Alaska legislators are to decide whether to make public an investigation into allegations Sarah Palin abused her power as governor of Alaska.

Mrs Palin stands accused of firing a safety official for refusing Obama enjoys lead after debate ...
Australia gets first woman governor ... to sack a state trooper who had been involved in an acrimonious divorce from her sister.

Mrs Palin, who is John McCain's running mate, denies any improper behaviour.

But the row - now widely referred to as "Troopergate" - has cast a pall over the Republican presidential campaign.

The probe into the affair began before Mr McCain selected Mrs Palin last month.

Critics say Mrs Palin was using her power as governor to settle a personal feud.

But several Republican politicians had attempted to have the probe stopped on the grounds that it was politically motivated.

However, the Supreme Court in Alaska on Thursday dismissed a legal attempt to stop the investigation.

Injustice?

The Republican vice-presidential candidate says she fired Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan in July over a budgetary dispute.

Mr Monegan maintains he was dismissed for resisting pressure from Mrs Palin's husband, Todd, to fire State Trooper Mike Wooten, Mrs Palin's former brother-in-law.

Todd Palin has admitted he did publicise what he called the injustice of a violent trooper keeping his badge.

But he said his wife then told him to drop the matter. Mrs Palin has not given evidence.

Mr Monegan said he simply wanted the truth to be made known.

"The governor did want me to fire [Mr Wooten], and I chose to not," he told the Associated Press.

"He didn't do anything under my watch to result in termination."

Sarah Palin's campaign officials on Thursday issued their own report clearing the Alaska governor of any wrongdoing.

In what the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington describes as a clear attempt to deflect any potential criticism, Mrs Palin's allies claim the issue has been muddled by innuendo, rumour and politics.

(BBC)

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