Anchorage lawyer Timothy Petumenos said Palin’s office is still adding up the costs, but "I’m told it’s running about $7,000." Palin acknowledged no wrongdoing as part of the settlement, and her attorney said she has been "fully exonerated" by the investigation.
Complaints that Palin improperly took her children on state-paid trips emerged during the 2008 presidential campaign, when Palin was the Republican nominee for vice president. The state Personnel Board hired Petumenos to investigate that claim and others filed during Palin’s time on the GOP ticket.
The settlement states that Palin did not violate Alaska’s ethics law or commit wrongdoing, and that she followed the advice of experienced staff. But it also calls for state officials to draw up new regulations covering future state-paid trips.
Petumenos said he investigated about 40 trips as part of the investigation, and found nine he considered questionable — including trips in which her daughters accompanied her on a state aircraft and to a summer meeting of the National Governors’ Association in 2008.
Palin agreed not to contest the issue, Petumenos said.
