Since Alaska governor Sarah Palin was named John McCain’s running mate, her foes and various Alaskan liberals have begun a new exercise, attempting to bankrupt the Palin family through legal fees, by filing endless ethics complaints against her.
In her term, ten ethics complaints and 150 FOIA requests have been filed. (One of the complaints, about improperly firing her state public-safety commissioner, predates her national prominence.)
While holding elected officials accountable is laudable, most of the matters are beyond trivial. One of the complaints against her was for talking to reporters about the presidential campaign while she was in the governor’s office. Another objected to her office press secretary offering a statement to clarify a statement put out by her political action committee. The latest complaint is that Palin wore snow-machine gear advertising her husband Todd’s sponsor, Arctic Cat Inc, while “in her official duties as governor” when she served as the “official starter” of the race.
Palin owes $500,000 in legal fees, almost four times her annual salary. She says she may be forced to create a legal defense fund.