Todd Palin, the 'shadow governor'

[depakid]

Australians seem to despise these folks even more that we do.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/10/13/toddpalin470moneganetc_wideweb__470x333,0.jpg

IT BEGAN as a bitter family dispute over an ugly divorce and allegations ranging from illicit moose-hunting to death threats in the small Alaskan town of Wasilla.

But on Saturday that feud exploded into the race for the White House after the independent investigator Stephen Branchflower concluded that Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, unlawfully abused her power as Governor of Alaska to push for her former brother-in-law to be sacked as a state trooper.

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Testimony compiled as part of the inquiry, and a Los Angeles Times review of email logs from the Palin Administration, shows that Mr Palin was a fixture in the governor's office, spending about half his time there.

He attended cabinet meetings that are supposed to be closed to the public, and was copied on a wide variety of high-level government correspondence on issues such as contract negotiations with the police officers' union, native Alaskan issues and the privatisation of a dairy near the Palins' home town of Wasilla.

His report concluded that she knowingly "permitted Todd Palin to use the Governor's office and the resources of the Governor's office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired".

The findings are a further blow to the McCain campaign, which is struggling to get its message across to voters with just over three weeks to go before the election on November 4.

More: http://www.smh.com.au/news/us-election/todd-palin-the-shadow-governor/2008/10/12/1223749846315.html