Governor Palin Did Not Violate Alaska Ethics Law

(Update: below)

The Chicago Tribune reports an AP story by Rachel D'Oro, released at 8:22 PM, saying that Governor Sarah Palin has been cleared in the the firing of the Alaska public safety commissioner.

Thought you'd like to know.

From the AP story:

The report, released Monday, said: "There is no probable cause to believe that the governor, or any other state official, violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with these matters."

The conclusion is taken from the Report that was written by Timothy Petumenos, who was hired as an independent counsel for the Alaska Personnel Board, the official body which had jurisdiction in the matter.

That, regardless of the "mind-reading" hack job the legislative committee previously cooked up -- the one where they said she had the authority to fire him, but somehow, they knew what she was thinking when she did whatever she did.

Naturally, the legislators who ran that "probe" had no comment about the official report.

Update: 11/4) Bill Dyer, who posts as Beldar over at Hugh Hewitt, has all the details, having read through the Report. He links to and quotes key portions Report itself, and the observations of several other in putting together an impressive post. He notes that the independent counsel, Timothy Petumenos, who wrote this Report for the state's Personnel Board, noted that the Legislative Counsel who drafted the legislative report not only used the wrong statute in analyzing the circumstances, but also misconstrued the evidence.

In summation, Beldar puts it this way:

The State of Alaska and, indeed, the people of the United States owe thanks, by contrast, to the Personnel Board's independent counsel, Timothy Petumenos, for his thorough investigation, clear thinking, and comparatively crisp 58-page report (125 pages when exhibits are included). It deals comprehensively with both facts and law. The bottom line is this: The report Mr. Petumenos has prepared for the Personnel Board, and that it has accepted on behalf of the State of Alaska, is as thorough and persuasive an exoneration of Gov. Sarah Palin's actions as can possibly be imagined.