Sarah and Todd Palin meet one of over 1200 attendees at a "Going
Rogue" book signing event in Fort Hood, Texas on Friday, Dec. 4,
2009. (AP Photo/ Jack Plunkett)
After her vice presidential run, Sarah Palin continues to be the target of what she has called frivolous ethics complaints that caused the Alaska Governor to resign last July. Palin has been subjected to 24 ethics complaints, several lawsuits, and dozens and dozens of public information act requests, and Palin has reportedly incurred more than $600,000 in personal legal bills.
In August 2009, Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan issued an opinion recommending changes to the Ethics Act and on Tuesday, the Attorney General is moving forward to change the state's ethics rules in the wake of the battles waged by former Gov. Sarah Palin.
His changes would allow the state to pay the legal bills of public officials for defending against ethics complaints that are tossed out. They would also set out when a governor's family members can travel on the state's dime.
Sullivan released the changes on Monday for a public review that lasts through Jan. 22. The attorney general has the power to make the changes without approval of the Legislature.
It's unclear how much of Palin's reported $600,000 in personal legal bills would have qualified for reimbursement under the new changes. Meanwhile, the ethics complaints against the former governor keep coming; longtime Palin critic Andree McLeod filed another one last Monday targeting that a legal defense fund set up by Palin supporters to cover her costs continues to solicit contributions after an investigator hired by the state found "probable cause" that it violated the law.
Fairbanks Republican state Rep. Jay Ramras, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, feels a little differently than the Attorney General. Ramras, a frequent critic of Palin recommends letting more time pass and not rushing into new regulations. He said the state should defend officials against ethics complaints and not pay private attorneys to do so.
The Attorney General's spokesman, Bill McAllister, said the new regulations would go into effect after the Department of Law goes through all the public comments and makes any potential revisions.
Comments
Glad to hear that something is being done to protect future governors from what amounted to a form of politically inspired paper terrorism. No one, republican or democrat, should be subjected to the constant harrassment that Gov. Palin was subjected to. It would also be nice if anyone filing a frivilous complaint which gets thrown out would have to pay the cost of processing the complaint.
Greg said it first, and he is so right. The idiot filing a silly ethics charge should pay all legal costs & fees.
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