Alaska Politics Blog : Palin ethics complaint dismissed (Updated with report)

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Erika Bolstad

Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau in 2007, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He's worked for the ADN in Anchorage and Juneau, covered the legislature for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, and covered Washington state politics for the Tacoma News Tribune. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers rural affairs, general assignments and politics for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously wrote for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com and also find him on our rural Alaska blog, The Village.

Don Hunter

Don Hunter covers Anchorage city government and politics. He is a longtime ADN reporter and editor and wrote for the Anchorage Times. E-mail Don at dhunter@adn.com

David Hulen

David Hulen, the ADN's state and local news editor, is responsible for political coverage. He has been an editor and reporter at the ADN for more than 20 years. E-mail David at dhulen@adn.com

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Palin ethics complaint dismissed (Updated with report)

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: July 24, 2009 - 3:30 pm

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From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage--

It looks like the latest of the ethics complaints filed by Andree McLeod against the governor has now been dismissed.

(Update -- Click here to read the report dismissing the complaint. It was written by Anchorage attorney Tom Daniel, the same investigator who found "probable cause" that Palin's legal defense fund violated the law. Palin waived confidentiality on this one, so Daniel was able to release it.)

Here is the press release that the governor's office just sent out:

The Personnel Board has announced that another ethics complaint against Governor Sarah Palin has been dismissed.

The complaint, the sixth filed by Anchorage resident Andree McLeod, accused the governor of violating the Ethics Act by receiving her salary while campaigning for vice president. The accusation, lodged Monday, was dismissed as legally flawed and factually devoid of merit.

Governor Palin remained on duty, conducted state business, and communicated with her staff and her constituents.

“Andree McLeod has failed to prevail on any of the ethics complaints she has filed against the governor,” said Mike Nizich, Palin’s chief of staff. “It appears her agenda is clear – she’s abusing the ethics laws to harass public officials.”

McLeod responded that Nizich is "out of line."

"Every one of my complaints have merit and were filed to hold public officials accountable," she said.

McLeod said it's clear that Palin signed off duty and left Alaskans unrepresented.

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