Mark Sanford Faces Ethics Investigation

By GottaLaff

I have a funny feeling that long after Argentina Sanford and Death Panel Barbie are retired for good, they'll still provide us with stories galore. And looky here, they have something in common! Ethics investigations:

Although South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) wants to move on, the Columbia State reports he may still have some explaining to do.

The state attorney general today asked the state Ethics Commission to investigate allegations that Sanford "misused state planes and other potential violations of state ethics laws."

"Sanford's state expenses have come under scrutiny since he vanished for six days in June and announced, upon his return, that he was having an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman."

Two very bizarre, hypocritical individuals.

What? Noooo.... Sarah the Quitter Implicated in Probe

By GottaLaff

I just loves me them independent investigators:

An independent investigator has found evidence that Alsaka Gov. Sarah Palin (R) "may have violated ethics laws by accepting private donations to pay her legal debts," Associated Press.

The investigator says that "there is probable cause to believe Palin used or attempted to use her official position for personal gain because she authorized the creation of a trust as the 'official' legal defense fund."

I just loves me them probable causes.

Just a wild guess, but I'm betting that the independent investigator won't quit his/her job before he/she is finished, you know, investigating.

Sarah Palin Ethics Complaint #13

By GottaLaff

I wonder if Pitiful Palin is superstitious:

Another ethics complaint was filed today against Governor Sarah Palin. That makes a baker’s dozen! [...]

Eagle river resident Kim Chatman charges that Palin’s newly formed “Alaska Fund Trust” violates the sections of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act which address conflicts of interests that are substantial and material:

Sec. 39.52.120. Misuse of official position

(a) A public officer may not use, or attempt to use, an official position for personal gain, and may not intentionally secure or grant unwarranted benefits or treatment for any person.

Sec. 39.52.130. Improper gifts

A public officer may not solicit, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, a gift, whether in the form of money, …that is a benefit to the officer’s personal or financial interests, under circumstances in which it could reasonably be inferred that the gift is intended to influence the performance of official duties, actions, or judgment.

“First off, I find it offensive that they’re calling it the Alaska Fund Trust,” Kim Chatman said. “It is deceptive, misleading and has absolutely nothing to do with either trust or Alaska.”

Chatman believes that Gov. Palin’s legal bills are the direct result of Gov. Palin’s actions. “It’s time for her to accept responsibility for the manner in which she decided to handle the legislative council investigation.” Chatman says. “She could have cooperated like she promised. Instead, Governor Palin chose to fight it and incur legal bills.”

Chatman has further concerns. “With 20 months remaining in the governor’s term, this contrived money scheme leaves a lot of room for people to buy favors from Palin and her cronies,” Chatman says. “And what about all these other state officials involved in this plot. Aren’t they in violation of the Ethics Act too?”

Full text of the complaint here.

And here’s the first response from the Palin administration:

“As we’ve been saying, the number of ethics complaints filed against the governor and her staff — as well as the tortured logic they contain — continue to constitute the most disturbing trend in Alaska politics. It’s obvious the intent with this unprecedented action against the governor is to see her administration paralyzed and for her to declare personal bankruptcy.”

Paralysis? Bankruptcy? That sounds like most of America these days. Finally, Sarah will see what it's like to be a part of Real America! Shouldn't she be happy about that?

But I have a sneaking suspicion this has more to do with, you know, ethics. And the law. Those would be two things with which Pitiful Palin is disturbingly unfamiliar.

Palin administration wishes "backlash" on Alaskans re: ethics complaint

By GottaLaff

Mouthy McEthicless isn't happy. Remember that little ol' ethics complaint against her? What was it, number 12? Well, now Mouthy is all a-froth with indignance:

The official response to the 12th ethics complaint filed against Governor Palin came in the form of a state issued press release. The complaint is referred to as “outrageous.”

One thing in the press release was particularly disturbing:

Mike Nizich, the governor’s chief of staff [said] “I hope that the publicity-seekers will face a backlash from Alaskans who have a sense of fair play and proportion.”

That wasn't very nice, now was it? Imagine what the unofficial response was.

Linda Kellen-Biegel, has addressed this question [of what a backlash would mean] HERE.

“There’s a core hypocrisy in nearly all of the ethics complaints brought against the governor, including this one. The ethics act clearly states that complaints, when filed, are to be confidential. Ms. Tompkins publicized her filing on several blogs, breaking the letter and the spirit of the law. While there are no penalties in the statute for this illegal behavior, Alaskans of all political persuasions should be appalled that the people who are alleging unethical behavior by the governor are repeatedly doing so unethically.”

Wait. So they're saying it's unethical to allege unethical behavior? Why... why... that's unethical!

[O]ne of those who filed an ethics complaint against the governor did make very sure to do it in public, and announce it with lots of media attention, right before the election in November, with an obvious desire to influence voters. That person was Sarah Palin, herself. Oops.

I think there should be a backlash against Mouthy for that. Unless, of course, that would be considered unethical.

Get out the Kleenex: Sarah Palin's Legal Bills Pile Up

By GottaLaff

Anchorage Daily News is reporting that Sarah Palin is in debt up to her earmarks... but c'mon! None of this is her fault! It's a witch hunt, that's what it is! And... and... ::sniffle:: now how's she supposed to ::snerfle:: come up with all that money to pay off her legal fees? Waaah!

Gov. Sarah Palin owes more than a half million dollars to an Anchorage law firm that has defended her against ethics complaints, and she may create a legal fund to pay the bill, she said Friday.

Legal bills have mounted fighting complaints that she called partisan, false and frivolous, starting with "the politically motivated Troopergate probe," Palin said in a written response to questions.

She said the legal bills all stem from her actions as governor.

"I must defend against these baseless ethics accusations out of my own pocket as the use of public monies to do so could itself violate state law," Palin wrote.

"On August 29, it seems the political landscape changed in Alaska. Now, it seems in order to do this job as Governor, with the political blood sport some are playing today, only the independently wealthy or those willing to spend their income on legal fees to defend their official actions in office ... can serve," Palin said in the written response to Daily News questions.

On Friday in the written statement, attorney Thomas Van Flein wouldn't give a precise number but said it was "a substantial debt." Palin said she didn't have an exact figure yet but "the debt is over a half a million dollars." [...]

In all, Palin said, there have been 10 ethics complaints, counting Troopergate, though she did not provide a list. [...] Out of the 10 complaints, Palin said six have been dismissed, one had "concluded," and three are pending. [...]

Palin made $131,891 last year, counting her $125,000 salary and expense payments she collects when she's away from Juneau, according to the disclosure. Todd Palin made $86,150 from his two jobs, as a commercial fisherman and a BP production operator.

"Obviously we cannot afford to personally pay these bills -- and really no future governor should feel the sense of financial vulnerability at the hands of those with a political vendetta bent on personal destruction," Palin wrote. "Some have suggested a legal fund to pay these bills. We'll have to pursue that."

Official who tried to block 'troopergate' probe resigns

By GottaLaff

Interview-Me Palin says it's all about that "harsh political environment". And who was part of that, I wonder:

Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg has resigned in the wake of state legislators blasting his performance during the "troopergate" investigation.

"He just explained that it is a tough environment right now," said Gov. Sarah Palin, who appointed Colberg to the job just over two years ago.

In an interview with the Anchorage Daily News this morning, Palin said Colberg did a great job as attorney general. [...]

"It is a harsh political environment right now. You saw what he went through these last couple of weeks with speculation that a couple of the lawmakers wanted to continue to grill him, a couple of the lawmakers not believing, it seems, what he had to say," Palin said. "I just hope this political environment doesn't deter others who want to make a positive difference."

Positive difference. Uh-huh. Now here's The Mudflats' take:

[W]e’ve got one interesting behind closed doors deal between Sarah Palin, Senate President Gary Stevens, and House Minority Leader Mike Chenault. It goes something like this.

Talis Colberg did not resign. He WAS resigned by Palin. (kerthunk…under the bus)

The Alaska Legislature and the governor can conveniently blame him for any and all wrongdoings in the Troopergate investigation, tie it up in a nice little bow, and transport it far far away from anyone with the last name Palin.

And in exchange for Stevens & Chenault ensuring that there is no further investigation of the Palins or their cohorts regarding the firing of Walt Monegan, the Branchflower Report, or the inconsistencies in the Petumenos report, what do they get from the governor?

In exchange, Stevens and Chenault will not receive vetoes to projects - yet to be named - in their districts.

Typical Alaska GOP politics. I wonder if Palin had Randy Reudrich help broker the deal. Here we have Mike Chennault, the sole remaining Alaska legislator who was a very big player in the VECO handouts, together with Stevens and Palin, both of whom received thousands from Bill Allen’s company, working together to hide the truth.

Palin's stuck in the mud clear up to her rimless eyeglasses.

Gramm-pa McCain Did Not Disclose Keating Business Deal To Investigators

By GottaLaff

Ethics, schmethics. Who needs 'em when you're running for president anyway:

The New Republic published an explosive story Saturday evening detailing how John McCain, in all likelihood, leaked information to investigators of the Keating Five scandal that was designed to help his image at the expense of the other four Senators involved.

If the allegation is true -- and TNR makes a healthy case as to its veracity -- it would mean that McCain violated Senate rules and could have been expelled from that body.

"All five senators -- including McCain -- had testified under oath and under the U.S. penal code that the leaks did not come from their camps," Sahil Mahtani reports. "The leaks were also prohibited by rules of the Senate Ethics Committee; according to the rules of the Senate, anyone caught leaking such information could face expulsion from the body."

But this is not be the only instance in which McCain defied the rules of the Senate when seeking to absolve himself of any wronging in the Keating affair. Public records in Arizona reveal that the Senator was also dishonest in discussing the extent of financial transactions he and his family had with the disgraced Savings and Loans chief.

In a three-and-a-half hour interview with investigators on February 13, 1990, McCain told the Ethics Committee that "other than the Fountain Square project [a property deal in which Keating and McCain's family were jointly invested] there were no other financial dealings between him or his family and ACC [American Continental Corporation]."

This, it seems, was not true.

More here.

Alaska: State of Denial

By GottaLaff

(via)

H/t: Francis Deblauwe

Crony baloney: IWRC* Palin appointed friends and donors to key posts

By GottaLaff

And the Crony goes to....

Among The Times' findings:

* More than 100 appointments to state posts -- nearly 1 in 4 -- went to campaign contributors or their relatives, sometimes without apparent regard to qualifications.

* Palin filled 16 state offices with appointees from families that donated $2,000 to $5,600 and were among her top political patrons.

* Several of Palin's leading campaign donors received state-subsidized industrial development loans of up to $3.6 million for business ventures of questionable public value.

* Palin picked a donor to replace the public safety commissioner she fired. But the new top cop had to resign days later under an ethics cloud. And Palin drew a formal ethics complaint still pending against her and several aides for allegedly helping another donor and fundraiser land a state job.

Most new governors install friends and supporters in state jobs. But Alaska historians say some of Palin's appointees were less qualified than those of her Republican and Democratic predecessors.

My stars! IWRC*'s approach to government seems to be-- What's it called again? Oh yeah-- business as usual! And now, for the winner of the Understatement of the Year Award:

Terrence Cole, an Alaska political historian, said Palin had in some cases shown "a disrespect for experience."

Oh, it gets better:

In a little-noted sequel to Palin's controversial dismissal of her public safety commissioner, the governor replaced Walt Monegan with former small-town Police Chief Charles Kopp of Kenai. The appointment unraveled almost immediately in what Cole called a vetting catastrophe.

A previous sexual harassment complaint came to light and Kopp had to resign two weeks after taking over. Alaska paid him $10,000 in severance.

So Kopp the Cop got thousands in severance after leaving in disgrace. Sounds almost Wall Streetian. Nothing inspires confidence in IWRC's promise to reform Washington like rewarding corruption.

And Palin's choice for attorney general, Talis Colberg, stirred considerable puzzlement: He was virtually unknown beyond her circle near Wasilla. Colberg, who had a solo law practice and little management experience, now oversees 500 professionals.

Colberg was criticized by both Republican and Democratic legislators for his handling of the recent investigation of Palin's actions in [TrooperGate].

There are lots more gory details here. And just in case you forgot, IWRC and "her guy" are being deposed today. Yep, she's the "most qualified of any candidate who has recently run for vice president".

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

IWRC* Palin and Gramm-pa McCain make history

By GottaLaff

This is priceless:

The McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election. [...]

The nation has had 102 major-party tickets covering 51 presidential elections over more than two centuries. And we've never had a ticket in which both candidates on the same ticket were responsible for ethics violations before a national election. McCain/Palin is the first.

It makes the whole "reform" pitch a little more difficult, doesn't it?

"More" is the key word here. It was always a stretch.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

AP: IWRC* Palin Charged Taxpayers $13k to Attend Her Church

By GottaLaff

Here is the previous problem Palin had with bilking taxpayers for staying at her home.

Merge church and state much, IWRC* Palin? Via turneresq at DKos:

The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God's will from the governor's office.

What she didn't tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.

An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.

Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.

Welcome to the world of Ms. Toast.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

TrooperGate: When did the McCain campaign take over the governor's office?

By GottaLaff

This is not healthy for our democracy:

Gov. Sarah Palin has surrendered important gubernatorial duties to the Republican presidential campaign. McCain staff are handling public and press questions about actions she has taken as governor. The governor who said, "Hold me accountable," is hiding behind the hired guns of the McCain campaign to avoid accountability.

Did I say "not healthy"? I meant "not ethical".

Is it too much to ask that Alaska's governor speak for herself, directly to Alaskans, about her actions as Alaska's governor?

A press conference Thursday showed how skewed Alaska's relationship with its own governor has become.

McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan announced that Todd Palin will not comply with a subpoena to testify about his role in Troopergate...

O'Callaghan also announced that Alaska's governor is "unlikely" to cooperate with the investigation by the Alaska Legislature about questionable conduct by Alaska's chief executive.

Monday, he and campaign sidekick Meg Stapleton stood before Alaskans and defended the official personnel decision by Alaska's governor to fire Alaska's public safety commissioner. ABC News reported that Gov. Palin's official press secretary, Bill McAllister, paid by the state of Alaska, didn't even know the McCain staffers were meeting the press to defend his boss.

Did I say "not ethical"? I meant "insane".

Is the McCain campaign telling Alaskans that Alaska's governor can't handle her own defense in front of her own Alaska constituents? [...]

Now she won't utter a peep about it to Alaskans. Nor will her husband, Todd, who definitely needs to explain his role in Troopergate.

Instead, Alaskans have to sit back and listen to John McCain's campaign operatives handling inquiries about what Alaska's governor did while governing Alaska. [...]

She is the governor of Alaska, not John McCain or Ed O'Callaghan.

BOTTOM LINE: Official state business -- like Troopergate -- should be handled by the governor of the state, not by McCain presidential campaign operatives.

Bottom line: Did I say "insane"? I meant unelectable.

Sarah Palin got a pay cut ...before she got a raise

By GottaLaff

Oh, how Palin loves to brag about taking a pay cut when she was mayor of Wasilla. TPM reports this story, and it's picked up here. It all depends on the meaning of "cut" is. Talk about walking a fine line:

According to a document released by the city, this is true — Palin’s salary was reduced from $64,200 to $61,200 shortly after she took office in late-1996. However, in June 1998, her pay increased to $68,000, She received another pay cut in July 1997, before having it restored to $68,000 three months later, where it remained until she left the position in 2002. From TPM:

The records don’t explain the mechanisms by which the pay shifts happened. As best as we can determine, the cuts were engineered by Palin herself through some sort of executive mechanism, and the raises were City Council-mandated hikes.

What’s the upshot? Well, Palin’s claim that she “took a pay cut” as mayor is true in a narrow sense. She came in and took a pay cut that she engineered herself.

But in a broader sense, the claim is an oversimplification that borders on misleading. The bottom line is that whatever her intentions, over the course of her mayoralty Palin’s pay went up thousands of dollars and stayed higher for years, money which she presumably kept. (If any proof emerges that she donated it to charity or channeled it back into city coffers in some other way, we’ll happily update.)

This isn’t another Bridge to Nowhere. But it does fit a pattern here, where Palin burnishes her reform credentials by describing intentions as realities or otherwise boiling down the record into easily-digestible sound-bites that at best are half-truths, as this latest one has now proven to be.

It also illustrates that all information originating with the McCain campaign is suspect until independently confirmed — fact-checking is a good game to get into if you want serious job security for the next couple of months. After eight years of near-constant spin from the Bush administration, is this what the American people are looking for from their government?

That seems to be the recurring question of the election season.

Big ol' Ethics Scandal at Interior Dept.: Sex, drugs, gifts, Big Oil

By GottaLaff

What? Scandal at BushCo? No way! ... ... Okay, way:

As Congress prepares to debate expansion of drilling in taxpayer-owned coastal waters, the Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.

Drill! Drill! Drill! I meant that in a non-sexual way.

In three reports delivered to Congress on Wednesday, the department’s inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, found wrongdoing by a dozen current and former employees of the Minerals Management Service, which collects about $10 billion in royalties annually and is one of the government’s largest sources of revenue other than taxes.

“A culture of ethical failure” besets the agency, Mr. Devaney wrote in a cover memo.

How redundant of them.

The reports portray a dysfunctional organization that has been riddled with conflicts of interest, unprofessional behavior and a free-for-all atmosphere for much of the Bush administration’s watch. [...]

The investigations are the latest installment in a series of scathing probes of the troubled program’s management and competence in recent years. While previous reports have focused on problems the agency has had in collecting millions of dollars owed to the Treasury, the new set of reports raises questions about the integrity and behavior of the agency’s officials.

In one of the new reports, investigators conclude that a key supervisor at the agency’s minerals revenue management office worked together with two aides to steer a lucrative consulting contract to one of the aides after he retired, violating competitive procurement rules.

Two other reports focus on “a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” and unethical behavior in the service’s royalty-in-kind program. That part of the agency collects about $4 billion a year in the form of oil and gas rather than cash royalties.

[...]

One of the reports says that the officials viewed themselves as exempt from [...] limits, indulging themselves in the expense-account-fueled world of oil and gas executives.

In addition, the report alleges that eight royalty-program officials accepted gifts from energy companies whose value exceeded limits set by ethics rules — including golf, ski and paintball outings; meals and drinks; and tickets to a Toby Keith concert, a Houston Texans football game and a Colorado Rockies baseball game.

The investigation also concluded that several of the officials “frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives.”

The investigation separately found that the program’s manager mixed official and personal business, and took money from a technical services firm in exchange for urging oil companies to hire the firm. In sometimes lurid detail, the report accuses him of having intimate relations with two subordinates, one of whom regularly sold him cocaine.

The culture of the organization “appeared to be devoid of both the ethical standards and internal controls sufficient to protect the integrity of this vital revenue-producing program,” one report said.[...]

But two of the highest-ranking officials who were targets of the investigations will apparently escape sanction. Both retired during the investigation, rendering them safe from any administrative punishment, and the Justice Department has declined to prosecute them on the charges suggested by the inspector general. [...]

On one occasion in 2002, the report said, two of the officials who marketed taxpayers’ oil got so drunk at a daytime golfing event sponsored by Shell that they could not drive to their hotels and were put up in Shell-provided lodging.

Sidebar: Shell has been awarded a $4bn contract in the south of the country to supply gas for Iraqi domestic use but also for export. Back to our story:

While most of the oil companies allowed investigators to interview their employees, the cover letter noted, one major firm, Chevron, would not cooperate.

'Tis the season to be busted: John Sidney McLiar

By GottaLaff

You all remember that cross in the sand tale that McPOW recounted at the Fake Forum? Well guess what:

It's been noted that McCain made no mention of this incident in a detailed account of his POW years that U.S. News published in 1973, and no one, so far, has found evidence of McCain telling the story before 1999 -- when his most formidable opponent for the GOP presidential nomination was a man who was making a concerted effort to court religious voters.
I just want to point out that there's a chapter specifically devoted to three Christmases of McCain's captivity in The Nightingale's Song, Robert Timberg's critically acclaimed 1995 book, which helped put McCain on the map as a political celebrity -- and the cross story does not appear. Nor does it appear anywhere else in the book.

No kidding! Why, that would make J Sid a liar!

The chapter is titled "'Tis the Season to Be Jolly." It says that on Christmas Eve 1968, a guard tried to compel McCain to attend a church service that was being staged for the benefit of visiting photographers. McCain decided "to ruin the picture," letting out a series of curses ("'Fu-u-u-u-ck you, you son of a bitch!' shouted McCain, hoisting a one-finger salute whenever a camera pointed in his direction"). There's certainly no mention of a cross in the sand in this account.

On Christmas Eve 1969, we're then told, McCain had a civil conversation with the Cat, the one guard he's said in other accounts was considerate to him -- but again there's no mention of a cross in the sand. (Timberg tells us that McCain and the Cat discussed the Cat's tie clip and cigarette lighter, as well as McCain's decision not to accept early release.)

On Christmas 1970, Timberg writes, McCain was transferred to a cell with his friend Bud Day -- "the perfect Christmas present" because he'd just spent two and a half years in solitary. Again, no cross.
(The chapter also includes an account of the car accident in which McCain's first wife, whom he later divorced, was seriously injured. The accident took place on Christmas Eve 1969.)

Hmm, no cross-in-the-sand under here. Oh, sorry, I was looking for WMD. I didn't find those, either.

It's clear that McCain told Timberg a lot of dramatic stories. Timberg chose to construct an entire chapter around stories about the Christmases of McCain's captive years.

Want to know a secret?

Via Steve Benen, I see that the firstpeople to note the McCain/Solzhenitsyn connection were fellow right-wingers at Free Republic.

H/t: Eve for the link