Alaska lawmakers say Palin abused authority

A report commissioned by the Alaska Legislature released Friday night concludes Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin broke no laws but “abused her power” when dismissing the state's public safety commissioner while governor.

The report says Palin's firing of Walt Monegan in July was at least partly due to Monegan's reluctance to fire Palin's former brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, a state trooper who was divorced from Palin's sister. Monegan's inaction was "likely a contributing factor" to his dismissal, the report states.

{mosads}“[A]lthough Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety,” the report stated.

The report to the bipartisan Legislative Council appears to end at least a major stage of the controversy surrounding Palin and Monegan. The Alaska governor had pledged to cooperate with the probe and repeatedly, publicly declared her innocence of wrongdoing, but changed course in August after being selected as Sen. John McCain's presidential running mate.

Palin and the McCain campaign then refused to cooperate, saying the probe was politically motivated, and instead proposed the investigation be conducted by the state personnel board.