Palin is subject of second ethics probe in Alaska; Obama is pressed on his association with group alleged to have engaged in voter fraud; in rare move, Florida paper retracts its endorsement after congressman is linked to scandal

VARIOUS DATELINES
Several stories specifically related to claims and counterclaims about ethical issues were part of the political news last week. Among them:

• An Alaska legislative panel agreed last week to share confidential personnel records relating to a second ethics investigation into the actions of Alaska governor and GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. The probe’s second round follows an earlier determination by the panel that while Palin had the legal right to fire Alaska’s public safety commissioner, she violated state ethics laws by trying to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired. The bipartisan ethics probe began before Palin became the GOP nominee. As her national role grew, so did the scandal, dubbed Troopergate, with Palin, her husband, and several aides alleging political bias and refusing to cooperate as previously pledged.
• The FBI is probing allegations of voter fraud involving a grassroots organization linked to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, Bloomberg reports. Employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN, have been accused of submitting false voter registration forms, according to Bloomberg. Obama says he has not worked with ACORN at all during the general elections and was only associated with the group by once acting as its lawyer, MSNBC reports. The ACORN issue has been brought up repeatedly both by Palin and by McCain, who previously gave the keynote address at an ACORN-sponsored rally in 2006. Slate notes that the allegations of voter registration fraud — different from voter fraud — actually were brought to the attention of election officials by ACORN itself, which flagged the problem registrations for review and rejection.
• In a highly unusual move, the Palm Beach Post last week rescinded its endorsement of Congressman Tom Mahoney. The freshman Florida Democrat had been endorsed by the Post the day before an ABC news report claimed that Mahoney had used more than $100,000 in campaign funds to bribe Patricia Allen, a former staffer, into keeping an apparent affair with him secret, reports The Hill, a newspaper covering Congress. In an editorial, the post admitted it is rare for a paper to retract an endorsement, but contended: “Though he has more or less admitted to the affair with Patricia Allen, Rep. Mahoney has not said why he put his mistress on the payroll and why he gave her the settlement … Rather than speak directly to his constituents, whose votes he is seeking, Rep. Mahoney has called for a congressional investigation that would not be over until after the Nov. 4 election.” The Post also chided House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who in 2006 promised the “most ethical Congress in history, for not being more forthcoming about the incident.

Sources: MSNBC, Oct. 17 — Hill, Oct. 17 — Slate, Oct. 16 — Palm Beach Post, Oct. 16 — AP, Oct. 16 — Bloomberg, Oct. 16 — Washington Post, Oct. 14 — Slate, Oct. 10.

For more information, see: Related Newsline Commentary, Oct. 14 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 14 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 29 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 22 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 15 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 15 — ACORN statement, Oct. 13.