Palin-Related Ethics Charge Dismissed

Sarah Palin left the governor’s office more than a month ago, yet Alaska is still digging out from under the avalanche of ethics complaints filed by her opponents.

The latest development came Thursday night when Alaska’s deputy attorney general announced that a complaint against a former aide to the former Republican governor had been dismissed.

Bill McAllister, a former spokesman for Palin, was accused of using state resources—including his time—to politically benefit Palin before, during and after she was picked as Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) running mate in 2008.

The complaint was the fifth filed by self-described Alaska government watchdog Andrée McLeod to be dismissed. A sixth McLeod complaint, filed shortly before Palin left office, is still pending.

At least twenty complaints were filed against the governor, though the exact number is difficult to determine because the state does not confirm whether complaints have been filed.

One of the issues raised by McLeod was McAllister’s response to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Poe’s criticism that Palin, while running to be vice president, was not fulfilling her duties as governor.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Poe would claim, counter to the obvious facts, that the governor is putting national political aspirations above her role as chief executive of the state. Since the election, the governor has spent less than a day out of state attending to partisan activities,” McAllister responded.

McAllister explained his remark in an interview with POLITICO.

“I didn’t say anything about whether he was a good candidate or anything, I was just responding to his comment,” he said.

“It was a lot of frivolous stuff to show that I was involved in campaigning, which I was not. I’ve never been on a campaign. I’m not even a Republican. It’s ridiculous,” he said of the complaint. “My parents saw it, my friends saw it. It was embarrassing.”

McLeod did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Palin identified the numerous ethics complaints filed against her as part of her reason for leaving office when she announced in July that she was stepping down as governor. To date, all of the complaints that have been processed by state officials have been dismissed.

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