Posted on 06/26/2010 9:37:58 AM PDT by Bob J
One of the most flogged excuses by both Palin and her supporters for her resignation as Governor of Alaska was that ethics complaints were "bankrupting" her. But the Independent Council Report issued in conjunction with the decision on her Legal Defense Fund says otherwise.
Not only does it show the State of Alaska offered to make payments for her legal costs it shows that even bfore the election the Palin campaign was making alternate plans to not only get the McCain campaign to pay for them but to hit up the Rnc AND set up a legal defense fund.
When confronted with Palin's legal bills in relation to the ethics violations charged against her, the State of Alaska offerred to pay begin paying bills to the tune of 100k. Now this was just the start and 100k was a round number they picked. Once they made the precedent of funding her legal expenses there would have been an obligation to continue...in for a penny, in for a pound.
But Palin and her legal advisors rejected the offer based IMO in a flimsy "accounting problem". It is clear the Palin's had bigger plans for much more money and the Alaskan offer was only going to get in the way of that.
Before you start reading these snippets from the report you must be aware that the first plan of attack from the Palinistas will be to portray the Independent Investigaror as partisan, compromised and corrupt. But you must also be aware that this is the very same IC that ruled in Paln's favor over the much more serious "Troopergate" allegations.
This report is full of eye opening relevations and I will be posting reports on several of them as time goes on. Here is the relevant section on this issue from the report.
"C. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
1. Certain ethics complaints and legislative inquiries were conducted involving Governor Palin during the national presidential and vice presidential campaign when Governor Palin was a candidate for Vice President of the United States.
2. A contract for legal services was issued by the State of Alaska to the law firm of Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemesson & Thorsness to represent Governor Palin, and others, in connection with these matters, for up to $ 100,000 at public expense.
3. No invoices were submitted to the State by Mr. Van Flein's law firm, pursuant to this state contract, due to the decision by Governor Palin and her attorneys that it would be too difficult to separate the functions of representing Governor Palin in her official capacity in the pending state-related matters, and representing her in other related campaign or partisan matters beyond the scope of the state contract. Thus, to avoid an appearance of impropriety or any allegation that legal fees were being paid for legal services beyond the scope of the state contract, Van Flein's law firm and Governor Palin agreed that funding for these services would be sought from sources other than state funding.
4. Among the sources of funding discussed were the Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign. However, after the conclusion of the presidential campaign, it became apparent that funding from the McCain campaign would not be forthcoming. Governor Palin and her advisors discussed alternative sources of funding to defray the continuing costs of defending past and future Ethics Act complaints, as well as other claims that may be brought as a consequence of serving in the Governor's Office. Among the sources discussed were the Republican Governor's Association and the creation of a trust. The trust would solicit private funding to pay for the past and future defense costs of Governor Palin, and potentially her family, her aides in the Governor's Office, and potentially, future governors and state officials.
THANK YOU!
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Yup
But no taxes on Fannie & Freddie
VAT will be boiling over soon
The Euros have ways to get around much of that
Hussy Jr. is creating a huge underground economy
It shows at Treasury
Yeah, VAT will be mentioned again before long.
Wish I could listen to all the radio shows like the rest of you here. I miss out on a lot of news because of that.
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El Rushbo covers stuff early and heavy
He also does lotsa showprep on FR and his staff goes through his mail
Yup - a gizmo like the text on TV when MUTE is on would be great on radio for you
In fact - Rush has to use one himself while he broadcasts
[text would be great on radio for you]
Yes. You probably learn more from Rush than I do from hours of reading articles and threads.
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You notice many on FR constantly berate El Rushbo
That is because they themselves are such brilliant movers and shakers and have been such an amazing political influence and financial success
I haven’t kept up with the thread this weekend. Did Bobj ever show up?
Could Bob be “Andrew Sullivan”? hehe
This article needed a barf alert, but the comments are worth it.
With all due respect, if you were a taxpayer in Alaska would you want to foot the bill for her defense of baseless ethics complaints lodged by political opponents?
Seems he did. Can't quite make out what he's trying to say, though. Sounds like a caged bigfoot...
With all due respect, if you were a taxpayer in Alaska would you want to foot the bill for her defense of baseless ethics complaints lodged by her, and presumably your, political opponents?
Or does he mean council of one?
Amen to that!
Since there are groups that are obviously out to make Sarah spend money, continually, on legal expenses for frivilous lawsuits, some of her supporters thought they'd like to help with the expenses. I don't remember Sarah ever asking anyone to do so, folks just volunteered, because they thought it was unfair of her to be targeted in that manner.
I'm sure one of the reasons she wrote her book was for extra income for the family, as most authors do, and it certainly helped with her legal expenses.
You're obviously wrong, since from what I understand, the majority of AK citizens thought the lawsuits were harassment, but the Democrats, Republicans who didn't like her, and the MSM didn't agree, so the lawsuits continued.
These legal actions were not tied to her office as Governor. They didn't begin until after she'd been nominated to the Veep spot, and they didn't end even after she'd resigned her office as Gov. So they were simply harassment, Sarah realized it, and thought the taxpayers shouldn't have to pick up the tab.
As for your, and others' comments about whether or not she'd be able to handle the Presidency, since she resigned as Gov., I believe the laws for officeholders in AK are different from those for the Office of the Presidency. It's clear that Legal Defense Funds can be established for Presidents, as it has been done before, so there wouldn't be any worry about her family being bankrupted by folks who just don't like her.
Your interpretation, based on obvious animus toward Sarah Palin.
” I don’t remember Sarah ever asking anyone to do so, folks just volunteered, because they thought it was unfair of her to be targeted in that manner.”
I see you didn’t bother to read the Independent Counsel’s Report either.
Does it say anything different than any of the other reports that have come out about her over the last year and a half? Does it say she broke any laws? Does it say that her resigning as Governor was any violation of public trust? Does it say that she lied when she gave her reasons for resigning, or is it just YOUR opinion that she lied?
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