Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post reports on the newest Sarah Palin ethics scandal. Sarah Palin failed to report donations to a legal defense fund.
The report, which is a product of an independent investigator affiliated with the state’s Personnel Board, claims that Palin “used or attempted to use her official position for personal gain because she authorized the creation of the trust as the ‘official’ legal defense fund,” says the AP story.
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At the center of this particular controversy is the Alaska Fund Trust, a legal defense fund set up by backers of Palin in late April and designed to help defray her mounting legal costs.
At issue is whether Palin as the governor of the Last Frontier can legally solicit donations for an “official” legal defense fund. Members of Congress are allowed to raise money for legal defense funds as long as the charges against them are tied to something in their official work; it’s not clear whether Alaska law offers a different standard.
We also know from earlier reports that Palin’s excuse that ethics complaints were costing the state money are bogus. The complaints have cost very little, since the state employs salaried lawyers for those purposes. Why did Palin need a separate defense fund anyway, then?