also fails to take into account that the Branchflower investigation found her guilty of wrongdoing in abusing her power. And of course we know it was Sarah's people that "frivolously" abused the ethics law to bring the Troopergate issue up yet again when it had already been decided, and in doing so, racking up way more time and energy than all of the citizen's ethics complaints put together.

    So, that makes Sarah Palin and Mike Nizich both equally guilty of hypocrisy.

    And Parnell looks like a dittohead of Sarah, so, I bet you Alaskans are really really looking forward to the next election for Gov!!

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  36. Husband came home from the barber show with a copy of the barber's sign. Somehow it seems apropos.

    EVERYONE BRINGS HAPPINESS
    SOME WHEN THEY COME
    AND SOME WHEN THEY LEAVE.

    Adios Gino Baby.

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  37. Anonymous12:42 PM

    I read that Alaska has a population of a little over 600,000. And out of that many people, only 18 complaints have been filed thus far. Really a minuet amount, methinks. Sure wouldn't think so by the way ol' Palin and her cronies have reacted. Now Palin's agent has personally attacked a complainant in an effort to humiliate that person with malice. I don't remember the agent alleging that any such charges prevented the complaintant from exercising his rights as a citizen. She plays a dirty game, that one.

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  38. Anonymous1:58 PM

    Actually, it's 20.
    Ray Ward filed #20. #19-Henning, per diem, 7/6. #18-McCleod, White House Correspondents Dinner, SarahPac, Bristol and Candie's,5/8.

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  39. It seems that the most obvious ethics complaint would be that Sarah used her office as governor to perpetrate a hoax about the birth of Trig Palin. Anyone game to file it?

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