ethics

Suddenly, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s abrupt resignation announcement might make a bit more sense.
An independent investigator has found evidence that Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated ethics laws by accepting private donations to pay her legal debts.
The report obtained by The Associated Press says Palin is securing unwarranted benefits and receiving improper gifts through the [...]

As Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) railed away at Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, we were reminded of Coburn’s role in the recent sex scandal involving Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.).
To recap, Coburn, an obstetrician and gynecologist who lives with Ensign in Washington, has said he counseled his colleague to end an extramarital relationship with a staffer. [...]

Pharmaceutical companies and a Saudi prince were among the funders of recent Pentagon junkets, despite their financial interests in U.S. military spending.

Attorney General Eric Holder this afternoon named Mary Patrice Brown as the new head of the Office of Professional Responsibility, the Justice Department’s internal ethics unit.
The changing of the guard at the sensitive ethics office comes just after embarrassing revelations of federal attorney misconduct in the prosecution of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). U.S. District [...]

Lara Jakes buries the lead in her story about all the money ex-Raytheon lobbyist Bill Lynn will make if he sells his company stock to take the No. 2 spot at the Pentagon:
Testifying before the Senate panel Tuesday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said stringent ethics rules are a major reason it is difficult to fill [...]

Spending bailout money to lobby for more bailout money might soon become slightly more difficult.
Incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is expected to announce some new rules tomorrow governing the behavior of lobbyists for financial institutions seeking bailout money under the $700 billion financial rescue plan, according to the The Associated Press:

Even though there’s a new administration in Washington promising broad ethics reforms, it looks like the old way of doing things may still be alive and well in President Obama’s Defense Department.
If appointed, Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of defense, former Raytheon lobbyist William Lynn, wouldn’t have to recuse himself from decisions involving Raytheon–despite Obama’s [...]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — I was surprised to see Gov. Sarah Palin’s response to the Troopergate report released on Friday. The governor seems to think that the report, which concludes she violated a state ethics law, actually vindicates her.
Here’s what Palin told the Anchorage Daily News:

The Associated Press has been digging into Gov. Sarah Palin’s record as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, to find some astonishing examples of ethically questionable behavior.
The most remarkable is a push by Palin in 2002 to pass a zoning exception, which she ultimately received, so that she could sell her $327,000 house on Lake Wasilla:

As if the McCain campaign didn’t have enough to worry about with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s two cringe-inducing interview segments with Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News — and yet more to come. Now The Washington Post drops this bombshell.
According to Alaska state records, during her tenure as governor, Palin accepted dozens of gifts [...]