Forgive the obnoxious headline-- we're serious that Sarah Palin is becoming bogged down in scandals.
Troopergate is, of course, the one investigation she hasn't been able to talk her way out of. With that hanging over her and threatening to derail the McCain campaign, a second major revelation broke last night, one that probably won't change any hearts or minds about the Republican VP candidate...
Palin's power-crazed tenure as the very popular Governor of a heavily Republican state has seen a pattern of ethical lapses and outright abuses of power, topped by this one: According to an Associated Press investigation, Palin is believed to have:
1) charged the state of Alaska for expenses incurred, including airline tickets, to transport her children to their father's snowmobile race.
2) amended her expense reports to falsely claim the children (and the family, of course) were actually on these kinds of outings as part of "state business."
3) charged the state for a trip to New York she took with Bristol that including a five-day stay in a high-priced hotel... all for a five-hour leadership conference in the city that took place on only one of those days.
4) when reporters began inquiries as part of this investigation, Palin allegedly ordered unspecified reports altered, usually adding either "First Family attending" or "First Family invited" in an attempt to justify the presence of her family even when the family had not been requested by event organizers.
It was also noted that Palin's tax records has already raised questions because the family did not report its reimbursed travel costs as income.
The article is rather extensive and includes expanded meditations on these allegations. Read it in its entirety here.
Meanwhile, Palin is expected to give a deposition in the Troopergate investigation at Friday's hearing.
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