Troopergate finding: Palin's actions were unethical, not illegal

The concluding report on the Troopergate affair in Alaska has been released, following a 12-0 vote by Alaska's Legislative Council.

Totalling a mean 263 pages, the report produced by investigator Steve Branchfower concludes, among other things, that Governor Sarah Palin did in fact violate ethics codes for state executives, and thereby abused her power.

Alaska's executive branch ethics act maintains that "each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

Nevertheless, the report is sympathetic to the ordeal which the family was enduring due to the abusive trooper and recommends a course of action to assist families who make complaints arising out of similar ordeals in the future.

The report also concludes that Palin acted within the law when firing Walt Monegan, Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner, even though his refusal to fire the trooper was a "contributing factor" in his own eventual dismissal.

The Anchorage Daily News has a neat summary of the findings to make digesting the document a tad bit easier.