Date:11/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/11/stories/2008101155191500.htm

International

Palin report kept secret

ANCHORAGE (Alaska): Sworn to secrecy, Alaska lawmakers have begun reviewing a lengthy and politically sensitive investigative report focusing on whether Republican vice- presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her authority as Governor. She has been accused of firing a state commissioner to settle a family dispute. But the report is also expected to touch on whether Ms. Palin’s husband meddled in state affairs and whether her administration inappropriately accessed employee medical records.

The investigation focuses on her firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan. Mr. Monegan says Ms. Palin and her husband pressured him to fire Mike Wooten, a state police officer involved in a nasty divorce and custody dispute with the Governor’s sister. When Mr. Monegan resisted, he says, he was fired. — AP