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Alaska Fund Trust – Who Knew?

Well, the dust-storm kicked up yesterday by the leaking of the investigator’s findings regarding the Alaska Fund Trust is still raging.  Presumably taken off-guard, the Palin administration and the Alaska Fund Trust have been scrambling.

A three-page, single-spaced, 10 pt. type press release just came from Kristan Cole, the Trustee of the Alaska Fund Trust.  This is serious stuff.

The usual Palin melodrama is present in the first sentence of the release, citing “the unusual letter that was leaked yesterday, the contents of which are unprecedented in the history of our country.”   This unusual letter is an investigator’s report regarding an ethics complaint filed by Alaska resident Kim Chatman.  In the complaint, Chatman asks whether the Alaska Fund Trust is, in itself, legal.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting.  Did the governor’s supporters create the fund independent of any actions on the part of the governor?  Was she involved in this, or was it simply a bunch of friends getting together and creating it as a surprise.  Was it sanctioned or not?  That’s actually a pretty important piece to this complicated puzzle.  In the report from investigating attorney Tom Daniel, he stated:

If third parties created the legal defense fund completely on their own, free from any direction, influence, or guidance from the governor, it would not seem that the governor “used her position” in violation of the statute.

In Cole’s press release today she states quite clearly:

I want to be clear on a point that has been misrepresented:  The Governor is not and was not involved with the Trust.  The Governor has never worked on or with the Trust.  The Governor has not even accepted or requested one penny from the Trust or quite frankly anything of me.  And I have never expected anything from her.  Really, it’s quite  the contrary; as I, and many other caring folks across the country have only sought to help with this legal burden.

The first and only time I have spoken with the Governor about the Trust was yesterday to alert her that I was responding to this violation of the law and leak of preliminary and confidential materials from the complaint.

So, according to Kristan Cole, the Governor’s long-time friend, she has never spoken to the Governor about the Alaska Fund Trust until yesterday. It was thought up, researched, created, launched, and was actively soliciting donations for Sarah Palin and she had never discussed it with her.  And since the governor knew nothing about it, nobody can say that she “used her position” in violation of the statute.  Remember that for later.

It becomes necessary here to take a little trip in the Mudflats time machine.  Climb aboard and let’s set the dial back to March of this year.  At that time, there was much talk and speculation about Sarah Palin’s then up-and-coming legal defense fund.  It was quite a story for a few days, with some interesting twists and turns.  The governor had been complaining profusely about the legal bills that were piling up from her personal attorney.  Here’s what she had to say then:

Obviously we cannot afford to personally pay these bills — and really no future governor should feel the sense of financial vulnerability at the hands of those with a political vendetta bent on personal destruction,” Palin wrote. “Some have suggested a legal fund to pay these bills. We’ll have to pursue that.”

We. We will have to pursue a legal fund.  Hm.

Now, think back if you will to April 7, when a certain Texas businessman and owner of a U-Haul dealership named Clayton Paslay decided to set up a legal defense fund for the governor.  He was all excited to help out.  He thought Sarah Palin was swell.  He got the idea from Bill O’Reilly, who said he’d be the first one to donate to it.  So, according to Clayton Paslay, he called Thomas Van Flein and talked to him about it first.  After getting the thumbs up, he went for it.

According to the organizer,the defense money raised will go directly to Thomas Van Flein, Governor Palin’s private attorney.

Clayton Paslay, a businessman who splits his time between Texas and Southern California, set up the fund. [snip]

Clayton tells me that he has never met the Governor, but set up the fund because he wants her “to get a fair shake.” [snip]

Mr. Paslay says he filed all the federal election legal papers for the special fund and spoke with Governor Palin’s attorney. I called Mr. Van Flein’s office and they confirmed that the fund is legitimate.

It took less than 24 hours for the Palin camp to come out with a statement completely disavowing this rogue fund, stating that nobody should be donating to it. This from the Anchorage Daily News Politics Blog:

There’s  buzz today about  a new legal fund created for Gov. Sarah Palin. But the family spokeswoman says it’s not sanctioned by Palin.  “It’s not official. Neither the governor nor her attorney can accept monies from a group like this. There is one that is in the process of being established,” said Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton.

So, basically, nobody had any idea who the heck this Texas U-Haul dealer guy was, and they certainly didn’t want him collecting money for the governor, even though he stated that he spoke to Palin’s lawyer Thomas Van Flein, the presumed recipient of all this money, and it was all just fine with him.

Their concern about people donating?  It wasn’t sanctioned by Palin.  It wasn’t “official.”  Hm.

The governor’s spokeswoman Meg Stapleton then released the following statement on the SarahPAC website:

“At this time, we ask you to please hold your much appreciated donation and keep checking back here for the link to the Alaska Fund Trust, the official legal defense fund that will be announced shortly to help the family and state colleagues pay off legal debts incurred by politically-motivated attacks.”

And who exactly is behind SarahPAC?  On their site we find this:

Gov. Palin is the honorary chair of SarahPac, and its supporters are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and those unaffiliated with any political party.

We. We ask you to wait and donate to the official defense fund.

And lo and behold, the official defense fund arrived – The Alaska Fund Trust.  And who was the trustee?  Kristan Cole –  Palin’s Wasilla High School buddy, long-time friend, appointed by Palin as Chair of the Board of Agriculture, appointed to the board of the Royalty Oil and Gas Commission, a member of the Creamery Board, a private company owned by the state of Alaska.  Remember her?  She’s the one who never talked to the governor about anything to do with the Alaska Fund Trust until yesterday.  Hm.

Cole states that she “did not seek out this position,” but was “willing to step up to the plate and served when asked.”

Asked by whom?  And with whose knowledge?

Comments

comments

Comments
461 Responses to “Alaska Fund Trust – Who Knew?”
  1. Patrick12344 says:

    I have collected the screenshots of Sarah’s handwriting and other documents regarding Sarah’s “thank you notes” and organised it in a slide-show on my flickr, easy to watch:

    http://tinyurl.com/kocl7h

  2. PepperzMom (GA) says:

    317 AKPetMom Says: July 22nd, 2009 at 10:32 PM

    OK, looks like my friend DID make the Fund Trust website…that’s what he does and he’s as liberal as anyone I know. He builds websites and makes commercials for a living.

    Doesn’t mean that he is complicit in any of this tinfoil hattery that is going on here.

    God, I’m really disappointed that he’d take business from the barracuda, but hey, everyone has to make a living.

    Sorry Big Slick #255
    ——–
    318 Jackie Says: July 22nd, 2009 at 10:35 PM

    Ak Pet Mom – at least a good guy made some money off of her!

    Hmmm – are either of you sure he was actually PAID, given the grifter aptitude surrounding SP & crew???

  3. PepperzMom (GA) says:

    You know, something is really off with this whole Daniel finds a problem this time and it’s in the open, supposedly because of a leak from the Board itself.

    I have to wonder…how many other Daniel reports did find a probable cause, but the Board refused to proceed further by ‘dismissing’ the charges?

    So, my questions to everyone are:

    1. Have any of the other investigator’s reports been released?
    2. Is there a mechanism in place for investigator’s reports to be requested by some type of citizen’s request?

    I seem to remember that somewhere around here, if not other AK based blogs that there have been discussions over whether the ‘public’ could request information on closed cases. So if the answer to #2 is a “yea”, I’m up for contributing towards the inevitable high cost of securing those reports. Just spread the word on where to send the $$.

  4. ValleyIndependent says:

    My apologies if someone has already posted this link:

    http://frontiersman.com/articles/2009/07/22/breaking_news/doc4a67b600a8653585675678.txt

    Looks like the realists could use a little help – the bots are out in full force and their tin-foil hats are on tight. There’s even the usual comment about who is paying the anti-Palin bloggers. I sure wish they’d figure it out and post contact info so I could apply for my check.

  5. Marnie says:

    Is the fact that, were she not governor, these ethics complaints would not have happened make her association implicit?
    She created the necessity of the complaints becasue she is governor. The complaints necessitated the legal expendatures. The legal expendatures necessitated the fund.
    That’s a straight line logical association that is reasonably predictable, especially once the first complaint occurred, with its expenses.

  6. Bystander says:

    Sarah’s defense “the Fund was completely legitimate, but I had no knowledge of it” reminds me of the old story by lawyer “Racehorse” Haynes on the three defenses in a dog bite case:

    1. My dog doesn’t bite.
    2. My dog was asleep in my bedroom and couldn’t have bitten the Plaintiff.
    3. I don’t own a dog.

  7. beth says:

    JHop @ 438 Says: “… but i don’t think she could sue for defamation. they haven’t defamed her or even damaged her.”
    ——-
    JHop: Wouldn’t the ‘damage’ be that they (AFT) had ’caused’ *another* pesky frivolous ethics charge? And didn’t scrutiny brought about *by* that frivolous ethics charge cause [some] people to have a negative view of her Sarahness and of her Sarahness’ family and associations?

    At the very least, couldn’t/wouldn’t AFT be held culpable as a material party to instigating/giving birth to [for want of better terms] the frivolous ethics charge? Seems to me, (according to the huff-puff indignation and spin coming out, now) her good, ethics-loving, ethics-always-following name *has* been -in the mind (-singular-) of both her and her ‘fans’- been defamed. No?

    Now, whether SP et.al are logical (and/or reality-based) enough to figure out that the ethics charge is as a *direct result* of the AFT and *her* role in/with it, or not, is another matter, entirely… beth.

  8. Bystander says:

    Sarah was shocked, shocked I tell you, to discover the Fund existed a couple of days ago. My God, Sarah and Kristan how dumb do you think we are?

  9. JHop says:

    ds55 Says:
    July 23rd, 2009 at 11:54 AM: SP probably paid out money from the AFT already. I’d bet she has at least promised payouts.

    good point, i agree.

  10. ValleyIndependent says:

    Ms. Cole’s letter just lost all her credibility with me. Apparently she thought we would turn our brains off while reading it.

    There are several issues, but what hits me hardest is that she ignores the investigator’s point that a reasonable person would perceive a conflict of interest, whether there is one or not, given Cole’s role in the trust and her appointments by the Palin administration.

    Cole also characterizes the Arctic Cat complaint as just “wearing a jacket”, without any consideration as to why, given the cost of the ensemble given, the timing of the gift, and the amount of monetary benefit received by the Palins from Arctic Cat, this might be perceived by ordinary citizens as unethical.

    Either Cole and Palin missed the part of ethics training where it is made clear that perception is just as important as reality when it comes to maintaining the public trust, or they are unable to recognize and avoid situations that give the appearance of impropriety. Either way, why would any honest person want to do business with them?

  11. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    Celtic Diva has a good post up.

    http://www.divasblueoasis.com/

  12. ds55 says:

    SP probably paid out money from the AFT already. I’d bet she has at least promised payouts.

  13. EyeOnYou says:

    Beth~

    One thing I would like to point out is that I have several photos (I’m guessing off the top of my head around 10) of things Sarah has signed, from reports to photos and all establish one thing, her signature is never quite the same. Sometimes it looks like she is taking her time, and others look like she just can’t get her name down fast enough.

    I can upload and post these on the forum for viewing if anyone would like to show what I am talking about, but when she is simply “autographing” things, her signature changes to a lot, and I am sure it depends on how fast she is trying to write…she’s gotta get to all those fans donchaknow.

  14. Dr. Patois says:

    Here is the SarahPac statement from Meg
    http://www.sarahpac.com/news/news14.aspx

  15. Dr. Patois says:

    From Erika Bolstad, McClatchy May 12th

    “Palin decided to permit the creation of the legal expense fund after one of her fans, Clayton Paslay, said he would use his own political group to help her. Paslay’s organization, called Free American Citizens, was created to support his favorite causes and conservatives, including Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.”

    http://www.thesunnews.com/1014/story/897373.html?storylink=mirelated

    BTW I am not doing screen grabs, I don’t know how you do that. Don’t know that it matters.

  16. Terpsichore says:

    Martha @394 and others are right – everything ‘we’ need is in this report. I just read more of it and if you read it, it does answer questions.

    What are the opponents going on about? The legality or not of the leaking.

    Not apparently an issue. Executive branch? Sorry, not covered.

    Also, “oh, how can you say the little old lady giving five dollars was tryng to influence the governor?” Daniel never said she was. The ‘political influence’ charge was only part of the claim. It was the “using the influence of her position as governor to solicit donations for her personal benefit” part that he concluded there was probable cause to say she did – and that is a vilolation of AK ethics laws.

    So, after Daniel sent his report on July 14th, I suspect SP and VF flipped out, had meetings with him to probably try to get him to change his mind, he didn’t seem inclined to do so, or maybe he elaborated on the “if you just don’t take any money out you could be safe” part (like the PayBack the Kids Travel deal to avoid a hearing).

    I can imagine SP does not want any sort of hearing. But that’s where this looks like it will have to go, by AK law (Daniel says so in his report).

    I asked earlier, if it did go to hearing, who would hear it? Who would preside?

    Would the AG ever have anything to do with it?

    Hmmm… who did SP first pick to replace the AG, and when? Oh yes, it was April, wasn’t it? Just around the time the AFT was formed …

  17. Freakout in Kansas says:

    beth Says:
    July 23rd, 2009 at 11:31 AM

    Possibly the poor, cash-strapped-because-of-frivlous-ethics-complaints SP could explore using the funds lovingly donated to AFT by her avid fans, to sue the britches off of AFT for AFTs obvious defamation of her stellar, ever-ethics-compliant character? How deliciouisly ironic would *that* be? beth.
    ______________________________________________________________
    And then maybe like the mythical ouroboros Palin would devour herself and disappear in a puff of smoke.

  18. JHop says:

    beth – they will definitely paint her as clueless and the victim, but i don’t think she could sue for defamation. they haven’t defamed her or even damaged her. if anything, she could sue for misappropriation (that they are using her image for their own profit). but then she would have to prove she had no role whatsoever in this endeavor. and i think as everyone has demonstrated here, it would be nearly impossible for her to deny knowledge, if not approval.

  19. JHop says:

    dr. pat this is all great evidence/support. we need to collect this and send these links to Kim Chatman and the Attorney General somehow. including the thank you note links. and pointing out that the trust document needs to be looked at, not the trust website. all of this could be submitted as documentary evidence.

  20. beth says:

    428 Ennealogic @ 428 Says: “And if true, Palin would have to bring her own lawsuit against whoever impersonated her. Wanna place a bet on that being filed?”
    ——-
    [I came back to the site to add something to the same effect (a 2nd thought, if you will, to my post @ 423).]

    Seeing as how SP is all into being “ethical” and all, it would be almost inconceivable that she *wouldn’t* sue anyone/any group that was impersonating her by sending out messages/notes *as if* they were from her…and using *her* signature on those messages/notes, to boot! She’s all about ‘protecting her good name’, and all, ya’ know.

    Possibly the poor, cash-strapped-because-of-frivlous-ethics-complaints SP could explore using the funds lovingly donated to AFT by her avid fans, to sue the britches off of AFT for AFTs obvious defamation of her stellar, ever-ethics-compliant character? How deliciouisly ironic would *that* be? beth.

  21. Dr. Patois says:

    Here is the AP report about the AFT by none other than Rachel D’Oro on April 24th with the quote from her supporters who set it up:

    “They say the trust is the only legal fund authorized by Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee last year.”

    http://www.blnz.com/news/2009/04/24/Palin_supporters_legal_defense_fund_6427.html

  22. Dr. Patois says:

    Here is a link to an appeal for $$$ for the trust. The appeal’s interpretation of the trust shows how misleading the trust website is.

    “It’s called the Alaska Fund Trust and every dollar donated goes to pay for the governor’s legal expenses and nothing else.”

    There is a video at the bottom, if you can stand to look at it, that makes it hard to believe $arah knew nothing about it.

    http://www.thehotjoints.com/2009/06/22/donate-to-sarah-palins-legal-defense-fund/

  23. JHop says:

    ennealogic and seagull junker – i agree.

    dr. pat – good link.

    i think it is undeniable that palin knew of the trust and even personally approved of it. i think there is evidence, including her emails and trust disclosure reports, that will give us a much better idea of just how much palin knew…

  24. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    History – the email thank you is one of those auto generated: THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATION that you get via email right after you donate. Different from the actual paper TY’s that were sent.

  25. HistoryGoddess says:

    I agree that regardless, Sarah should have known those thank you notes were going out. If nothing else, that was one of the advertised benefits of edonations/Campaign Solution company. SarahPac broke ties, but kept paying them through June. AFT was established late April, the “business” of running it going to Krobar. Don’t know if ED/CS was involved in the set up, of if this was the new role of Meg’s IssyLene Consulting since it doesn’t look like Krobar was about running the “business end,” but on that I could be wrong.

    I am reposting this from yesterday because it surprised me how much that company was doing, and it made me wonder who was really doing that now? Note at the end, thank you letters are sent. I certainly hope that all the people that are so thrilled to get a “personal” letter aren’t getting auto-generated one.
    http://edonation.com/works.html From their site
    “eDonation captures online contributions in a fully automated and secure environment – in a simple, one click process.
    It’s a complete financial package managing everything from merchant accounts to credit card authorization and banking fees. We’ve created this system in partnership with IBM to ensure the security of your contributions.
    When visitors select the “Donate Now” option they’re connected to a web server that securely processes your transaction. The donor information writes to searchable database, available to you online 24/7 – and it’s exportable into commonly used software such as Excel. After the transaction is completed, eDonation generates an automatic e-mail thank you letter to your contributor. It also gives you the option to survey your donor.”

  26. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    Ennealogic – your blogpost yesterday was GREAT.

  27. Dr. Patois says:

    Here is a June ADN article that is worth a second read.
    http://www.adn.com/palin/story/838930.html

    A couple of the quotes from Cole:

    “The trust has no oversight from the state or federal political watchdog agencies. The Federal Election Commission said it’s a state issue, and the Alaska Public Offices Commission, which oversees campaign spending and the financial disclosures of state elected officials, has no plan to get involved in regulating it, officials said.

    Cole said there are no legal requirements for the trust to register with either of those agencies or to disclose its donors. But Cole said she nevertheless will put the names of all donors and the amounts they gave on the legal defense fund’s public Web site four times a year, with the first posting likely in early August.”

    “Cole says there is no legal limit on how much people can donate to the fund, but it has a self-imposed maximum contribution of $150.

    The Alaska Executive Branch Ethics act says that anything over $150 must be disclosed as a gift within 30 days of receiving it. Cole said that is not the reason it was chosen as the limit.”

    This is the article that has the quote from Mansour asking people to have their kids donate.

  28. Ennealogic says:

    And if true, Palin would have to bring her own lawsuit against whoever impersonated her. Wanna place a bet on that being filed? 🙂

  29. Ennealogic says:

    Actually, let me qualify that… Palin asserts things that are simply not true, with astonishing frequency. But I doubt such a statement would stand up in court.

  30. Ennealogic says:

    Beth, I think you are getting too deeply into details here. That thank-you notes were received by people who contributed to Palin’s defense fund is not in question. That they appear to be signed by Palin is not in question.

    I think it would be nearly impossible for Palin to assert that she had no knowledge that these thank-yous were going out with her name on them, no matter how or by whom they were written or signed.

  31. JHop says:

    the problem child: “If a lawyer did provide free services to $P, it could be a taxable and reportable benefit. So this was a way to try to say that the services were provided to the trust instead. Trying to circumvent the IRS and the Ethics Act (of course).”

    technically, i agree. but there are lots of way to get around reporting legal advice. he may not have charged her because it was informal; it may have been contracted through AFT or her PAC, as opposed to by palin personally, etc. i assume the physical gifts and donations are a much bigger problem than any arguably free services. at the same, i am sure that she was trying to circumvent the IRS in one way or another…

  32. sauerkraut says:

    As has been written before… ya just cain’t make this stuff up!

  33. beth says:

    REF the “handwritten notes” … I don’t know how sophisticated the ATF is (or what resources they have at their disposal) but those notes could very well have been ‘written’ and/or signed with an autopen. Considering the # (and/or potential #) of donors [AKA SP worshippers], the use of an autopen is *most* probable and *highly* likely.

    SPs signature is easy enough to verify as being hers [still can be autopenned, though – even though the sig has to be written *specifically* for autopen use], so what is needed is a half-dozen or so copies of the actual notes sent to donors.

    If the notes have *different* handwriting, probably volunteers were writing them and the sig was autopenned on.

    If *all* the notes have the *same* handwriting, however, they were probably *all* autopenned (along with the autopenned sig.)

    If the latter is the case (that they all have the *same* handwriting), a sample of SPs handwriting needs to be compared to the handwriting on the notes. If it *matches,* odds are that *she* wrote the original *specifically* to be entered into the ATF autopen program.

    If it can be *shown* that the handwriting on the notes *and* SPs handwriting are one and the same -autopen or no- , that will be one *more* item SP will have to *try* and spin away. If the handwriting on the notes *do NOT* match SPs, though, pointing to the notes as ‘proof’ of her intimate knowledge/association with ATF, is nothing more than a red herring.

    Without a *direct* link of the handwriting, pointing to them as a(nother) piece of the puzzle, is a useless distraction. Anyone have access to (copies of) a bunch of the “handwritten” thank you notes AND a sample of SPs handwriting? beth.

  34. bubbles says:

    jhop““““`you are a treasure..bubs

  35. mhrt says:

    Oooo Noooo silly me. I feel so stupid.

    Alaska fund trust. All of this time I have been reading it as the
    ALASKA FUN TRUST set up by best friend K.Cole. Cause ya no, well every one nos “girls just want to have FUN”. ya no, you betcha.

  36. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    You guys have seen the latest twits? She’s really going off.

  37. teri says:

    Brilliant work, akm. And also, too, eyeonyou for finding those handwritten TY notes. This needs to be on HuffPo.

  38. JHop says:

    i am not even talking about to litigate, then she definitely needs one. i mean to protect her rights during the ethics complaint procedure. she needs one now, too.

  39. JHop says:

    she doesn’t have an attorney?! at this point, she needs one.

    i will help her pro bono from here. or i can help her find someone in AK.

  40. CG says:

    Bringing it here from open thread –

    So we’ve come to a place where it’s been demonstrated conclusively that government officials are not accountable to its citizens and constituents.

    We’ve entered a whole new dimension of unapologetic government corruption – out in open and in your face. At least Senator Stevens paid us the compliment of hiding it.

    This matter has entered the realm of ‘whistle-blowing’ and retaliation on individuals.

    It’s time for several things to happen ~
    1. Citizens with the courage to file complaints – complaints that we all believe to be righteous and justifiable – need to be supported. They’re holding the burden privately in the best interest of all of us.
    Kim Chatman needs an attorney. Right away.

    2. Clearly, the Personnel Board and the process cannot address this. Time to litigate. It’s very clear. This needs to go up a level. Separate from whether or not Kim Chatman continues the process.

    3. A watchdog/citizen action organization needs to be formed for the protection and support of citizens who undertake these things. To ensure the right to due process and an absence of retaliation.

    I’ll donate immediately and support in whatever way I can.

    We may not think it, folks, but the world is watching…

  41. antiAnti says:

    @aha fireweed is a plant that turns red in the autumn

  42. aha says:

    If only someone would file a court action we could get all this under oath, otherwise, all this is just hearsay and unfounded blather.

    Someone should ask her if this is the behavior a christian exemplifies.

    That fireweed she was tweeting about…is that what I think it is? She’s already admitted to smoking pot maybe she’s back on it.

  43. Cammie says:

    I am wondering if Mr. Daniel is saying it would be unethical if Palin if found to be involved in the Trust Fund and reap financial benefit from contributions. Now, based upon this statement from Mr. Daniel does that mean that a person up for re-election cannot accept campaign contributions without the possibility of having an ethics complaint filed. And, if Palin is found to have violated the code, wouldn’t that also include all elected officials receiving campaign contributions?

  44. aha says:

    The attorneys who helped in some way with the Fund Trust (that name kills me everytime) and went on record all referenced giving Palin advice. None have said they only advised the trust solely. There is really no practical separation, in their minds.

  45. the problem child says:

    ocliberal Says:
    July 23rd, 2009 at 5:49 AM

    I don’t know if this important but this item stuck out at me in the trust docs

    It is the desire of the Settlor to provide the legal and proper means to accept transfers of money, property, and services (including pro bono legal services)

    Why would a trust need to accept pro bono legal services? Doesn’t pro bono mean free? That is strange. Is there some sort of barter system within the trust? Why would the trust accept ’services’ of any kind?
    ——————
    If a lawyer did provide free services to $P, it could be a taxable and reportable benefit. So this was a way to try to say that the services were provided to the trust instead. Trying to circumvent the IRS and the Ethics Act (of course).

  46. BHT says:

    Oops — I meant “…clearly THANKING people…” in the first line above…

  47. BHT says:

    Are any of the handwritten notes clearly thinking people for “Alaska Fund Trust” donations? The ones I’ve seen are pretty generic “thank you for your gift” type things, and it isn’t clear that any of those could be linked back to the Fund. Couldn’t she claim it was a thank you for a teddy bear sent to one of the babies or something?

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Bristol or another assistant did the actual writing — handwriting hundreds of thank you notes to strangers seems like the kind of thing it would be reasonable for a Governor to delegate.

  48. duct idaho palin says:

    “BTW – that $13,000 is the max gift amount you can give someone per tax year per IRS at this time without the giver being taxed for giving, it used to be $10,000 so that is why they have that number.”

    There’s a little bit of a twist to that (because of the interaction of gift tax and estate tax law)– the $13k is the maximum amount you can give someone per tax year that is NOT taken out of your lifetime unified estate tax exclusion amount (now $1 million) (You can think of it in this situation as a “lifetime gift tax exclusion amount.”) A married couple can EACH give that $13k. Anyone who gave $14k would have to file a gift tax return to declare that $1k is now taken out of their lifetime gift giving exclusion. But unless they’d already gone through their whole $1 million lifetime exclusion, the giver would not have to pay tax on it.

    And generally the person who received the gift doesn’t have to pay tax on the gift, either.

  49. zyggy says:

    I have “Take the Money and Run” by The Steve Miller Band running in my head.

  50. Betsy Woodin says:

    Kristen’s ex husband is also newsworthy! Yukon Don Tanner (I heard he legally changed his name to Yukon) was the guy that shot the sow and 3 cubs recently. I just love living in Wasilla.

  51. Ann K. says:

    Brilliant analysis, AKM, as usual! I don’t see how SP can wiggle out of this one!

  52. zyggy says:

    So basically she planned on quitting since April, as soon as the AFT was created? As a gov she couldn’t touch the money legally, but as a private citizen she can? Looks like she was into getting the money all along.

  53. Bystander says:

    What did Ex-Gov Grifter know and when did she know it?

    This is a version of “All the President’s Men” presented by the Wasilla Red Neck Players.

  54. Bystander says:

    The mark of a true grifter and pathological liar- they don’t care that their present lies are contradicted by dozens of previous statements.

    The Fund will do Sarah in politically just as a certain “second rate burglary” did Nixon in. Follow the money.

    Of course being a totally disgraced idiot and liar will give her a great career at Faux News (see Morris, Dick), but one more right wing idiot on Faux doesn’t represent the threat to the country she would be in public office.

  55. CGinWI says:

    Please ignore my previous question, I tracked down a news story and it was not Cole.

  56. Ghostbuster says:

    Seems that being a Palin appointee, Kirstan Cole is a potential beneficiary of the trust, and she also, too has as trustee been given absolute power to decide who qualifies and to dole the funds out, and she has been granted as trustee absolute immunity from any legal responsibility for misuse or abuse of the funds. Look at the fund documents.

  57. CGinWI says:

    Forgive me if this is the wrong place for this question. Wasn’t there some sort of dust up at the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce about the possible misuse of funds (or at least lack of accountability) by the Chair? I swear I’ve seen something about this within the last year, and the person involved was a Palin crony. Now I have it in my head that it was either Kristan Cole or her husband, but I could be *completely* off base. Anybody know anything about this?

  58. HistoryGoddess says:

    Posted them on the snippet thread, but Palin’s first three of seven twitters this morning addressed, or attempted to address, all this nonsense. Later 4 twits dealt with the energy independence bit. http://www.twitter.com/akgovSarahPalin

  59. ocliberal says:

    EyeOnYou Said: Please, Ms.Cole, tell us who exactly are these expert lawyers from around the country. I would very much like to know who these people are. I would also like to know if they bothered to “vet” the ethics laws for the state of Alaska prior to setting this fund up because I am betting the answer would be “NO”.
    —-
    The other thing to consider is that they never worried about the Alaskan Ethics law because they had the PB in their back pocket. The fact that someone in the PB turned on Palin is very interesting.


    I don’t know if this important but this item stuck out at me in the trust docs

    It is the desire of the Settlor to provide the legal and proper means to accept transfers of money, property, and services (including pro bono legal services)

    Why would a trust need to accept pro bono legal services? Doesn’t pro bono mean free? That is strange. Is there some sort of barter system within the trust? Why would the trust accept ‘services’ of any kind?

    This whole trust is looking fishier and fishier. And if Cole really wanted to shut people up she would release complete financials on the trust ASAP. Anyone want to take bets that those transparent records are never made public?

  60. sjk from the belly of the plane says:

    THE GOVERNOR GAVE HER APPROVAL TO CREATE THE TRUST as the “OFFICIAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND for the governor and AUTHORIZED THE USE OF HER PHOTOGRAPH ON THE TRUST’S WEBSITE.

    In light of THE EVIDENCE that the GOVERNOR EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED THE CREATION OF THE TRUST and the FACT that THE WEBSITE QUITE OPENLY USES THE GOVERNORS POSITION TO SOLICIT DONATIONS, there is probable cause to believe that;

    GOVERNOR PALIN USED, OR ATTEMPTED TO USE, HER OFFICIAL POSITION FOR PERSONAL GAIN ……..IN VIOLATION OF ALASKA STATUTE……39.52.120(a)
    ——————————————————
    In what respect Charlie? They are gonna have a HARD TIME spinning that.

  61. sjk from the belly of the plane says:

    ivy frye probably did some fancy thank you writin’….

  62. Terpsichore says:

    “If third parties created the legal defense fund completely on their own, free from any direction, influence, or guidance from the governor, it would not seem that the governor “used her position” in violation of the statute.”

    Hmm … dissecting Mr. Daniel’s extrememly generous offering of a cover story, it appears that Sarah’s handwritten letters only prove involvement in the fund (and thus Ms. Cole’s less than honest statements) but do nothing to prove she (SP) knew anything about the structure of the setup of the operation (I find that hard to believe: why structure it so specifically, saying SP AND family can withdraw a specific amount every year, and state that if they have to pay taxes on it, they can get reimbursed by the fund for that AND NOT LET THEM KNOW THEY CAN DO THAT! Makes no sense. Sorry for the yelling, but this has a lot of yell-worthiness in it.)

    Also, I disagee that that could be any kind of proof she did not “use her position” as governor – it was all over the website “Governor” Palin. Used official pictures. I still call that using her position for personal financial gain.

    At the very least, the Personnel Board has been nigh well forced to investigate this further. A rubber-stamp of “nope, did nothing wrong” is NOT going to fly with the public this time.

  63. OMG says:

    Heads up Sarah, one of the ethics complaints may just stick. Better do something quick to get out from under it. Hey, here’s an idea…RESIGN! Paint it as a noble “for Alaska” thing to do. You’ll be a hero AND they can’t do anything to you after you’re a private citizen. But you better hurry. Luckily the legal opinion about your trust fund won’t be released until after you’re out of office THEN THE MONEY WILL BE YOURS!

    Oops! Now what are you gonna do? Wait a minute…you can outsmart them…you always have before…you haven’t given up your crown for naught! You’re not delusional…no you’re not…THEY ARE. Yes, remind yourself, it’s all those ‘haters’ who are delusional if they think that they can hold you accountable! Remember, you’re not a quitter; you’re a fighter!

    If you can just hold on and feign innocence, divert attention by pointing fingers at the people who got you into this mess, draw attention to the ‘hater’ who brought the complaint, get loyal friends to protect you by perjuring themselves, and tweet and pout and act all indignant for just a few more days. Then when you’re a private citizen it will be OK. You can be ‘politically incorrect’ AND be on your way to collecting $$$$ while letting cash-strapped REAL AMERICANS pay all your legal bills.

    Never forget that you are the chosen one. You are on a mission from God (just like the Blues Brothers). You’re gonna be President of Real America! Remind yourself that it doesn’t matter that you’re not qualified (you can invent qualifications) or that you don’t have the temperament (after all, you don’t have any short comings like everyone else-especially the haters) or even the intelligence (because REAL AMERICANS want a president to be just like them).

  64. Martha says:

    I repeat and repeat ans repeat:

    From the report:
    http://media.adn.com/smedia/2009/07/21/14/Legal%20Defense.22542.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf
    ====================================================================
    According to the funds website, it was created by Kristen Cole and other supporters of the governor who believe the governor should not have to personally pay for legal fees incurred in defending against a series of ethics complaints.

    I interviewed Ms.Cole, who confirmed that she and other supporters of the governor came up with the idea of soliciting contributions to pay the governors legal fees.Ms.Cole also stated that she and other supporters set up the Alaska Fund Trust.

    She also stated however, that THE GOVERNOR GAVE HER APPROVAL TO CREATE THE TRUST as the “OFFICIAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND for the governor and AUTHORIZED THE USE OF HER PHOTOGRAPH ON THE TRUST’S WEBSITE.

    In light of THE EVIDENCE that the GOVERNOR EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED THE CREATION OF THE TRUST and the FACT that THE WEBSITE QUITE OPENLY USES THE GOVERNORS POSITION TO SOLICIT DONATIONS, there is probable cause to believe that;

    GOVERNOR PALIN USED, OR ATTEMPTED TO USE, HER OFFICIAL POSITION FOR PERSONAL GAIN ……..IN VIOLATION OF ALASKA STATUTE……39.52.120(a)

  65. mattie says:

    She is a Republican so she must lie!

  66. EyeOnYou says:

    Going back through the thread I thought I had posted this previously, but I think that I paused when previous comments went into moderation and I forgot to add it.

    Governor Palin’s Thank You Letter to Ron Devito
    Following are images of a hand-written thank you note I received from Governor Palin for my support of her. She wrote this on May 21, 2009 — the same day she signed six appropriations bills and had preliminary damage estimates done on Alaska’s flooded interior to prepare for a federal disaster declaration request. I received the card on May 26, 2009 and sent a letter to the editor to the Mat Su Frontiersman shortly thereafter. It was published Saturday, May 30, 2009. I waited to blog this pending publication of the letter.

    http://www.sodahead.com/blog/84939/governor-palins-thank-you-letter-to-ron-devito/

    Photo included on the page. At the bottom it also includes a link to the write up on this in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.

  67. Freakout in Kansas says:

    EyeOnYou Says:
    July 23rd, 2009 at 2:08 AM

    This Trust was created by a team of expert lawyers from around the country. It was thoroughly vetted for compliance with federal and state law and trust law.
    _____________________________________________________________________

    “thoroughly vetted for compliance with…state law”. Yeah right…some people just never learn:

    SUPREME COURT OF INDIANA
    IN THE MATTER OF ))
    CASE NO. 98S00-9303-DI-309
    JOHN P. COALE and )
    PHILLIP B. ALLEN )
    DISCIPLINARY ACTION
    July 29, 2002
    Per Curiam
    Because the respondents, both of whom are attorneys licensed in states other than Indiana, solicited potential clients in this state without complying with our rules governing client solicitation, we find today that they should be barred from engaging in acts constituting the practice of law in this state until further order of this Court.

  68. Kath the Scrappy from Seattle says:

    I do hope people realize I was snarking, previously.

    But, seriously, after scraping to buy Infant Formula a few months ago for the Rural Villages, it’s hard to watch fat cat lawyers or politicians just collecting salaries while wasting time & thinking money doesn’t matter.

  69. BuffaloGal says:

    http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/042609/sta_433093790.shtml

    *** Earlier this month, a Texas man established an unofficial Web site soliciting donations for the governor’s legal fees, but Palin representatives said at the time that she couldn’t accept the money. The Alaska trust is the only legal fund authorized by Palin, according to family spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton.

    “Gov. Palin is truly humbled by the tremendous outpouring of support from her fellow Alaskans and the wonderful people across our great country,” Stapleton said. “With the success of this trust, Gov. Palin will be able to continue getting results for the people of Alaska without these unnecessary distractions.” ***

    Not the nugget I was referencing in #384 but it backs up, once again, that Meg sure did think Palin had nice things to say about the dandy fund back in April.

    But maybe we should give Sarah a break. She’s under a lot of hair thinning stress. Maybe she just forgot about being all humbled and pleased about the fund. Stuff like that happens all the time.

  70. Kath the Scrappy from Seattle says:

    You know what? $185/hr would buy a whole lot more Infant Formulas & Flatrate box USPS price than this SP/Van Fleas’ blathering. Just send me the money! I promise, I will do better for your State, non-governing. Promise!

    Signed: Retiree on a fixed income, but I’ve sent heck of a lot of Flat Rate Boxes of real food, while $P brought cookies.

  71. tizzielish says:

    testing. . .want to see if what I write gets posted.

  72. tizzielish says:

    I suggest that people who want to understand Sarah Heath Palin read Dr. M. Scott Peck’s book, People of the Lie. Dr. Peck, an MD psychiatrist, is better known for his book, The Road Less Traveled. Road was on the NYTimes nonfiction bestseller list longer than any other book in history. He got a lot of bad flack when he published Lie and kinda backed away from the ideas in People of the Lie.

    Sarah Heath Palin, I submit, is a person of the lie. Read the book and you’ll understand her.

    I think.

    I haven’t read Peck’s People of the Lie in many years but in it, he talks about how some humans get kinda snagged in the dark side. He treats people attracted to darkness as unwell and he theorizes that mental health professionals can help such people back into the light.

    His book, and the theories in it, touch on the dark streams within the human etheric. Most people like to forget about the darkness that sometimes lives in human hearts. Everyone loves Luke Skywalker, nobody wants to be Darth Vader. Right?

    I think Sarah Palin would sell her soul, if she hasn’t already, to get what she thinks will make her happy. Read the book and you’ll understand her.

    I made this association as I have tried to understand the latest Palin scandal related to the Alaska Trust Fund. Like most public stories associated with Palin, a lot of the details are confusing and inconsistent and don’t make sense. Well, people in the lie intentionally keep people confused. . . that’s how they get away with their nasty shit. People start spinning in confusion and like wolves in the night, people like Palin move in and take what they want while everyone is trying to understand their last round of bullshit.

    She is scary stuff. It’s not just Palin that frightens me. It is the fact that lots of people think she could still be a leader, that she can do good.

  73. libby says:

    Wow, BuffaloGal! You may be a bit late to the party but you sure do bring some goodies with you! I remember that bit of “damage control” from Meg after Campaign Solutions decided to part ways. Nice catch!

    I’m going to have to search for it but I also seem to remember SP or one of her minions claiming that they had set up the AFT in accordance with the same rules that others “in Washington” had done. Funny how what is good for Washington is now perfectly acceptable for Sarah…too bad the law in Alaska is so darned complicated, also, too.

  74. Kath the Scrappy from Seattle says:

    Well, if you figure that the official Spokesperson Bill McAllister was shoveled over to the AG office, it makes sense how the legal bills might be mounting.

    Instead, $arah Palin is endlessly using her Personal Attorney as a “Spokesperson” for the State of Alaska. Instead of perhaps $50/hr state’s wages for a Spokesperson, she’s accumulating probably $185/hr or more for a mouthpiece & on Radio Talk Shows, no less. No doubt costing a whopping bunch more, has anyone heard if Van Fleis is back on the State’s payroll? Hard to believe the man is working for free.

    Pity PITY, POOR Sarah, old ladies can’t afford to buy groceries in order to donate so they can buy her more Naughty Monkey shoes & clothes – heck, the Grifter wants more $money$. Sad.

    But Really. Stop to think about it. WHO is paying for Van Flies or Meg Stapleton salaries, as they keep issuing so called “Press Releases”?

  75. BuffaloGal says:

    Wow – a Buffalo gal dares not take a few days of Palin hiatus ! There’s no way I can catch up with all of the comments but I definitely need to catch up with all of the posts.

    Not sure if this reference was included in one of the many comment pages for this thread but I did remember this from April :

    *** Campaign Solutions, a Republican consulting firm with close ties to McCain, has decided to stop advising Palin’s political action committee, SarahPAC, The Washington Post reported Friday.

    “When the Governor gave Kristan Cole permission to launch a legal expense fund, she had one request: keep it in Alaska. Campaign Solutions is not based in Alaska,” said Meghan Stapleton, a spokeswoman for SarahPAC. ***

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/palin-has-legal-defense-fund?dist=msr_3

    I seem to recall another similar Meghan nugget from that time. I’ll post if I can find it.

  76. HistoryGoddess says:

    I actually did go to sleep, only to wake up and find that several of you had identified Krobar and that he is the sole owner of a small business and apparently a good guy. Glad he got some business- more power to him! But, as a SS @382 questioned- Is HE doing all the same things that the previous edontations/Campaign Solutions had done which involved more money tracking, website security, thank you notes, 24/7 ability to check status, etc? Meg had made is sound as if Krobar was replacing that company, not just designing a website. She didn’t say, “my own recently created consulting firm will now make the money instead of the elite one.” Someone had to take over the big stuff so is that why IzzyLene made so much from SarahPac? And, is she making that much from AFT as well?

    Can’t wait to see the financial report on AFT.

  77. SS says:

    Is it possible that the new system they have in place does not automatically generate thank you cards? what else does it not do . Are they having individuals compile the donations, and running credit cards too? Was the expense of running the fund(in terms of what Donelli was doing for SarahPac) released in detail?

  78. EyeOnYou says:

    A few select people have abused our ethics act.

    Explain how people have abused this act. It’s not enough to claim that because people file complaints/clarifications that they are abusing the system, show us exactly how they are abusing the system that is put in place for these citizens to do exactly what they are doing.

    The public release of a preliminary document in violation of state law follows that pattern. The people of this state are losing hope that the ethics act has any real purpose anymore and that’s incredibly sad as ethics are so important.

    You are correct about one thing, ethics are important, and it is too bad that the person you are crowing about has none. The public release of this information is most assuredly the way to keep politicians honest, otherwise, the way this is set up then the Governor could simply keep everything she does wrong confidential, and the people she serves would never be the wiser. I don’t see the Governor having any problem with using the state of Alaska resources to loudly proclaim the dismissal of these complaints (the SOA website) and I don’t see the Governor having any issue with members of her administration or herself using that same resource to attack the constituents she is bound by law to serve, even going so far as to demand a backlash against those same constituents, but she has a problem with people announcing that they believe she has violated a law or state statute and feel she should have to answer that charge.

    Mr. Daniel’s preliminary assessment, unprecedented in history and harshly criticized by legal scholars, does nothing to restore credibility to this process.

    Please share which legal scholars have harshly criticized Mr Daniel and no Van Flein doesn’t count.

  79. CG says:

    “Krobar” = Kurt Robar

    Current Creative Guru at krobar (Sole Proprietorship)
    Owner of krobar (Sole Proprietorship)
    September 2002 — Present (6 years 11 months)

    Past Editor/Videographer/Graphic Artist at FOX 4 KTBY
    Editor/Videographer/Graphic Artist at KTBY Broadcasting
    Production Assistant/MCO at KIII-TV 3
    Production Assistant at KIDY-TV 6
    Graphic Artist/Production/MCO at KTVA-TV 11

  80. EyeOnYou says:

    The first and only time I have spoken with the Governor about the Trust was yesterday to alert her that I was responding to this violation of the law and leak of preliminary and confidential materials from the complainant.

    Liar Liar, pants on fire…again! You must like that burning sensation Ms Cole because you are truly fond of jumping into the inferno without hesitation.

    The first and only time spoke to the Governor about the trust was yesterday? Really? You never contacted her to give her the reports that she wants every 30 days? You never spoke to her about the legality of this? Of whether she would be receptive to the idea of this fund? How did the Governor get the addresses of the people who had donated to be able to write them personalized thank you notes?

    It has been quite obvious to me, and to other every day citizens like me, that over the last several months that something needed to be done to help the Palins with the overwhelming crush of frivolous ethics complaints.

    Well comparing yourself to a few hundred other nuts isn’t going to help your case with the general public, but if that is how you want to label yourself, go on, stand up and be loud and proud to proclaim yourself to be one of the few people who thinks that having the Governor act unethically is a good thing that she should not be held accountable for!

  81. EyeOnYou says:

    This Trust was created by a team of expert lawyers from around the country. It was thoroughly vetted for compliance with federal and state law and trust law. So far Mr. Daniel is the only lawyer in the country who has questioned a legal defense fund despite the fact that his firm has set up legal defense funds for other office holders. Because his initial review was unprecedented and contained factual errors it was my understanding that Gov. Palin’s legal team, including Mr. Van Flein, were in on-going discussions with Mr. Daniel. The matter was not final.

    First and foremost….Sarah Palin has a legal team now? Not just Van Flein who represents her, but an entire team? That was a new revelation to me.

    Now the absurd statement that Mr Daniel is the only lawyer in the entire country who has questioned the legality of a legal fund made me laugh out loud. Surely she does not expect us to accept that statement at face value?

    And now Ms Cole is going to claim that Mr Daniel got several facts wrong on his report? Perhaps he did, but those that he did do not work to the Governor’s favor so perhaps Ms Cole you should shut your pie-hole before you get the Governor into more hot water.

    Finally, the claim that this legal fund was created by a team of lawyers from around the country and vetted for compliance with state and federal laws is another bit of dramatic bs.

    Please, Ms.Cole, tell us who exactly are these expert lawyers from around the country. I would very much like to know who these people are. I would also like to know if they bothered to “vet” the ethics laws for the state of Alaska prior to setting this fund up because I am betting the answer would be “NO”.

  82. EyeOnYou says:

    Kristan Cole, Trustee to the Alaska Fund Trust, made a statement. Included in this was this particular paragraph:

    This trust, and the thousands and thousands of dollars raised, were the results of hard working Americans and their outpouring of support. It is disgraceful that anyone would assume that the thousands of people who sent in $5, $10 or $50 intended to “influence” the governor’s official actions in Alaska!

    I wholeheartedly disagree that these donations were not intended to “influence” the Governor. I think that they were most decidedly intended to influence the Governor, but not in the manner in which many might think

    Many of those who have donated to this fund, have done so out of the belief that Sarah is being deliberately and unfairly attacked by “frivolous” ethical complaints. They claim she should not have to pay to defend herself from these bothersome complaints that they feel are designed to bankrupt her.

    So, let’s think this through. If Palin obtained enough funding to consistently pay off legal counsel to defend her against complaints, and had enough in the fund to also pay off any bills or fines she might incur due to such behavior, then she is being influenced to continue a pattern of unethical behavior. She can safely feel insulated from fines and legal costs associated with her unethical behavior because her supporters have taken that potential deterrent away from her by ensuring that she has sufficient funds to pay it from her legal fund rather than worry it might come out of her own pocket.

  83. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    honestyinGov Says:
    July 23rd, 2009 at 12:58 AM
    I think your comment about Bristol writing these thank you notes has some validity. Maybe $arah was telling her she had to. The reason I say that is that the week before she quit Gryphen had mentioned in one of his posts that he had learned from a reliable source that Bristol and $arah had a big fight. the reason for the fight was not disclosed.
    —————————————
    honestinGov, I’m sure I didn’t make this up: that the reason that mama grizz and Bristol had the fight was because Bris is not currently being “abstinent”, and violating whatever agreement she had with Candies/mama grizz …

  84. honestyinGov says:

    #371
    sdilmoak Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 PM

    I always wonder why Palin’s signature looks so different from everything else she writes. Her signature has a slant and her other words are pretty much straight up. I remember seeing a thank you note that Bristol had written to a person to thank them for the baby gift for TRIG…not Tripp. The handwriting on that note looked just like this one. Could it be Bristol is writing all the notes during the day and Palin comes home and just puts her signature on them? At any rate, someone has been writing thank you notes for money sent to the Defense Fund, as well as SarahPac.
    —————————————-
    I think your comment about Bristol writing these thank you notes has some validity. Maybe $arah was telling her she had to. The reason I say that is that the week before she quit Gryphen had mentioned in one of his posts that he had learned from a reliable source that Bristol and $arah had a big fight. the reason for the fight was not disclosed.

    Maybe Bristol just got sick and tired of having to write all of those Thank You notes for all of those people sending in contributions..?
    Bristol may have had enough finally. It makes sense that whatever it was, it was personal.
    I would try to find other examples of Bristol’s handwriting for confirmation.

  85. Lee323 says:

    my comment #372 is awaiting moderation….probably because of the link I provided.

  86. Lee323 says:

    Lastly….an interesting little quote from the WaPO in April. The phrase in bold is actually a link in the original post but clicking it only gives me an “error” message. Notice what’s right in front of the bold phrase….”Alaska Governor” If Palin actually announced the Trust herself to the public, that action goes against Cole’s statements today.

    I’ve really only done a cursory search because I’ve got slow dial-up service but I would think some of you with lightning fast service could do some sleuthing back in April archives and find out how much Palin blabbed about the Trust before the ethics complaint was filed.
    —————————- ——–

    “The news of the latest problem in Palin’s political world comes on the same day that the Alaska governor announced the formation of the Alaska Fund Trust, an official legal fund designed to “defend the integrity of the Alaska Governor’s Office from an onslaught of political attacks launched against current Governor Sarah Palin, the First Family, and state-employed colleagues,” according to a mission statement on the organization’s Web site.”

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/eye-on-2012/palin-fundraising-firm-part-wa.html

  87. Lee323 says:

    WSJ link referenced in previous comment #372

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124052923534150395.html

  88. Lee323 says:

    I’m very skeptical about Ms. Cole’s statement that Palin has never been involved with the Trust, including the mind-boggling statement that Cole never talked about it with Palin until yesterday. Really?? The following is an excerpt of a post on April 24, 2009 from the website cee4pee. (Note: the first paragraph is a quote they used from the WSJ. Keep in mind also that this was before an ethics complaint was filed on this.)

    “Palin backers also said all names of donors, dates and contribution amounts will be made public. Supporters say the governor wanted the fund to be more restrictive and transparent than other legal-defense funds.

    Note how the Governor is severely restricting donations beyond what the law requires. I guess that Bill O’Reilly won’t be able to give the $1000 that he pledged, but hopefully he still helps to publicize the fund.”

    http://www.conservatives4palin.com/2009/04/palin-legal-defense-fund-coming-on-line.html

    Looks to me like the gov. had plenty to say about how her Trust was set up.

  89. sdilmoak says:

    I always wonder why Palin’s signature looks so different from everything else she writes. Her signature has a slant and her other words are pretty much straight up. I remember seeing a thank you note that Bristol had written to a person to thank them for the baby gift for TRIG…not Tripp. The handwriting on that note looked just like this one. Could it be Bristol is writing all the notes during the day and Palin comes home and just puts her signature on them? At any rate, someone has been writing thank you notes for money sent to the Defense Fund, as well as SarahPac.

  90. Chaim says:

    The moral of this story is (a) if you step in a hole, the anklebiters can reach a lot higher; and (b) never conspire with an impulsive liar. Wonder if Daniel deliberately pointed out what lawyers call a “safe harbor” — that there would be no violation if the fund had been created without Palin’s knowledge or approval — knowing that the harbor was mined with these prior statements that would blow up the SS Palin if it sought refuge there?

  91. Dr. Patois says:

    BTW there is a new thread.

  92. sdilmoak says:

    When Kristan Tanner was married to Dan Tanner, they lived in South Africa during apartheid.

  93. Dr. Patois says:

    JHop@358
    Exactly! You can donate millions as long as you are willing to write thousands of $150.00 checks.

  94. EyeOnYou says:

    Dr. Patois Says:

    EyeOnYou
    Is this the site you found it on? The comment section has all kinds of people saying they got handwritten notes as well!

    __________________

    Yep, but my comment is awaiting moderation! So it won’t show up for a while. I posted another one shortly thereafter with another website that I shall not name for fear of going into moderation again that tells about the story to go along with the picture. It is linked in the site you have linked to…

  95. Dr. Patois says:

    EyeOnYou
    Is this the site you found it on? The comment section has all kinds of people saying they got handwritten notes as well!

    http://texas4palin.blogspot.com/2009/05/donation-prompts-hand-written-palin.html

  96. JHop says:

    compare the above memorandum with their press release on other legal defense trusts:

    http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com/site/downloads/most_restrictive_legal_expense_fund.pdf

    what hypocrites.

  97. JHop says:

    http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com/site/downloads/final_legal_qa.pdf

    “Absent the self-imposed limitation of the Trust, an individual can make gifts of up to $13,000 per year, gift tax free. Section 2503 of the Code allows an individual an exclusion from the gift tax of the first $13,000 (for 2009) of gifts made by the individual per donee per year (called the annual gift tax exclusion).”

  98. BooBooBear says:

    Eye On You and Mark Bowers—WooHoo! I was just searching for one of those thank you notes…you beat me to it! Great! This is proof positive that Palin knew long ago about her so called Alaska Fund Trust. (Does he have the envelope with the postmark on it?) Guess Kristan Cole just got caught in another LIE. She spoke to Palin about the fund YESTERDAY for the first time????? POPPYCOCK! Liars…all of them!

  99. InJuneau says:

    Wilbo–Kristan Cole’s ex-husband is named Don Tanner; he’s the one who just shot the sow and three cubs. She used to go by Kristan Tanner.

  100. JHop says:

    http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com/site/downloads/final_legal_qa.pdf

    “Absent the self-imposed limitation of the Trust, an individual can make gifts of up to $13,000 per year, gift tax free. Section 2503 of the Code allows an individual an exclusion from the gift tax of the first $13,000 (for 2009) of gifts made by the individual per donee per year (called the annual gift tax exclusion).”

    compare the memorandum with their press release on other legal defense trusts:

    http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com/site/downloads/most_restrictive_legal_expense_fund.pdf

    what hypocrites.

  101. beth says:

    AKM: Why do you insist on bringing up statements made in days gone by? Why do you insist on providing links to those statements? Why do you insist on pointing out information *from previous times* that’s contrary to what is being said *now*? Why do you insist on *not* happily nodding and totally agreeing to what is being said *now*? Why won’t you let SP et.al. use ‘truthiness’ whenever and wherever she (and they) wants? Why do you hate America?
    [/end tongue in cheek]

    Wow, lady, you’re doing a *wonderful* job of holding SP et.al. accountable! Seriously WOW! *Most* impressive. Keep up the incredible truth-finding work, AKM! Please, please, PLEASE!

  102. EyeOnYou says:

    Dr. Patois
    Great find EyeOnYou! Hope you have it all saved, the attorneys will want it!

    ___________

    Believe me, everything is saved! I have archived everything, saved photos, all of it. Both on my pc and on disk as well. 🙂

  103. InJuneau says:

    HistoryGoddess–KROBAR is owned by a KURT ROBAR, and there is a new webpage, not that it’s actually active, per se: http://krobar.net/

  104. ds55 says:

    @ JHop: So all this fuss over leaking the letter is for nothing?

  105. ds55 says:

    The handwritten note is interesting. She writes “Todd & I thank you so much” and the “I” looks exactly like an exclamation point rather than a cursive or printed “I”. Wonder what handwriting analysis would say about that.

  106. JHop says:

    There’s more fallout over a letter “leaked” in an ethics investigation involving Governor Sarah Palin.

    The letter, written by an independent investigator, finds Governor Palin may have violated state ethics laws by authorizing a trust fund to pay off her legal bills.

    The fund’s organizer called a press conference today, saying the report isn’t final and the letter should never have been leaked to the public and bashed a technique once used by governor Palin herself.

    As it stands now, an ethics complaint against anyone in the executive branch can be made public but that is not the case for members of the legislature. Lawmakers are protected by a law that automatically dismisses the complaint if it is leaked to the public.

    “It’s unprecedented for someone to make an ethical complaint to be able to leak that complaint in violation of the law and have no penalty for it,” said Kristan Cole, a Trustee with The Alaska Fund Trust.

    Kristan Cole and the Trust’s attorney spoke out today saying it’s a loophole in Alaska law that needs to be fixed.

    http://www.ktva.com/ci_12896877

  107. Dr. Patois says:

    Doesn’t the AFT state that the 30 day and the quarterly reports will be made available to the public? I cannot bring myself to go back there now.

    Great find EyeOnYou! Hope you have it all saved, the attorneys will want it!

  108. ds55 says:

    Kristan Cole profile:
    http://www.billiondollaragent.blogspot.com/
    about halfway down the page


    “…she’s a pilot; an avid outdoors person; a former Miss and Mrs. Alaska; and she and her husband, Brad, are raising five children.”

    “I think goals are incredibly important. Goals are written dreams with a deadline. My husband and I go to Maui in October every year for 10 days. There we strategically think.”

    The strategic thinking trip to Maui might be delayed in 2009, Kristan.

  109. ywc2 says:

    lexky Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 11:09 PM
    i read a comment somewhere today about cole being connected to a ponzi scheme………anybody else hear this?

    See the link below for the rest of the story by Andrew Halcro: “Today, with Matanuska Maid out of business, its assets taken and put to work in the new private Valley Dairy, Palin’s “all Mat-Su Valley replacements” have been busy keeping their Valley Dairy friends afloat and attempting to cover their tracks with fraudulently obtained taxpayer loans for what is one giant Ponzi scheme.”

    http://www.andrewhalcro.com/palins_agriculture_board_got_fraud

  110. EyeOnYou says:

    Thanks JHop! 🙂

    Greg said…
    I just picked up my mail, and sure enough, there I received a Thank YOu card, too. Several people at Team Sarah, and Conservatives4Palin are reporting that they too have gotten them.
    From the Website: Sarah’s Web Brigade Tuesday, May 26, 2009

  111. JHop says:

    very interesting eye!!! you are like nancy drew and the hardy boys combined.

  112. EyeOnYou says:

    http://twitpic.com/5z8a2
    Navy veteran and Alaska citizen Mark Bowers (follow Mark on Twitter) received a pleasant surprise after he donated to the Alaska Fund Trust to preserve the integrity of the Governor’s Office of the State of Alaska. His donation helps to cover the legal expenses of defending against the frivolous complaints filed against Governor Sarah Palin. She surprised him with a personally written thank you note from the governor herself. See photo here.

  113. JHop says:

    The Alaska Fund Trust is transparent. The name of the donor, date, and amount of each donation will be made available, regardless of amount. The recipient of expenses paid will be made available

    that is interesting though. we should remind them of this little promise.

  114. AKPetMom says:

    Re: Kristan Cole,

    Remember when in the movie American Beauty, Annette Benning was a struggling real estate agent, cleaning the kitchen and cleaning the windows of a not very attractive house repeating to herself “I will sell this house, I will sell this house”.

    The Kristan Cole blog reminds me of this movie scene, for some reason. Hell, I get great glossy advertisement cards from her real estate company each month telling me today is a great time to sell my home. I would take her up on it but I just can’t ever let my place go as I love it so much and there aren’t enough trucks in the world to haul my treasured gardens to another location.

    I’ll close with that other great scene from American Beauty where Annette Benning was having sex with “The King” of real estate and she was so ecstatic to be having sex with “The King”. I think that is where Kristan Cole is now, except she’s hanging with “The Queen” and not “The King”, and it’s not a sex thing, but a power thing.

  115. JHop says:

    http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com/site/downloads/most_restrictive_legal_expense_fund.pdf

    read how disingenuous this is. especially page 2. she claims the AFT only collects $150.00/year, making it the most restrictive trust ever. in reality, it collects $13,000/year, making it the least restrictive trust ever.

  116. EyeOnYou says:

    BigSlick Says:
    Do you have a link on this? Or were the thank you notes to the SarahPac contributors?

    __________

    I don’t want to post the link again, as it is waiting moderation, but it was def donations made to the Alaska Fund Trust, here is one excerpt from what I have posted~

    Gov. Palin is apparently hand-writing thank-you notes to many, if not all, donors to the legal defense fund. All the more reason to make your $150 contribution now.

  117. JHop says:

    someone donate money to the trust, then you’ll have standing to sue. you have technically been damaged if your funds were used illegally….

  118. lexky says:

    i read a comment somewhere today about cole being connected to a ponzi scheme………anybody else hear this?

  119. SameOld says:

    Just a note on 501 (c) (3) . These are based on and subject to Federal Tax Law because they are tax free entities. They are specifically forbidden to engage in politics and must be designed to promote a social good.

    These organizations have been used by politicians as a means to cover jobs and other activities and the IRS is going after them with a vengeance now. John Murtha (D) of PA is in deep trouble over this.

    Sarah isn’t smart enough plus it is too late.

  120. EyeOnYou says:

    I just posted a link to the “donation prompts handwritten thank you” but it says Your comment is awaiting moderation

  121. JHop says:

    ocliberal Says: July 22nd, 2009 at 11:00 PM: Do you think there is any possibility that the fund is a scam? The documents are very suspicious as they ‘appear’ legit but have too many open ended loopholes regarding the actual disbursement of the money and also what happens to the money if Palin walks away from her job…Yesterday I didn’t think this was the iceberg. I’m starting to rethink that. Especially the way Palin’s BFF came unglued today and started spouting such crazy lies. What do you think happens to the fund when Palin walks away from her job? I didn’t read anything that says it has to be closed. Did you?

    i do not think the fund was intentionally set up as a scam. i think it was set up as a trust that they thought could be used for anything. although i think they assumed it was set up in a legal, albeit ambiguous and purposely shady, manner. i think this is the iceberg too. there is a lot wrapped up in this and i don’t think we have heard anything yet. this is not just an ethical violation, but potentially criminal. i also think the fund will eventually have to be dissolved when she resigns. i wrote about that in detail in the forum. i hope she is held accountable for this. i am very interested to know who leaked the report and how the personnel board will respond now…

  122. EyeOnYou says:

    Donation prompts hand-written Palin thank you

    http://texas4palin.blogspot.com/2009/05/donation-prompts-hand-written-palin.html

    When Alaskan Mark Bowers made his donation to the Alaska Fund Trust, he didn’t expect to receive a hand-written thank-you note from Gov. Sarah Palin. But the governor so appreciated his gift to the legal defense fund that she sent him a very personal note of thanks. Sarah’s Web Brigade has the full story.

    Update: As our commenters have reported, Gov. Palin is apparently hand-writing thank-you notes to many, if not all, donors to the legal defense fund. All the more reason to make your $150 contribution now. Someday you can show your grandkids that the first woman to be elected president of the U.S. sent you a personal message “back when.”

    comments:
    Becpt said…
    I received a thank you note as well!
    May 26, 2009 5:43 PM

    Greg said…
    I just went out and got my mail, and I received a Thank You card also. Numerous people at Team Sarah and Conservatives4Palin have reported receiving cards today.
    May 26, 2009 7:54 PM

    wisetrog said…
    It’s not just him, everyone is getting a personal signed letter.

    It’s very gracious of her, something that distinguihses the Gov. from the rest of the field but I am worried this might too much of her time. 🙂
    May 26, 2009 7:58 PM

    K. Carpenter said…
    I got one also.
    May 27, 2009 8:05 AM

  123. I just went on to the SarahPac website and there is a link to the Alaska Trust Fund. Oh what a wicked web we weave when we first start to deceive. I hope this sticks and gets her out of politics for good.

  124. ez.pz says:

    From AKM’s article, above;
    —————————————————
    In Cole’s press release today she states quite clearly:

    I want to be clear on a point that has been misrepresented: The Governor is not and was not involved with the Trust. The Governor has never worked on or with the Trust. The Governor has not even accepted or requested one penny from the Trust or quite frankly anything of me. And I have never expected anything from her. Really, it’s quite the contrary; as I, and many other caring folks across the country have only sought to help with this legal burden.
    —————————————————

    Kristan states “And I have never expected anything from her.”

    This is a bit weird, isn’t it? What does she mean?

    If she had said “And I have never RECEIVED anything from her.” I would understand it. I wouldn’t agree, but it would make sense. She has been accused of receiving favours.

    But she said “And I have never EXPECTED anything from her.”?
    Why? Is anyone accusing her of that? Has she been accused of expecting anything? I’m not aware of it.

    So, is Kristan subconsciously admitting she has some control/power/hold over Sarah which allows her to have EXPECTATIONS?

    Housegate, anyone?

  125. ocliberal says:

    jhop: Do you think there is any possibility that the fund is a scam? The documents are very suspicious as they ‘appear’ legit but have too many open ended loopholes regarding the actual disbursement of the money and also what happens to the money if Palin walks away from her job.

    I think the way the fund is set up it would be easy to siphon money off in the guise of ‘expenses’. In a town where 4000 sq ft houses get built by a few friend on the weekends as a ‘favor’ I don’t doubt that donated money could be ‘diverted’ easily if that was what a BFF trustee was inclined to do.

    Yesterday I didn’t think this was the iceberg. I’m starting to rethink that. Especially the way Palin’s BFF came unglued today and started spouting such crazy lies.

    What do you think happens to the fund when Palin walks away from her job? I didn’t read anything that says it has to be closed. Did you?

  126. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    http://www.kristancole.com/home_selling

    2Bestate%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1

    Not sure if that’ll link, doesn’t look like it. Sorry. This Kristan Cole character is a real estate speculator, similarity to Palin is they both are past their due date. but try to look hot. Sorry, FAIL, but you def. get points for trying so hard.

  127. Dr. Patois says:

    Jackie@313
    I understand about the $13,000.00 limit for the donor, over 13 means you have to file for gift tax. What I wondered is what stops $arah and Co. from receiving more than $13,000.00? The recipient of a gift, no matter how large, does not have to pay tax. The only thing I saw on the AFT site regarding $13,000.00 was a reminder to donors that if they gave more than 13 in a year they would have to pay a gift tax.

  128. justafarmer says:

    I need to move to Alaska to keep up with all this news…
    3 am here…I’ll catch up tomorrow
    zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  129. BigSlick says:

    #
    324
    JHop Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 10:45 PM

    EyeOnYou Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 PM: I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, but if Palin has nothing to do with this Legal Fund, why is she sending out handwritten thank you notes to those who donate?”

    really good point. i do not think she can really deny she had no role in the approval of the trust.

    i posted an addendum to my original AFT analysis on the forum. i read all of the “similar” examples that palin posted on the AFT website to demonstrate its legality – there were 6 other legal defense fund documents. each of them specifically lists “legal defense” or even a certain case as its purpose. they are so much clearer than palin’s AFT. i am not sure why she listed them as examples when they make her trust look so much shadier in comparison….

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    JHOP, parce que Le Rouge Cou c’est tres amateur.

  130. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    There is a lot of money floating around and it seems to me that when Palin gets around money she just can’t help herself -OCLiberal

    Google Wasilla, Real Estate and Kristan Cole:

    http://www.billiondollaragent.blogspot.com

    This K. Cole character needs to be taken down a notch, YOU THINK?

    Sickening.

  131. Dr. Patois says:

    JHop@324
    I don’t think they thought anyone would bother to read them!

  132. BigSlick says:

    EyeOnYou Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 PM

    I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, but if Palin has nothing to do with this Legal Fund, why is she sending out handwritten thank you notes to those who donate?

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Do you have a link on this? Or were the thank you notes to the SarahPac contributors?

    If these went out to the AFT contributors then there is one more grill mark on her toasted buns.

  133. Here’s something interesting, in the Washington Post there is an article titled “Campaign-Funded Clothes Violate Donations”. This (now new) ethics violation is the direct result of Sarah Palin’s $150,000.00 plus shopping spree while campaigning. The article said they called her office but there was no response. Wow not even a twitter. Amazing, isn’t it that she has nothing to say. It wasn’t an ethics violation while she was looting Saks and Neimum Markus but because of her actions now it is. Gee, I guess that would be a frivolous ethics charge in Sarah’s world. So Sarah can’t buy her clothes on the RNC’s dime when she is out there is 2012. No more silk underwear for the First Dud.

  134. JHop says:

    EyeOnYou Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 PM: I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, but if Palin has nothing to do with this Legal Fund, why is she sending out handwritten thank you notes to those who donate?”

    really good point. i do not think she can really deny she had no role in the approval of the trust.

    i posted an addendum to my original AFT analysis on the forum. i read all of the “similar” examples that palin posted on the AFT website to demonstrate its legality – there were 6 other legal defense fund documents. each of them specifically lists “legal defense” or even a certain case as its purpose. they are so much clearer than palin’s AFT. i am not sure why she listed them as examples when they make her trust look so much shadier in comparison….

  135. BigSlick says:

    AKPetMom Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 10:32 PM

    OK, looks like my friend DID make the Fund Trust website…that’s what he does and he’s as liberal as anyone I know. He builds websites and makes commercials for a living.

    Doesn’t mean that he is complicit in any of this tinfoil hattery that is going on here.

    God, I’m really disappointed that he’d take business from the barracuda, but hey, everyone has to make a living.

    Sorry Big Slick #255

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    No worries, he’s not doing anything wrong by building the website as contracted.

    However, even as an innocent person he may want to seek advice in case real investigators with badges come asking questions about his client, websites have a tendency to get scrutinized in this kind of situation.

    I sincerely hope your friend does not suffer from this association with the Palins….

  136. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    2Bestate%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1

    Kristan Cole

  137. Dennis Zaki says:

    Kristen Cole’s mother ………
    Former broker gets conditional sentence
    Early in 2002, B.C. broker Cheryl King shocked the local real estate community and the 35 sales reps at her Re/Max Assist Realty office in Kamloops when she disappeared, along with trust fund money and real estate commissions.

    She faced charges of fraud, breach of trust and forgery, but it took until last month before the issue was resolved. King, now known as Cheryl Moseley, pleaded guilty to one charge of illegally accessing trust funds on June 21, reports The Daily News in Kamloops.

    In an unusual sentence, Moseley was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day, which she will be allowed to serve at her home in Charles City, Iowa. She must also perform 120 hours of community service and was also ordered to repay $76,000 to Re/Max of Western Canada, which covered the losses.

    In March 2002, REM reported that Re/Max of Western Canada had stepped in to replace missing trust funds and pay the commissions owing to Re/Max Assist Realty sales reps. The agents then joined the newly created Re/Max Real Estate (Kamloops).

    Published reports say that Cheryl Moseley was born in the United States and worked for Re/Max International for more than 25 years. She also owned real estate companies in Alaska.

    King met Kamloops rancher Bob King during a visit to B.C. The two developed a relationship and were married in 1993. But the marriage and Moseley’s finances were in trouble by 2001, prompting her to flee the country in 2002 with the trust fund money. The Daily News reports that the money she took was used to repay a loan to her mother.

    In 2006, Moseley was working for Windermere Majestic Rim Properties in Payson, Arizona, where local media found out about the pending charges against her and questioned how she was able to get a state real estate licence. She relocated to Iowa, and The Daily News says that until recently she worked at a real estate office in Clear Lake.

    Moseley was allowed to serve her sentence in the U.S. because she is suffering from several health issues, and she may require heart bypass surgery soon. The Daily News reports that the Crown prosecutors will ask U.S. authorities to oversee Moseley’s sentence and report to Canadian officials.

    posted: 7/27/2007

  138. sdilmoak says:

    Kristan Cole/Real Estate/ Jon Givens (attoney for Trust Fund and for the Board of Agriculture)/ And Another ex-realtor and high school friend of Kristan Cole and Sarah Palin’s…..Franci Havemeister ….now our qualifed Director of Agriculture (Because she loved cows as a child)….DAIRYGATE…anyone seeing a connection? Andrew Halcro reported it all…still in his archives. Lyda Green asked for a Legislative Audit which is now in phase 3 of the shenanighans regarding questionable disbursements of a LOT of money.

  139. EyeOnYou says:

    I haven’t seen this mentioned yet, but if Palin has nothing to do with this Legal Fund, why is she sending out handwritten thank you notes to those who donate?

  140. Jackie says:

    Ak Pet Mom – at least a good guy made some money off of her!

  141. AKPetMom says:

    OK, looks like my friend DID make the Fund Trust website…that’s what he does and he’s as liberal as anyone I know. He builds websites and makes commercials for a living.

    Doesn’t mean that he is complicit in any of this tinfoil hattery that is going on here.

    God, I’m really disappointed that he’d take business from the barracuda, but hey, everyone has to make a living.

    Sorry Big Slick #255

  142. BigSlick says:

    BTW – here is where I found a reference to the fellow.

    https://themudflats.net/2009/04/24/alaska-fund-trust-its-the-new-sarahpac/?cp=5

    It would make sense that perhaps he is just setting up the web portal for the AFT to process donations as a contractor? If so, I bet he’d be pleased if this were disclosed and every body would move on and leave Kurt alone.

    No madness here.

  143. Jackie says:

    Dr Patois – but the ATM is wired to give $13k for anyone they want to give $13k to, so in effect $P could get $13k for herself, hubby, & kids, so that would amt to a pretty healthy amt per year for doing nothing. Better than the Ak PFD!

  144. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    Sarah Palin – her name turned into words is abhorrhent.

    GINO:

    don’t let the screen door hit you
    where the wolf should’ve bit you

  145. Jackie says:

    BTW – that $13,000 is the max gift amount you can give someone per tax year per IRS at this time without the giver being taxed for giving, it used to be $10,000 so that is why they have that number.

  146. Dr. Patois says:

    I agree Jackie, an ethical person would see it that way.

  147. democracy7 says:

    Caught in yet another lie, really the girl just can’t seem to help herself.

  148. ds55 says:

    The Kristan Cole business Facebook page had tons of notes throughout April, May and June of this year. The last note is dated June 23rd, then it appears all activity stopped. That would be about one week before Sarah quit.

  149. Jackie says:

    Krobar is licensed thru the State – you can search business licenses here:
    http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/occ/search1.htm

  150. Jackie says:

    @Dr Patois – if they are sticking to the $13,000 amt being paid out of the ATM it would be restricted to only 1x, as the money is coming from the ATM not the actual donors.

  151. HistoryGoddess says:

    I need to step away from the computer and get some sleep.

    But, I don’t know if Krobar is even a person. It was referred to as a company and implied it was located in AK. For all I know, that could have been a slang name for a company that those of you in AK would readily recognize. NO NAME was listed on the internet company listing site. One site had 1 employee, the other listing had <25. Couldn’t compare addresses. That’s why I asked the AK pups for help. There was a broken link to a website for one of them, which didn’t seem right to have if you were running a website for someone else. Who knows?

  152. lovemydogs says:

    Hey JHop: I get home from work and you are here. Thank god the JWs aren’t.

    Hi everybody. I had a horrible day so I am going to try to get just a little caught up. Anything REALLY new? Or just the Palin spin?

  153. Jackie says:

    There are 2 articles at ADN on Palin’s Legal Fund – Sean Cockerham’s has softened up edges & made it look so much like it could all be a misunderstanding… especially when compared to the AP article. IMO anyway. He seems to do that with every article he writes about Palin.

  154. Dr. Patois says:

    Also too JHop I wondered earlier today if it is possible for the ATM to dispense more than $13,000.00 per year. It is per donor/donee per year and since there are many donors who may donate multiple times per year I would think the letter of the law would allow for withdrawal of more $$$ as long as no more than $13,000.00 from a single donor. Would that be correct?

  155. Someone asked if there was a picture of Kristan Cole, there is, google her and she has a website for real estate and a facebook account too.

  156. BooBooBear says:

    Kim Carlton needs to call Rex Butler and had him sue for defamation of character and slander. They have NO proof she is the one who leaked the report.

  157. MinNJ says:

    Boo, your timeline was fascinating. Sleuths of the north…

  158. Dr. Patois says:

    JHop, I can’t believe you are still awake!
    Just so you know, I posted a question earlier about why the independent counsel did not analyze from the actual agreement (maybe he could open it either :)). The Exec. Ethics Act states that if possible criminal activity is discovered in the course of the investigation, it is to be sent to the proper law enforcement officials. I thought perhaps he wanted his determination to steer away from that.

  159. BigSlick says:

    #
    290
    AKPetMom Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 9:53 PM

    Hey Big Slick at #255,
    The guy that you found at Linkedin, Kurt Robar, is actually just a guy that I know in Anchorage that is definitely NOT politically involved in the least. He’s an Apple guy that works independently both as a computer consultant and a video/TV commercial producer.

    Not a player in the Palin fiasco, most certainly. (I think you found him based on the company name associated with the Palin Trust “Krobar”) Our friend goes by the avatar name “Krobar” because his name is Kurt Robar.

    He’s just a computer dude in Anchorage….please stop the madness….

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Are you saying he is not the owner of Krobar Productions?

  160. Dr. Patois says:

    The only thing we know for certain about Krobar is that Krobar is the name of the company/person who designed the AFT website.

  161. booboodog says:

    Polly
    My mistake- Alaska Report, sorry

  162. It looks like Levi Johnston was telling the truth. She wanted to take the money and run. Does she really think she can be a viable candidate for 2012? The Republicans in New Jersey are smart enough to know that she is poison here.
    If she campaigns for them it will be like commiting political suicide.

  163. HistoryGoddess says:

    Sondra- thanks for letting me know what Meg’s husband does.

    Adding Krobar to things to watch
    I know, this is about SarahPac, but when this company got axed, Meg said Sarah wanted an AK company and that was a condition Cole agreed to. I also was haunted by knowing Meg was getting paid in two ways. Here is that source.
    ADN July 13, 2009 SarahPAC, which got its start in late January, spent $276,200 of what it raised, according to FEC reports. Most of that money — $106,519 — went to eDonation.com/Campaign Solutions, the firm owned by the online campaign fundraising pioneer, Becki Donatelli. SarahPAC spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said that the political action committee parted ways with Donatelli in late April, but it appears the PAC continued to pay the company through June 26. Stapleton herself was paid $12,000 by SarahPAC and another $32,450 through IzzyLene, a consulting firm registered in her name in Alaska. (AKM has also written about this.)
    Granted they were costing a lot, but they provided a lot of services.
    http://edonation.com/works.html From the site
    “eDonation captures online contributions in a fully automated and secure environment – in a simple, one click process.
    It’s a complete financial package managing everything from merchant accounts to credit card authorization and banking fees. We’ve created this system in partnership with IBM to ensure the security of your contributions.
    When visitors select the “Donate Now” option they’re connected to a web server that securely processes your transaction. The donor information writes to searchable database, available to you online 24/7 – and it’s exportable into commonly used software such as Excel. After the transaction is completed, eDonation generates an automatic e-mail thank you letter to your contributor. It also gives you the option to survey your donor.”

    So, why would they go from this type of company to a one that doesn’t even have a readily available website of its own? Enter IzzyLene, Meg’s consulting firm, recently established maybe? Good luck finding much info on it, Since it involves money, those things need to be watched and monitored closely, I would think. So, who is doing that? Who is doing this for AFT? Is Krobar part of IzzyLene Consulting?

  164. SS says:

    and the amount of real estate they own

  165. Polly says:

    270 booboodog Says: July 22nd, 2009 at 9:35 PM
    I probably missed someone’s comment about this (sooo many!) Alaska Standard says iceberg has hit Palin right between the eyes, to paraphrase…
    Iceberg hits Palin right between the eyes
    —-
    The Alaska Standard goes on to say- there’s another ethics complaint–

    “Now the only question is – when will the other ethics complaints prove she’s nothing but a dishonest crook looking to pad her bank account?”

  166. JHop says:

    The Kristan Cole Team has sponsored Todd Palin many times; Todd and his partner have won the Iron Dog race four times, in 1995, 2000, 2002, and 2007. Todd is the “First Dude” of Alaska and the husband of Governor Sarah Palin.

    their professional/personal relationship is so incestuous, it is disgusting – especially in light of the amount of money controlled in AFT

  167. AKPetMom says:

    Hey Big Slick at #255,
    The guy that you found at Linkedin, Kurt Robar, is actually just a guy that I know in Anchorage that is definitely NOT politically involved in the least. He’s an Apple guy that works independently both as a computer consultant and a video/TV commercial producer.

    Not a player in the Palin fiasco, most certainly. (I think you found him based on the company name associated with the Palin Trust “Krobar”) Our friend goes by the avatar name “Krobar” because his name is Kurt Robar.

    He’s just a computer dude in Anchorage….please stop the madness….

  168. ds55 says:

    Thanks, JHop. Also Kristan’s (note the spelling) business page.

    http://www.kristancole.com/home

  169. SS says:

    i didn’t know bumpits were real!

  170. JHop says:

    it might be in the forum

  171. Dr. Patois says:

    Here is Krobar’s family blog. I cannot believe what you can get off the internet.
    http://blog.robars.net/2008/07/
    Did Meg work at any of the same broadcast stations as Krobar?

    @Martha Unalaska Nice to know we are not alone with our headaches!

  172. JHop says:

    DS – i have seen a picture of her today. in some post about her being palin’s BFF

  173. SS says:

    I think the inner interwined relationships is going to reveal the bottom part of the iceberg.

  174. ds55 says:

    Is there a photo of Kristin Cole anywhere?

  175. booboodog says:

    Martha Unalaska Yard sign

    You nut! I really am so tired, running back and forth trying to read everything out there, gettin’ sick of Sarah and then saw this. Yes, Alaska Report it is!

  176. JHop says:

    lol your comments and sleuthing are so funny. and amazing.

    please keep going, i have no idea about the inner intertwined relationships of these people…

  177. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    @ booboodog

    I like my new name – I probably AM a yahoo!

  178. Wilbo says:

    Just a small observation. Is Krobar’s FB friend Michael Cole a bear cub hunter?

  179. booboodog says:

    Sorry- Yes Martha Unalaska Yahoo!

  180. booboodog says:

    Yes YES!

  181. ds55 says:

    http://www.kissageek.com/about/

    with a link on the side to his girlfriend, Andrea Staats.

  182. sally says:

    BooBooBear Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 PM
    Interesting…..Jon Givens is the Attorney for the Alaska Trust Fund. He also is the Attorney for the Board of Agriculture/Creamery Corp. and we all know how that turned out adn about the investigation that is on Part 3 by Legislative Audit. Guess Cole was pleased with the behind closed doors activities that he participated in.************************************
    Could this be creative lawyering? Oh golly, it goes on and on. The only thing that remains constant are the players: Palin, Cole, and Stapleton. The rest are just chum… throw them out and see what happens.

  183. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    @ booboodog

    You mean the Alaska Report, Dennis Zaki!

  184. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    Does anybody else get a headache from all of this?

    Between Halcro (who NEVER makes factual mistakes on his blog), the digging here by mudpups (and let’s not forget a lot of wild speculation!), AKM and other blue blogger’s fine reporting, the ADN reporting differences, the AFT website documents, and the MSM (probably making factual mistakes here and there-we’ve seen it) – my head HURTS!

    How does this mess get straightened out – bottom line? What happens next? I want my headache to go away, and right along with it – Sarah Palin the Twit! I know a lot of folks are enjoying the show – I just realized that I’m sick of it. If I never heard her name again I would be in heaven! Not seeing that face or hearing that voice – joyful glee! Forgetting she ever existed, U BETCHA!

  185. Polly says:

    I have a headache, now a neck cramp, and I can’t see or type, so I will get off and see what good news there is in store for us tomorrow. Peace to everyone.

  186. booboodog says:

    I probably missed someone’s comment about this (sooo many!) Alaska Standard says iceberg has hit Palin right between the eyes, to paraphrase…

  187. ocliberal says:

    CO almost native Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 PM

    I think, when Palin is no longer governor, the Trust must dissolve and the monies in the Trust must be donated to a bona fide 501 (c) (3). Palin and cronies can’t set one up, and then donate to themselves. I’ve helped get a 501 (c) (3) set up, and it is not easy to do. Lots of hoops to jump through-
    ——
    Co: that’s what I thought. But it’s not in the Trust documents. The only termination they talk about is

    10. Trust Term and Disposition of Residual Funds. The term of the Trust shall be for an initial period of ten (l0) years and shall be irrevocable. In the event, in the sole and absolute discretion of the Trustee, the purposes for which the Trust is created are fulfilled or no longer exist prior to the expiration of ten (l0) years from the date of this instrument, the Trustee shall terminate the Trust. In the event, in the sole and absolute discretion of the Trustee, the purposes for which the Trust is created are not fulfilled upon the expiration of the ten (10) years from the date of this instrument, the Trustee shall have the authority to extend the term of the Trust to such period of time as the Trustee determines to be necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose for which the Trust is created. Upon the completion of the Trust, any funds, assets, or property of any kind, whether the same be principal or income, which may be remaining in the hands of the Trustee at the completion of the purposes of the Trust, shall be donated and distributed by the Trustee, in the sole and absolute discretion of the Trustee, to one or more organizations described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and made exempt from taxation under section 501 (a) thereof.

    From what I read it never addresses what happens to the trust when Palin is no longer governor.

    Perhaps I’m not reading it correctly though.

  188. Polly says:

    264 ds55 Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 9:29 PM
    http://www.facebook.com/people/Kurt-Robar/503074900#/profile.php?id=503074900

    Just checked him out, but one of his mutual friends of mine, is Shannyn Moore. He must ascribe to her FB page.

  189. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    There is a lot of money floating around, when Palin gets around money she just can’t help herself.

  190. CO almost native says:

    @ Cathy from Colorado (hi neighbor):

    If her picture is on both sites, then Palin had to have approved its use, therefore she knew about the purpose of AFT.

  191. KateinCanada says:

    So Daniel investigated multiple ethics complaints that were dismissed; but now this. What’s the difference? Seems easy to see- Sarah quit, so now he’s finding problems.

  192. Polly says:

    Agreed. Good work, Big Slick!
    252 BigSlick Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 9:22 PM
    Anybody know this guy?
    http://www.linkedin.com/in/krobar

    Former FoxNews production turned entrepreneur, turned SP’s webmaster.

  193. SS says:

    Follow the money from the fund to the individuals… then to who? I don’t think it is one stop money traffic.

    Also if the fund is dissolved can it be given to her church and then back to her in another fund later on?

  194. CO almost native says:

    Insightful comments from Andrew Halcro:

    http://www.andrewhalcro.com/thursday_morning_comment_footnote

  195. SondraTompkins says:

    @SS

    Don’t have a clue why a physical therapist would be paid by a PAC, unless he’s being “paid” instead of his wife, though the money ultimately goes to the same kitty.

    I don’t trust anything the Palin’s do, or anyone associated with them.

  196. Cathy from Colorado says:

    “Sarah Palin’s Official PAC”

    “Visit The Alaska Fund Trust at http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com, the official legal defense fund for Governor Sarah Palin and family. ”

    She clearly promotes the Fund Trust from the PAC website. How can she or any of her minions claim she does not know about it or promote it?

    When are all the lies and deceptions going to end?

  197. ds55 says:

    Good job, Big Slick.

  198. SS says:

    @ 238 Sandra
    That’s interesting because I think I remember that SarahPac Paid Meg three different ways. To her name, the name of her company and to her husband.

    Oh maybe I am remembering that she used his credit card for Sarah and he had to be repaid. Sarahpac paying for expenses again through whatever means they can.

  199. ocliberal says:

    Wow! I just had a crazy thought. I’m beginning to wonder if the whole AFT isn’t just a giant scam cooked up by Palin and her BFFs.

    Maybe the plan all along was to set-up the fund, scam as much money as they could from their clueless minions and then wait until there was enough money in the fund so that Palin could quit her job (blaming those who filed ethics complaints) and then take the money and run. I’m sure there is procedure in place to funnel money to Palin from the fund.

    But maybe the ethics complaint threw a monkey wrench into the plan because it forced Palin to quit her job sooner than she wanted. (Explains why she was so pissed.) She probably never dreamed her own PPB would turn on her. I can’t even imagine the scene when that news came down. It could explain why her own PBB may have leaked the report. She may have come unglued on the wrong person.

    I know this theory is crazy but it actually sort of fits. Palin doesn’t care about being Governor. That takes work. I really think she s a true grifter. And what do grifters do? The lie, cheat, steal and most of all – scam.

    Wow!

    As Rachel would say – talk me down!

  200. BigSlick says:

    Anybody know this guy?

    http://www.linkedin.com/in/krobar

  201. jojobo1 says:

    I read the story about the bear shootings but did not link it to Cole and Todd’s sister that was just kind of nutty and it just disappeared and nothing was heard again about it, Good thing this site has archives and people who know how to search.I am glad the people of Alaska hopefully got rid of her but we don’t want her down here either.I don;t want to listen to any mores of her rants. When I come hear it is by choice but if she moves down to the lower 48 and gets in the news sometimes it is not a choice you still have to see her ect

  202. pvazwindy says:

    Well he collected damn near $5000. For physical therapy?

  203. Summer says:

    From the April 8, 2009 Sarah Palin Blog:

    ‘…Sarah’s Palin’s personal attorney, Thomas Van Flein, told Clayton Paslay today that a trust fund will be set up in Alaska for the “official” defense fund and Palsay said, “Fine. I’ll just send the money I collect to the trust fund.” The response was – “we’ll get back to you on that.”…

    *****UPDATE***** Meghan Stapleton and Clayton Paslay have finall [sic] talked but nothing really was resolved. Clayton is keeping his site up ad [sic] will be on MSNBC tomorrow at 9:15. In the meantime, Thomas Van Flein has sent an email to Paslay saying he can’t use Sarah Palin’s likeness for his site.’

    Link:
    http://www.thesarahpalinblog.com/2009/04/sarahpac-tries-to-squash-unofficial.html

  204. CO almost native says:

    I think, when Palin is no longer governor, the Trust must dissolve and the monies in the Trust must be donated to a bona fide 501 (c) (3). Palin and cronies can’t set one up, and then donate to themselves. I’ve helped get a 501 (c) (3) set up, and it is not easy to do. Lots of hoops to jump through-

  205. Dr. Patois says:

    Oops, I meant Ronald “Krobar” Lawler

  206. SondraTompkins says:

    @HistoryGoddess

    Meg’s husband is a physical therapist.

    @Phil
    Sent you an email- important- read when you can! Thanks!

  207. Dr. Patois says:

    Apparently there use to be a website for Krobar Studios. krowbarstudios.com but it no longer exists. I am guessing that Ronald “Krowbar” Lawler who worked on Into the Wild in the props dept. is the owner of Krobar. Anyone know if he went to Wasilla High? 🙂

  208. Maybe Krobar provided the crowbars when Todd and his buddies built the house on the lake…..?

  209. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    Dairygate!

  210. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    BooBooBear wrote:
    Jon Givens is the Attorney for the Alaska Trust Fund. He also is the Attorney for the Board of Agriculture/Creamery Corp
    Good detective work BooBooBear!

  211. Dr. Patois says:

    History Goddess @ 224
    I made a snarky remark about Krobar earlier today. If you look at the very bottom of the AFT website, Krobar is who designed the website. I thought the name was appropriate. Burglar/crowbar

  212. tamara says:

    pacos gal @ 156

    I sympathize. I went through A. Mitchell’s interviews with Van flein, Fox Greta & K.Cole, WSJ interview with K. Cole, Stapleton & Burke, CNN Cooper & Stapleton (that was a good laugh).
    To my despair, I realize that the best source is seethempee. They published/wrote everything $P.
    Enough for a day, more tomorrow.

  213. ds55 says:

    Sarah’s latest tweets sound like she’s drunk or high.

  214. ocliberal says:

    I meant to say:
    It (the fund) doesn’t say anything about what happens if Palin isn’tthe Governor.

  215. ocliberal says:

    I don’t think we know what kind, if any, legal mess Palin is in. The only things we know for sure are:
    1. The resolution suggested by Daniels was that Palin close the fund and return the money because it was clearly an ethical violation for a Governor to receive benefit from the fund per the Alaskan Ethic Regulations.

    2. Palin, apparently didn’t like that answer so she did the exact opposite and quit her job. The reason could be as simple as it isn’t in her grifting DNA to walk away from $500K (or whatever the amount is – no one knows!).

    Also too… there is the little matter of unpaid legal fees that she got stuck with from the McCain campaign after they had to send the ‘cleaners’ in to clean up the mess she made with her Troopergate escapade.

    From everything I’ve read Daniels report never intimated that the fund was fraudulent, he only said that as Governor, Palin could not benefit from the fund therefore she needed to close the fund.

    But here is the $500,000 dollar question that no one seems to be able answer.

    What happens to the fund when Palin is no longer Governor. Can it still be used then to pay off her legal bills or any other fees the trust deems appropriate.

    The wording of the trust purpose is confusing

    2. Trust Purpose. The sole and exclusive purpose of this Trust is to provide a proper means for the acceptance of money, property, and services, including, if necessary, pro bono legal services, to provide for all reasonable, necessary, and appropriate fees or charges incurred by (i) SARAH PALIN as a result of the fact that she is Governor of the State of Alaska or as a result of the performance of her duties as Governor of the State of Alaska; and (ii) Covered Individuals, that may be selected or designated by the Trustee as provided herein, as a result of or arising out of their association or relationship with or employment by SARAH PALIN, in hercapacity as Governor of the State of Alaska. In addition, the purpose of the Trust shall be to pay all reasonable, necessary, and appropriate expenses of Trustee’s counsel and such other and usual, customary expenses and services that have been or may be incurred in connection with the above-stated purpose. In the event that SARAH PALIN or any Covered Individual is considered to have received taxable income as a result of being a beneficiary of the Trust, the Trustee shall be permitted to reimburse SARAH PALIN or such beneficiary, as the case may be, from the corpus of the Trust for the actual amount of taxes incurred by SARAH PALIN or such beneficiary, as the case may be, as a result of being a beneficiary of the Trust. Trust funds may be used for no purpose other than those specifically provided herein. All such payments may be made by the Trustee from either principal and/or income.

    It doesn’t say anything about what happens if Palin the Governor.

    One thing is pretty apparent though. Palin and company were not happy that this complaint’s resolution became public. They are so unhappy they are coming out and telling some mind boggling lies that are beyond pathetic. They reek of desperation!

    As several pointed out, the complaint itself was fairly lenient to Palin. Palin’s reaction however was so nuclear it just makes one wonder what is really going on.

    Once again, me thinks they doth protest too much. There is a lot of money floating around and it seems to me that when Palin gets around money she just can’t help herself. There is so much smoke in the air now it’s getting hard to breathe.

  216. HistoryGoddess says:

    oops, forgot the rest of the weirdness. Isn’t Meg’s husband into something like this. Remember, there was something recently on payments made from Sarah Pac, I think. Meg got $, but so did a consulting type of firm named for, I think, her daughter. What was the husbands job? This Krobar couldn’t be his could it? (This is all very speculative, and it is late, and $ just twittered about fireweed and “sitting down to pen…” She just did 4 tweets, but maybe that is her idea of writing.

  217. jojobo1 says:

    Hope they got rid of the offensive comments also and Andree’s name and address I have said it many times on different news blogs and will say it again Palin attacks these kinds of what can I call them but nuts who say death to anyone who does not think like them

  218. Polly says:

    Jon Givens? Oh my. The cast of characters are coming to light, seems more diabolical. The whole creamery thing was a hoax. – Y;now with all the data/info Halcro and AKM have compiled over the last year or so, they could really write a great screenplay together! Then we can all watch the Academy Awards as they get the Oscar for Best Screenplay. – It would be a fun job for the casting director!

  219. WakeUpAmerica says:

    It might depend on where the trust was set up. If it was set up on the east coast, Parnell might not be able to pardon them.

  220. HistoryGoddess says:

    Tin hat firmly in place, but this is weird. I googled the company Sarah wanted to go with for AFT. According to ADN article cited 4/24ish, Meg said Sarah wanted AK company and Cole agreed. Company chosen Krobar.

    Googled it.
    KROBAR STUDIOS 1717 TALKEETNA ST Anchorage, Alaska
    Phone: (907) 274-9397
    Classification Motion Picture and Video Production

    For being a video oriented company, I didn’t find a website, just some business listings, like yellow pages. One site said it had 1 employee ($70,000) . Another said <25 employees ($100,000, I think) The money had to do with how much business they did.

    Why would they go with a motion picture/video company to handle web donations and site management? I guess they could do other types of work, but it sounds weird. I couldn’t find an owner or anything.

    AK people, you might know this company and it might be way cool and above board and all. But remember, it was implied Krobar was taking over the “back east elite” fundraiser organization who had been running SarahPac. Sarah wanted it to be in Alaska. Which is fine. But, usually for Sarah that means hiring a few good friends 🙂

    Late, probably nothing, just weird.

  221. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    I have seen some speculation that if/when the sh*t hits the fan and if/when $arah and Cole are indicted, Parnell will be all ready to pardon them. If true, it would still ruin SP’s political career IMO.

  222. BooBooBear says:

    Interesting…..Jon Givens is the Attorney for the Alaska Trust Fund. He also is the Attorney for the Board of Agriculture/Creamery Corp. and we all know how that turned out adn about the investigation that is on Part 3 by Legislative Audit. Guess Cole was pleased with the behind closed doors activities that he participated in.

  223. Justice McCall says:

    I went to check on the Washington Post article mentioned and found this interesting tidbit in another liked article.

    Meg says Sarah OKd it with Kristan.

    Comes from article about Palin’s Fundraising group not being based in Alaska, so they parted ways. Remember this….???…

    They really shouldn’t swear by things that can be so easily stumbled upon. I wasn’t even looking for this.

    Palin, Fundraising Firm Part Ways

    When Palin decided to set up a PAC earlier this year as a first step toward solidifying her role on the national stage and potentially positioning herself for a 2012 presidential run, Donatelli’s firm was the obvious choice to help raise money for the fledgling effort.

    “When the Governor gave Kristan Cole permission to launch a legal expense fund, she had one request: keep it in Alaska. Campaign Solutions is not based in Alaska,” said SarahPAC spokesperson Meghan Stapleton. We appreciate Donatelli’s good work for us, but as we have been saying all along, the Governor is focused on Alaska and Alaskans.”

    Washington Post

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/eye-on-2012/palin-fundraising-firm-part-wa.html

  224. WakeUpAmerica says:

    This is in the trust fund’s articles of ????incorportation?? or whatever…

    “11.
    Successor Trustees.
    In the event that the original named Trustee herein shall
    desire at any time to be relieved of his duties herein, said Trustee may resign by written notice to
    SARAH PALIN, who may appoint a successor Trustee with the qualifications set forth in
    paragraph 4 above.
    In addition, SARAH PALIN shall have the same power to appoint a
    substitute Trustee in the event of the death, incapacity, or failure to act in accordance with the
    terms of this instrument of any Trustee. In the event of SARAH PALIN’s inability to act as a
    result of incapacity or other reasonable cause, the proper legal representative of SARAH PALIN
    shall have the right and authority to seek the appointment of a substitute Trustee”

    Certainly sounds to me like Sarah has her hand in this pie, all the way to the shoulder.

  225. seattlefan says:

    @Lori in LA #213

    Thanks for the clarification. I thought it was the same thing.

    Either way, soliciting donations for her by 6/30 was pretty interesting to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alaska Fund Trust and SarahPac are not connected at the hip, so to speak.

  226. Polly says:

    Thanks for the Halcro article. It really is interesting.
    http://www.andrewhalcro.com/thursday_morning_comment_footnote

  227. AlaskaDisasta says:

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/the-politics-of-resentment/article1222803/

    Interesting article in today’s Globe and Mail re Mzzzz Palin. Bang on.

  228. hedgewytch says:

    Everyday is a new treat in the wonderful world of Palin Politics. What surprizes and plot twists will develop by the weekend? I am on the edge of my chair eagerly anticipating the next chapter in the ongoing saga. My bets are on a complete Palin melt down, complete with them taking her off to a secured facility, and I don’t mean one that is secure from getting IN. You just can’t make this stuff up…. and I go off chuckling into the night.

  229. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    Pearl89 says I think it is ridiculous that Cole wants us to believe that she has never talked to Palin about this trust fund. What sane person would let their name be used all through a legal document without reading and discussing it with the person/people setting it up? It is outside the realm of possibility.

    Indeed Pearl89, it IS outside the realm of possibility. It is, in fact, a lie.

    GINO’s lawyer has advised her to distance herself from the Alaska Trust Fund (obviously).

    Let’s examine the “evidence”

    GR (Greater Alaska)
    I (Idiot)
    F (F***cked)
    Trust Fund
    E
    R

    Well, as far as the evidence goes, that spells grifter, does it not?

    I’m too tired from working a double shift, need sleep, can’t come up with a funny “e” or “r”, – maybe you can?

  230. anon blogger says:

    Andrew Halcro has posted some really interesting points. Like what is Todd’s share of the $500K legal fee?

  231. CO almost native says:

    In Colorado, current office holders cannot actively campaign by soliciting funds. They are limited in the dollars they can collect, personally or through their own PAC or committee. The state committee can fund raise, but not a sitting governor or legislator. This is to keep a distance between elected officials and those who want to influence government. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than what’s happening in Alaska.

  232. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    Seattle Fan – that is all about SarahPac, NOT the Alaska Fund Trust. Two different entities.

  233. 189@Lori in Los Angeles
    I totally agree with you. These people are truly vivious. They are like rabid dogs (I apoloize to dog lovers). When Sarah was stumping she looked so gleeful when accusing Obama with “palling around with terrorists”. AND ALSO,
    she said nothing when the audience shouted “kill him”. Then had the nerve to say she wasn’t being “mean-spirited” that people had to know about Obama’s associations. Yet she wanted McCain’s campaign staffers to lie about Todd’s association with the secessionist party. She goes from funny to outright scary with her lies.

  234. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    mmboucher Florida Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 8:20 PM
    Lori in Los Angeles: on that facebook link, they are also giving out Andreas address telling them to send her letters.

    I did not see that! You mean the commenters, NOT Kristen, right? Yeah, sure-
    to “send her letters” referring to Andree. This is dangerous and irresponsible. I hope Andree has police protection. Interesting that it is always the supporters of SP that do this sort of thing (look at Eddie Burke’s actions). No matter how much we disagree with Scarah, none of us has ever threatened violence toward her or her supporters – nor would we ever want that. I do believe Scarahs supporters will be her greatest achilles heel.

  235. anadventurer says:

    I know I am preaching to the choir but: We can NOT let them get away with this.

    A) They are taking money from stupid people who believe in something (I believe that what Obama has done for black Americans, SP is doing the opposite for women)

    B) They are liar’s

    C) They think they can get away with it.

  236. nswfm CA says:

    Ok, those fundraising letters made me want to throw up. I can’t wait to see this Wasilla Mafia taken down and taken out in handcuffs.

  237. AlaskaDisasta says:

    Sarah Palin’s Official PAC

    Dedicated to building America’s future, supporting fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.

    SarahPAC believes America’s best days are ahead. Our country, founded on conservative principles and the fight for freedom, must confront the challenges of the 21st century with integrity, innovation, and determination.

    SarahPAC believes energy independence is a cornerstone of the economic security and progress that every American family wants and deserves.

    SarahPAC believes the Republican Party is at the threshold of an historic renaissance that will build a better future for all. Health care, education, and reform of government are among our key goals. Join us today!

    Please note: There are many websites claiming to support Sarah Palin. SarahPAC.com is the ONLY political action committee authorized by Sarah Palin.

    News Update: Palin Announces No Second Term Read More.

    Visit The Alaska Fund Trust at http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com, the official legal defense fund for Governor Sarah Palin and family.

    __________________

    Call me stupid but doesn’t the last sentence on the SarahPac website (above) encourage people to donate to this fund that no one in the Palin family seems to know about?

    I would think that the entire Palin and Heath clan’s pants are on fire by now and their noses actually cannot grow any longer or they’ll topple right over.

  238. Wasilla Warrior says:

    Wow that whole SarahPAC sh*t is sick !!! I’m surprised they don’t have a late night infomercial, begging for dollars..she is still our seated governor!! It is an F-ing outrage!!

  239. OK, I’m playing catch up here so I’ll go back through the comments later. But just one question came to mind – how in the world do they think they can possibly get out of this legal mess. Maybe by proving that Sarah Palin has been living under a rock for the last six months. Otherwise, everyone who reads any news sorce has likely heard something aobut this fund.

  240. nswfm CA says:

    @202, my father, who wanted to be a priest when he was young, says the people who go to church are the ones who really need to go because they are the ones who are screwing up all week and need to be absolved of their sins so they can go out the following week to be the crooks that they are. He never did become a priest.

  241. seattlefan says:

    @ paco_gal

    here is a copy of that letter Meg wrote:

    Memorandum

    From: Meghan Stapleton, SarahPAC
    To: SarahPAC Supporters

    Greetings from Alaska where the fish are running and the sun is shining late!

    Not long ago, I had the opportunity to spend time with Governor Palin as we visited Central New York, Manhattan, Long Island, Washington, D.C. and Texas.

    It never ceases to amaze me that every time we travel together, virtually every moment of her time is spent talking to and caring for others, while listening to and learning from them as well – like brave, young Robert whose life we celebrated at the Autism Speaks Walk or the historical voices of the strong men and women upon whose shoulders we stand, including Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony and former Secretary William H. Seward.

    Below, I attached a quick note from the Governor which she penned before leaving the country last week. I am attaching it to this memo because I am asking you to help Governor Palin and SarahPAC today!

    You have been so incredibly supportive and generous, and now we ask you again for your help – and we ask that you please also encourage your friends and family to give.

    SarahPAC needs to be in the position to help fund candidates who are going to fight for what we all believe – smaller government, less spending, and fewer taxes. With your help, we can take the Governor’s message and encourage others who also have hope and are firmly rooted in the conservative belief that you know how best to spend your money and not government.

    SarahPAC can’t do that without your help. Please visit this link and give to SarahPAC today – and encourage others to do so as well.

    Sincerely,
    Meghan Stapleton
    SarahPAC

    P.S. Please give before June 30th. Your help is critical. Visit this link to give!

    Dear SarahPAC Supporter:

    I wanted to drop you a quick note about my trip earlier this month – a whirlwind tour and an opportunity to share a bit more about Alaska. (I am writing this before heading overseas to visit our Troops; I know that will be a most inspiring journey!)

    It is such a treat to talk to everyone about Alaska and hear stories of fishing, hunting, and camping. And it thrills me to hear from those who wish to visit our beautiful state! Alaska has much to offer – from her magnificent glaciers to her abundant natural resources to fuel our homes and businesses.

    When we travel outside Alaska, the hospitality is always overwhelming, and Todd and I so enjoyed meeting many new people on our recent trip to the Lower 48 – all emblematic of so many across this country who are willing to give of time, energy and effort to help one another.

    It was thrilling to see the look on both young and old faces as I traveled to New York, Washington, D.C. and Texas. Words can never express the incredible spirit of all those who dedicate their lives to making even one life more comfortable.

    Todd and I always recognize how grateful and proud we are to be citizens of the United States. We are so very blessed.

    With an Alaska Heart,

    Sarah Palin

    The Official Sarah Palin PAC

    Paid for by SarahPAC
    Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee
    http://www.SarahPAC.com

  242. bonsai-jay says:

    David Letterman mentioned the ethics decision tonight. He got the biggest laugh for NOT making a joke about it.

    Too funny…. also….

  243. mmboucher Florida says:

    Lori in Los Angeles: on that facebook link, they are also giving out Andreas address telling them to send her letters.

  244. M. Bergert says:

    They are what gives religion a bad name. This is why when I run into someone who preaches about their religion and how devoted they are I automatically begin to distrust them. Time and time again I have seen them be the ones caught stealing at work or get caught lying. Sarah and Cole are two typical examples in my book.

  245. JHop says:

    Duke Says: July 22nd, 2009 at 8:16 PM: Brace yourself for this. According to the Alaska Fund Trust Agreement, Sarah and Todd Palin’s family includes parents, children and siblings.

    there is nothing even about a familial relationship. it can just be a close relationship or anyone the Trustee sees fit.

  246. Polly says:

    hmm, this is the first time in years that i have a real literal headache. i’m going to see if i have any aspirin. oh, second thought… that’s why AKMuckracker has a glass of wine (!) maybe i should try that instead. all the head banging going on tonight.

  247. AlaskaDisasta says:

    Sarah, plain and simple-minded, is what we used to call a S**T Disturber.

    Hard to believe that there are people who give this narcissistic type credence in today’s complicated world. But, then again, they are obviously either simple-minded as well or using the pretty little dimwit for their own devious and self-serving reasons.

    Either way, you’ve got trouble, my friends, right there in Wasilla city.

  248. HistoryGoddess says:

    OK. Way too freaky. Check out this picture of Cole and friends. Is $ a friggin cut out? Seriously?
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124691179571701975.html

  249. Let’s keep on topic, but do call the ADN about the link @161.

    257-4301

  250. nswfm CA says:

    @185 History Goddess: “They chose a company named Krobar?” Is that Palin speak for crow bar? Like prying money out of people with a crow bar?

  251. Thanks Polly, I did just that. The nuts that love Sarah are mentally deranged just like her. They scare me. I call them Sarah’s Taliban.

  252. Duke says:

    191 mhrt,

    Brace yourself for this. According to the Alaska Fund Trust Agreement, Sarah and Todd Palin’s family includes parents, children and siblings. A few months ago Todd Palin’s sister was arrested for burglary. Conceivably, she could collect money from the AFT for her legal bills because she qualifies as a family member. That’s wrong at every level.

    There is nothing to stop Sarah and Kristan from having a secret chat about who is part of her family for getting benefits from the AFT.

  253. LibertyLover says:

    Seems like Ms. cole may lie to the press for Sarah Palin, but I wonder if she will be willing to do so under oath?

  254. antiAnti says:

    189 Lori in Los Angeles Says: thanks for the link

  255. mhrt says:

    52 Philip Munger Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 6:28 PM
    “The sooner, Sarah, Todd, Bristol Palin, Kristen Cole and a host of others are put under oath in a serious legal situation, the better.”
    ————————————-
    interesting…Why is Bristol included here?

  256. Duke says:

    #178 curiouser,

    In a convoluted way, Sarah Palin would care if her supporters harm others. Look at how she incited and provoked others during last year’s campaign rallies. She doesn’t make peace, she makes trouble. Every elected or appointed position she held ended up with more baggage and enemies. The Republican gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey already said they don’t her campaigning for them. Outside of red states, she is a political liability.

  257. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    Thanks Sondra and all who have contacted ADN. I sent Sean (author of article) and several others some e-mails. Comments seem to be down now – but it only takes one whackjob to answer the call for violence (think Dr. Tiller).
    I hope the police dept. tracks down the poster from his IP address and arrests him. Toad and AIP buds? Hope they would not stoop so low.
    BTW, and ON topic:
    antiAnti Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 7:41 PM pls – is there a link to press release from Cole?

    here you go:
    http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=106658938434&ref=mf

  258. John says:

    Tell a lie often enough and people start to believe it. At least, that is the Karl Rove/ GW Bush theory. Unfortunately, it works sometimes. Fortunately, you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

  259. Ratfish says:

    But wait- Palin herself (through a spokeswoman aka Lyin’ Stapleton) said they had John Coale and Randy Evans (Gingrich’s ethics advisor) give them legal advice.

    Palin admitted she was “informed” of the entire matter in a statement that got me to get out my political dictionary that, for example, has Clinton’s definition of sex in it. So much for PLAUSIBLE deniability.

    The website says it is the official fund, the same term Stapleton used.

    I guess this type of communication amongst elected officials, their spokespeople, and their Beltway lawyers can occur when one relies upon tweeting.

    Sarah Palin = Pinnochio. Her nose grows by the day.

    Tweet tweet. Quack quack.

    ps Is there any truth to the RUMOR that none other than Bristol Plain- still pissed off at Mama Bear Palin for making a fool out of her at the convention and with the Candies BS- released the report after finding it on the kitchen table?

    Just a rumor, just sayin’. Also.

  260. Incarcerate_Palin says:

    The first and only time I have spoken with the Governor about the Trust was yesterday – Kristan Cole

    Obviously a lie. Send in the clowns.

    Here comes the judge!

    Grifters: Sarah and Kristan, there is no escape. You’ll be guilty as charged. Both of you will have criminal records, (if there’s any justice in this world).

    Nice try, grifters.

  261. HistoryGoddess says:

    #134 CGinWI Says:qutoe from the link Duke provided @121
    “When the Governor gave Kristan Cole permission to launch a legal expense fund, she had one request: keep it in Alaska. ”
    This is from the Washington Post, April 29

    _______
    The ADN had a story with a similar statement, attributing the permission statement to Meg

    Last Modified: April 25th, 2009 05:01 AM
    http://www.adn.com/palin/story/771941.html
    “Stapleton said that Palin had one request when she agreed to allow Cole to launch a legal-expense fund: keep it in Alaska. To that end, they chose a company named Krobar…
    …The Alaska Fund Trust is the only legal fund that Governor Palin gave permission to use her name and likeness. This fund was carefully constructed and will be carefully monitored to ensure that all the terms and conditions are met.”

  262. Polly says:

    176 Watching from New Jersey. I agree Kim and Andree have some guts for sure. I can see a movie in the making- full of deception, favors, lies, family drama, hidden secrets, and finally the fall of the empire.

  263. AlaskaDisasta says:

    I would think that both ADN and that irresponsible poster, posting the address of Andree will both be deemed complicit and inciting violence if anything should happen because of these disgusting posts, basically daring someone to go over to her address.

  264. nswfm CA says:

    Great Ripoff Alaska Fund Trust.

  265. ds55 says:

    It’s the same tactic Eddie Burke used on the radio, broadcasting the address and phone numbers of private citizens.

  266. pacos_gal says:

    hmmm, didn’t Meg write a letter soliciting donations that was printed on the front page of ADN?

  267. Me says:

    Wow, who would have thought to connect the dots. kristin Cole runs the Alaska Fund Trust to personally benefit Sarah Palin. She was appointed to the Alaska Dairy Board or whatever thery are called and personally oversaw the deliver of state funds advocated by Sarah Palin to her friends in the valley. Can you say quid pro quo?

  268. curiouser says:

    #161
    Duke Says:

    Now it’s getting gross and obscene.

    http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/873210.html
    ———-
    Thanks, Duke. Palin should be very proud of her fans.
    I hit the ‘report abuse’ button. Don’t know how long it takes ADN to monitor and delete the comments. Hope everyone with an ADN account will go over and do the same.

  269. SS says:

    @168 Forever anonymous
    I do think it’s time for them to investigate Dairygate. I loved Andrew Halco’s title Got Fraud?

  270. WOW, They lie so easily, even when caught in a lie, they lie. What do they think that if they keep on lying that somehow the lies become truths? Not only is soon-to-be ex-Gov. a sociopath but so are her friends. Her hairdresser was caught lying too about her thinning hair (as if I give a damn).
    In order to be Sarah Palin’s friend, you have to be loyal enough to LIE for her. She demands LOYALTY above all else. I hope she gets what she so richly deserves and worked so hard for. I want to say you Alaskans are really courageous to stand up to this lying, coniviving, money hungry, narcissistic, brainless, idiotic witch. Kim Chatman and Andree (I don’t know her name) are the true heroines.

  271. mmboucher Florida says:

    Sorry to “ADN”

  272. Moose Pucky says:

    Three more days. So long. Farewell.

  273. mmboucher Florida says:

    I also too sent another email on this story!

  274. Duke says:

    The intruders at ADN can be stopped but better done by the FBI. Their equipment is more sophisticated and they have the legal authority to operate from state to state.

    The two problems ADN faces are the seriously weak software and the lack of 24/7 monitor by human eyes.

  275. SondraTompkins says:

    @John

    Agreed. That’s why I plan to f/u with this. Andree won’t be worried, but I plan to worry a bit for her.

    It only takes one loose cannon…..

  276. Polly says:

    http://community.adn.com/adn/node/142472

    I reported abuse, the drop down menu gave choices, so I selected “personal attack”

  277. SlappyOC says:

    Are we really supposed to believe that the legal footnotes call out that the governor’s family and friends can be recipients without the governor providing her consent? What happened to mama bear??? I know I would not allow my children or family or image to be linked to an online solicitation for funds, in my name (as Governor), without my consent.

    They seem very frustrated and while they think it’s because it’s unfair (or frivolous), the truth is that it’s because they are wrong and they hate that. It really reminds me of a frustrated teenager. Perhaps they tried to be legal, perhaps they had good intentions, but it appears they are just not very bright (or ethical) and repeatedly make bad decisions. I think it may be due to their definition of “ethics” having nothing to do with actual ethics and everything to do with a different set of beliefs.

  278. The integrity of Kristan Cole is evident in Dairygate as chronicled by Andrew Halcro.

  279. John says:

    The problem is not the person posting the address, but the others who read it and decide to take action. Just like I never thought Sarah Palin would attack Candidate Obama, but people listening to her might.

  280. SondraTompkins says:

    Call the ADN at 257-4301 and politely ask them to delete Andree’s information. I just called about antiAnti’s comment. Thanks Anti!

  281. pacos_gal says:

    I’ve reported as abuse Duke. Send another email to ADN, they will have to turn off comments on all Palin stories as these are some real sickos.

  282. 22 says:

    Someone please screencap the ADN comment threats against Andree and report to federal authorities.

  283. antiAnti says:

    http://community.adn.com/adn/node/142472

    Andree’s addr and phone are still in comments for the above

  284. SondraTompkins says:

    I contacted the ADN about the Andree comments and they stated that they continue to delete the comments but that individual continues to reappear. They’ve shut down the comments.

    I called my neighbor, an APD captain, and he gave me the name of the internet crimes person at the APD, will contact him. He assured me that most of these idiots are cowards- a person intent on doing harm wouldn’t leave a computer trail. Still, it’s an implied threat and should be dealt with, IMO.

  285. CorningNY says:

    I think they forgot one important word when naming the Alaska Fund Trust (AFT). It should be the Greater Alaska Fund Trust. Then the acronym would truly describe what it’s all about: GRAFT.

  286. ALCAN says:

    Have you read the FAQ on the Alaska Fund Trust Website:

    10. Where does the unspent money go?

    Once the purposes of the Trust no longer exist, the Trustee, in her sole discretion, will donate unspent funds to qualified 501 (c)(3) organizations.

    11. Who gets to decide how money is spent?

    The Trustee has the sole discretion to determine how the money is spent.

    14. Who is the Trustee?

    She is Kristan Cheryl Cole. She is a long-time Alaskan who is proud of her state and is dedicating her time and efforts to defend the integrity of the Governor’s Office and restore the Governor’s effectiveness in reforming government.

    Are you kidding me? Long time friend, numerous appointments to various boards by SP. Do they think anyone will believe they never, ever talked about the “Fund”? So…Kristan Cole gets to decide how the money is spent and whatever is left over goes to the qualified 501 (c)(3) organizations (charity) of her choice. I wonder which one of her charities the money will go to?

  287. Duke says:

    Now it’s getting gross and obscene.

    http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/873210.html

  288. pearl89 says:

    I think it is ridiculous that Cole wants us to believe that she has never talked to Palin about this trust fund. What sane person would let their name be used all through a legal document without reading and discussing it with the person/people setting it up? It is outside the realm of possibility.

    Also, Daniel did say that Cole told him Palin approved of her photo being used on the site and the official designation.

    I truly hope that Kim Chatman sues the pants off Cole and Van (can’t believe he’s a real lawyer) Flien. I didn’t think lawyers were suppose to make prejudicial statements, but if you are a Palin lawyer it’s okay.

    If the PB released the info, they are probably hoping wouldn’t be found out and then they could dismiss the complaint (and protect Sarah) because of the confidentiality clause.

  289. duct idaho palin says:

    Fern, the posts are going up quickly so you might’ve missed it; several people have noted that the comments are now down on that ADN story.

  290. duct idaho palin says:

    seattlefan, t he link was originally provided by Duke at post 121.

    And besides the quotes, as AKM pointed out, Sarah was telling people within 24 hours NOT to give to the Texas guy’s fund. But she’s let this one go on for months. No way she’s not complicit in it.

  291. Fern says:

    @ Lori in Los Angeles

    Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place but I am not seeing any comments at all at that ADN linkie.

  292. pacos_gal says:

    A member of the S*(& Team says the same thing on her blog on the day the fund went public. April 24th wasn’t it.

    tamara…I have tried, I swear I have, I’ve listened to a couple eddie burke show w/Cole and I think I need alcohol.

    I’ll try more with the video’s tomorrow.

  293. Ginger says:

    90% of donations from outside of Alaska…I am not surprized. I imagine a cartoon with all of the players, Palins, Cole, VanFlien, etc. with angry faces pointing their fingers at each other.

  294. seattlefan says:

    This is absolutely a great post AKM. You provide more information than any news organization does. The facts and the timeline you present leave no doubt.

    Something stinks here. Sarah obviously knew about this fund and definitely sanctioned it. I know she is clueless, but come on! She did know about this and Cole is busy covering her a$$ by saying she never spoke about it to her. Lies, lies, lies.

    CGiniWI…very interesting! An actual quote from Palin regarding the fund. Love it! I’m off to take a look at that article. Do you have a link to save time?

  295. benlomond2 says:

    …interesting that at c4p, there’s an article attacking the investigator….he was ok when he cleared her on the previous charge…..

  296. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    HistoryGoddess – you ALWAYS live up to your name!!

  297. booboodog says:

    God you guys are good!! Walter Cronkite awards for all of you!!

  298. Maria says:

    Once again, they don’t seem to realize that their past remarks can be researched…
    I hope Andree doesn’t get hurt by the way if someone is posting her address.

  299. duct idaho palin says:

    CGinWI, nice catch!

  300. zyggy says:

    looks like adn has turned off the comments on the $arah articles.

  301. HistoryGoddess says:

    NationalReview online
    The campaign spot, Jim Geraghty 4/24/09 http://tinyurl.com/knyvc2

    Bkgrd- This guy was writing about the delay in getting the site up, though SarahPac said AFT was ready. I thought it was perhaps of note that the family mouth Meg tells of Sarah’s confidence in the merit of the AFT …

    “YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Palin family spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton got a statement to me: “Governor Palin is truly humbled by the tremendous outpouring of support from her fellow Alaskans and the wonderful people across our great country. She has the utmost confidence in the merit of the Alaska Fund Trust and the integrity of its Trustee, Kristan Cole. That is why the Alaska Fund Trust is the only legal fund that the Governor gave permission to use her name and likeness. With the success of this trust, Governor Palin will be able to continue getting results for the people of Alaska without these unnecessary distractions.”

  302. antiAnti says:

    pls – is there a link to press release from Cole?

  303. DrChill says:

    120 Lori in Los Angeles Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 PM
    I apologize for being OT, but this ADN story has new comments that really scare me. It is someone posting Andree’s address, FIVE TIMES in a row.
    Avatars also getting ugly –
    —————
    comments are off now …

  304. John says:

    Good work mmboucher. Mudpuppies to the rescue.

  305. crystalwolf aka caligrl says:

    Lori in Los Angeles Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 7:25 PM

    crystalwolf aka caligrl Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 PM
    New talking points straight from————->Alaska…ManSour posted @ the other place (she is in Alaska NOW) she posted the TP that “they all donated to the trust fund b/c of Sarah Palin (the person) not Sarah Palin the Governor”….this right after Coles presser.

    It won’t fly. Plenty of comments during the begathon to dispute this – all talking about the GOVERNOR’s legal bills due to “frivolous” complaints. They are like scrambling rats. Fun to watch their little pea brains in action pathetic, really.
    ~~~~~~~~~
    Lori, I know 🙂 That’s what make it so funny the BS issuing for all their mouths now…! Including Cole, considering all the documentation here and everywhere that she had Grifter SARAH’s Blessings to go ahead with the fund and ManSour had Grifter Sarah’s Blessings to host the beg-a-thon and I hope she gets dragged into this. Maybe the personnel board wanted to leak it so many a GRAND JURY would be held?? Ya think????

  306. mmboucher Florida says:

    I e-mailed ADN, just went to look and comments are off on that story.

  307. booboodog says:

    Maybe they are using a tactic an ex taught me oh so well: no matter how obvious, deny, deny, deny. At least it gives you time to come up with something better.

  308. ds55 says:

    Maybe the ex-husband bust was Kristen’s payment…

  309. BS says:

    This is just gossip and doesn’t have anything to do with anything but – Kristen’s ex-husband just got busted for shooting cubs and a mama bear in Talkeetna. I wouldn’t want to be associated with my ex or anything he does, but just thought it was an interesting piece of gossip. It’s a small world here in the Valley.

  310. Silvermoon says:

    So Cole wants us to believe she alone had the authority to use the photo of the Gov on the front page of the Fund—-without Sarah’s approval???

    Sure, Ms. Cole, sure…..

    Great job, AKM!!!

  311. anon blogger says:

    Cole said in that letter, “My sons and my husband have served our country.”

    (head shaking…won’t stop)

  312. pacos_gal says:

    Sean Cockerham’s email and phone number are listed on the ADN site, at the bottom of the article. For any Alaskan who is reading.

    I’ve reported it also as abuse, but who knows when the web person will look at it.

  313. AlaskaDisasta says:

    Corruption by any other name is still sleaze.

  314. honestyinGov says:

    120 Lori in Los Angeles Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 PM

    I apologize for being OT, but this ADN story has new comments that really scare me. It is someone posting Andree’s address, FIVE TIMES in a row.
    ———————————–
    Phil Munger has worked with people on the ADN in the post and used to write stories there.( I think about music )

    I am sure he has contacts there that would listen. Don’t know how quickly he could get the message. Especially if is just posted in the comments on his blog though. AKM would know how to reach him.

  315. CGinWI says:

    qutoe from the link Duke provided @121

    “When the Governor gave Kristan Cole permission to launch a legal expense fund, she had one request: keep it in Alaska. ”

    This is from the Washington Post, April 29

  316. JHop says:

    i think her fig leaf is falling faster than most people, especially her supporters, even realize.

    my analysis of AFT is here: https://themudflats.net/forum/index.php/topic,7644.0.html

    i think it is ridiculous that there will most likely not be formal hearings on this. in the meantime, i want the public disclosure of expenditures that her trust promises…

  317. ds55 says:

    Maybe Cole isn’t really getting thrown under the bus. Maybe Cole has been paid to lay down in the path of the oncoming bus.

  318. pacos_gal says:

    Is Philip Munger reading? He knows Sean Cockerham, the writer of the article, maybe he can get hold of him?

  319. JHop says:

    i do not get along with them, since the grimes thing. someone else has to email the ADN editors.

  320. John says:

    JHop: but her fig leaf is falling quickly.

  321. mhrt says:

    the problem child Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 6:17 PM

    I think this is worth sharing one more time:
    —————
    Okay, the Jon Givens who appears to be the trust’s lawyer (appeared at press conf. w/ Kristen Cole (thanks, tamara)) is a partner with the law firm that represents the Mat-Su Valley Board of Realtors and ReMax Properties, Inc..
    http://www.lawyers.com/Alaska/Anchorage/Bankston-Gronning-OHara,-P.C.-37887-f.html?

    Wonder whose interests he is really representing (hint: Re-Max Wasilla is Kristen Cole.)
    ———————-
    I am particulary disturbed about the fact that there has been clear oversight from Palin and her minions about how everything has been set up.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    was it not reported somewhere that Bristol was going in to real estate.
    Ya sure child hood friends not talking about it.

    Sitting around the table “look Sarah how much money came in today”. sarah..
    you bet y, this keeps up and I can retire soon..never did like that ol govnering job much any way.. they keep asking me all of those stupid questions.

  322. John says:

    ADN editor contact information here:
    http://www.adn.com/help/newsroom/
    Includes e-mails of night editors.

  323. JHop says:

    John – i agree with almost everything you’ve said, including how the number of ethics complaints, especially the ones less supported by evidence, have given Palin an extra shred of credibility that she doesn’t deserve.

  324. Polly says:

    I don’t trust Cole. There was something that bothered me about the way she markets her real estate ads. — Well, with all this going on, I forgot to hunt up the MSNBC video on Shannyn’s interview with Shuster from earlier today.

  325. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    crystalwolf aka caligrl Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 PM
    New talking points straight from————->Alaska…ManSour posted @ the other place (she is in Alaska NOW) she posted the TP that “they all donated to the trust fund b/c of Sarah Palin (the person) not Sarah Palin the Governor”….this right after Coles presser.

    It won’t fly. Plenty of comments during the begathon to dispute this – all talking about the GOVERNOR’s legal bills due to “frivolous” complaints. They are like scrambling rats. Fun to watch their little pea brains in action pathetic, really.

  326. Ennealogic says:

    Since Thomas Daniel wrote, in his investigative report, that he’d interviewed Kristan Cole and she’d told him that Palin authorized the ATF as the official one, and had authorized the use of her picture on the pages,

    and since now Kristan Cole is saying she never even mentioned it to Sarah Palin until yesterday,

    was Kristan Cole lying to Thomas Daniel then or is she lying in her absurd press statement now,

    or is she calling Thomas Daniel a liar?

  327. JHop says:

    i agree, some of the ADN comments are crazy and violent.

  328. Duke says:

    Good piece by AKM but there is more.

    A dispute arose in April of this year that resulted in the termination of SarahPAC’s fund manager in Washington. Oddly enough, the legal fund appeared shortly thereafter.

    A lot of drama occurred during the formation of the legal fund. Too much drama for Palin to ignore. Like a mob boss, Palin most likely communicated through intermediaries. Stapleton talking to Cole, van Flein and others then to Palin is not unusual. Al thought I don’t believe Cole when she says the first time she talked with Sarah about the fund was recently, there is no doubt that plenty of information was passed through one person or another to Palin. Cole and Palin can’t use the Kenneth Lay (of Enron notoriety) claim that they didn’t know so they can weasel out of this one.

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/eye-on-2012/palin-fundraising-firm-part-wa.html

  329. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    I apologize for being OT, but this ADN story has new comments that really scare me. It is someone posting Andree’s address, FIVE TIMES in a row.
    Avatars also getting ugly – an AK47 pointing at the audience and very hateful comments. I reported abuse, but if anyone knows how to directly get in touch with someone at the ADN, perhaps they can get the comments down – I am very concerned for Andree right now. This is the story I refer to:
    http://www.adn.com/palin/story/872192.html?pageNum=3&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container

  330. mmboucher Florida says:

    Over on ADN they are going after Andrea several post are ” wanted dead” with Andreas address and phone number. Why is ADN allowing this?

  331. sauerkraut says:

    Cole lies like a rug, Polly. Never forget that.

  332. John says:

    This is really a safe violation to be found guilty of. All she has to do is not accept the money and not let it be used to pay her legal bills. No penalty would be imposed. Unlike the earlier violation where she had to actually pay back $8,000+. She could say, we were being cautious once the complaint was filed and now that the personnel board has ruled (when they do) we will comply with the law and not accept the money. But no, she can’t stand anyone to disagree with her or interfere with her whims. So she throws a hissy fit and lies about never authorizing the fund. What a twitter.

  333. Polly says:

    Martha- thanks for posting that. Soooo, either Cole or the attorney is lying. And Palin has to choose which story she is going to follow along?

  334. crystalwolf aka caligrl says:

    New talking points straight from————->Alaska…ManSour posted @ the other place (she is in Alaska NOW) she posted the TP that “they all donated to the trust fund b/c of Sarah Palin (the person) not Sarah Palin the Governor”….this right after Coles presser.
    BARF!!!
    Thanks AKM for your expose of the truth and we all know who was behind the Beg-a-thon and where THAT idea originated from. I wonder if SarahPac is paying ManSour’s travel expenses???
    Liar’s!!! All of them. Alaska NEEDS a GRAND JURY TRIAL!!!!

  335. Ripley says:

    I wonder which one of the Personnel Board members she p!ssed off. She got into a cat fight with one of them, no doubt, and one of them finally decided to get her back.

    I think there might just be enough room under the bus for $P herself!!!

  336. nswfm CA says:

    For the Wasillan who wanted to put a mustache on Kristen Cole’s RE sign, I’d be putting horns and a pitchfork on her ads. Don’t deface the sign and get caught for defacing her property. (I draw in the horns and a tail plus a pitchfork on pics of Cheney and then let my cats pee on his face when it appears in the newspaper. Even on the paper at my parent’s house.)

  337. Wasilla Warrior says:

    I was just sayin that knowing her personality and having served her family meals where I work that I am sure in her elevated status in the valley community she does consider herself qualified and she should not get thrown under the bus but expose Palin.
    Cole is big in the Christian Community out here, she Hoids with the Toids so to speak, very self important…just look at the life sized picture of herself on her realistate signs…If she complains about service she expects heads to roll…it’s the valley, I usually give the table away if they sit in my section…

  338. Martha says:

    “I find the notion that I have taken any action pertaining to the legal defense trust fund misguided and factually in error,” she said. “I have not ‘acted’ relative to the defense fund, and it is misleading to say I have.” ========================================================== From the report: http://media.adn.com/smedia/2009/07/21/14/Legal%20Defense.22542.source.prod_affiliate.7.pdf ==================================================================== According to the funds website, it was created by Kristen Cole and other supporters of the governor who believe the governor should not have to personally pay for legal fees incurred in defending against a series of ethics complaints.

    I interviewed Ms.Cole, who confirmed that she and other supporters of the governor came up with the idea of soliciting contributions to pay the governors legal fees.Ms.Cole also stated that she and other supporters set up the Alaska Fund Trust.
    **********************************************************************

    She also stated however, that THE GOVERNOR GAVE HER APPROVAL TO CREATE THE TRUST as the “OFFICIAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND for the governor and AUTHORIZED THE USE OF HER PHOTOGRAPH ON THE TRUST’S WEBSITE. In light of THE EVIDENCE that the GOVERNOR EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED THE CREATION OF THE TRUST and the FACT that THE WEBSITE QUITE OPENLY USES THE GOVERNORS POSITION TO SOLICIT DONATIONS, there is probable cause to believe that;

    GOVERNOR PALIN USED, OR ATTEMPTED TO USE, HER OFFICIAL POSITION FOR PERSONAL GAIN ……..IN VIOLATION OF ALASKA STATUTE……39.52.120(a)

  339. VernD says:

    rebekkah Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 6:47 PM
    This is good layout and easy now to understand. So, there seems to be many people who all claim different stories. No consistency here at all. John Coale (GVS’s husband) had some input on advising how to set up funds, Pac, and (not sure) but I think also the Alaska Fund Trust. How could SP NOT know of this?

    And, I recall Meg Stapleton once referring to either one in a statement, where she mentioned $5 donors who were giving from their heating bills (correct me if I’m wrong). And, Sarah had no knowledge of this? And, didn’t speak about this fund trust with her long-time friend, ever?

    She’s up a creek with no paddle.
    _______________________________________________
    >
    > She’s riding a bore tide without a paddle

  340. Cassie Jeep Pike Palin says:

    rebekkah Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 7:06 PM
    ——————————————————————

    Me, too, also at # 104

  341. rebekkah says:

    Another thing from AKM’s good timeline here, that I noticed, was that Mr. Paslay from Texas was going to set up a trust for her legal fees, and have the donations sent DIRECTLY to Palin’s lawyer, Van Flein. Why wasn’t that permitted? Then, a new better fund trust (the present Alaska Fund Trust) is set up where it is in control by the trustee, Cole. So, it’s amazing that they turned down an offer from a well-established businessman from Texas and took it into their own hands, so they could have a direct control of the monies, not the lawyer.

  342. GINO laid the grounds for all this mess at the Lincoln dinner speech in March 09, at the time, she just sounded crazy, but she was planting the seed of her deceit. The rants from part 9-11

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR4pLr4meO8

  343. crystalwolf aka caligrl says:

    pvazwindy Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 6:12 PM

    Tomorrow’s Washington Times is reporting that the leaker-was the personnel board.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Oh, hahahahaha!!! Leaks in the SS Palin????? Noooooooooooo!
    hahahahahahahahaha!!!! 😆

  344. annon says:

    Sarah, Kristen fraud is thy name…. Dairygate next anyone?

  345. BigSlick says:

    Where’s Kristan Cole’s mother these days?

  346. Cassie Jeep Pike Palin says:

    Irony, again………
    Had soon-to-be-XGINO allowed the Texan Dude to do his thing, with Billo and everyone else contributing and paying off debts (legal and otherwise) she would have been in the clear.

    But, NOOOOOO, she wanted CONTROL over it so they did their own thing in violation of AK Ethics rules.

    But NOW, she claims through her BFF that she had no involvement with it? ROFLMAO!!!!!

    In her very small mind she had already made the leap into Federal Office, ergo the comparisons to Kerry, et al. and THEIR legal funds.

    Oops! I forgot, she doesn’t actually hols a Federal Office! This is too rich!

  347. DrChill says:

    Does it strike anyone as very odd that the first word on page nine of the report, does not belong to a sentence?
    I wonder if it was a discarded draft that was found in a waste basket. Or maybe Daniels is sloppy.

    And for a guy asked for his legal opinion, he sure seems to volunteer a variety of other opinions…

  348. sauerkraut says:

    15 Wasilla Warrior Says: July 22nd, 2009 at 6:05 PM

    Cole should consider herself chosen to these various boards because she is qualified and not feel obligated to lie for Palin…she could come out of this smelling like a rose or a rotting fish.
    __________

    I vote for rotting fish.

  349. Wasilla Warrior says:

    Martha, you nailed it.

  350. anon blogger says:

    John #88, Todd is her closest adviser. He was allowed in the Governor’s Office, even in meetings and that was okay. Can’t have it both ways.

  351. zyggy says:

    some of us are in the chat room, come on over. =)

  352. Polly says:

    91 zyggy Says: Palin protesting so much about not taking any money from the Trust since that is what it was for? She’s lies like a dog,
    —-
    Yikes, please don’t offend dogs. (actually where did that saying come from? i don’t think of dogs as lying, perhaps lying around.)

  353. Lee323 @ #84,

    No, I envision a different scenario.

  354. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    I wouldn’t make any assumptions about the leak yet by what is written – we do not know the source or can we attest to good editing on the piece. Since I’ve been in Alaska with all this Palin crap going on, I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen erroneous information, for whatever reason, in the MSM reporting. Sometimes it’s glaring (many times only to Alaskans), sometimes it’s little things with big implications.

    It drives me nuts actually. Give me real investigative reporting any day. This rush rush rush of the media to maintain the news cycle we live with now causes a lot of problems with facts and things like that which are kind of important. The omission of pertinent information is as glaring as the botched information much of the time – when you are familiar with the news being discussed.

  355. tamara says:

    pacos_gal, Seagull JP,

    I’ll take the most recent videos of Van Flea and Cool K, post quitter speach. Could someone research the Mr&Mrs Greta quotes, with links etc ?

    That would already be a start.
    Could I suggest that all the links be grouped on the forum, though I don’t remember how to post on there, but I’ll try again (forgot my password).

  356. Wasilla Warrior says:

    I hope they all have to get sworn in under oath before it’s over, you know Palin will lie.
    She won’t be able to do anything else, admitting wrong doing is out of her scope – what with the mental illness and all…

  357. SystemBucker says:

    Okay, so Cole claims she hasn’t ‘spoken’ to Palin until yesterday…maybe she hasn’t actually talked with her, you know how busy, busy, busy the gov has been lately. But I bet there’s been plenty of e-mails and facebook messaging going on.

    Cole also claims that Palin has not received any of the money. That might be partly true, but I bet her attorney got some money directly from the Trustee Cole.

    Heck, Cole’s a realtor! She knows the semantics game!

    I’m learning to read between the lines with these crazy people!

  358. sauerkraut says:

    6 DrChill Says: July 22nd, 2009 at 5:55 PM

    And whats this about the tooth fairy ?
    ________

    She’s sitting here next to me happily eating a bowl of ice cream… says she doesn’t really want to go to AK until Sunday. …

  359. zyggy says:

    Why oh why is Palin protesting so much about not taking any money from the Trust since that is what it was for? She’s lies like a dog, but then again, everyone else around her is also too.

    If she wasn’t going to take any of the money, why did she allow the Trust to be set up? She’s a Grifter X 10.

    There is no getting out of this one, I see everyone throwing each other under bus. Yup I do. And if Van Flea has any balls, he’d drop his client NOW.

    I think this actually is the iceberg. =) The Iceberg Cometh, and it sure is purty.

    AKM, I hope you’re posting this thread on huff post, it needs to be said.

  360. sauerkraut says:

    You nail her chimpbutt to the wall, AKM. Kristan Cole lies like a rug. And that’s not unprecedented.

  361. John says:

    I think Sarah leaked it. No one was talking about her that day, so she had to do something to get in the news.

  362. Lower 48-er says:

    Oops … I thought my fish smell – salmon statement was an original, but #2 beat me to it!

  363. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    Glad that it will be reported tomorrow that someone on the Personnel Board leaked it. It exonerates Chapman, who has been wrongfully accused of the leak. Board member likely knew it would be thrown out and decided to leak it to the AP so it would get National exposure. Thank you Personnel Board member, whoever you are.

  364. John says:

    Cole never talked to Buttercup. She talked to Todd who passed messages between Buttercup and Cole.

  365. rebekkah says:

    This is good layout and easy now to understand. So, there seems to be many people who all claim different stories. No consistency here at all. John Coale (GVS’s husband) had some input on advising how to set up funds, Pac, and (not sure) but I think also the Alaska Fund Trust. How could SP NOT know of this?

    And, I recall Meg Stapleton once referring to either one in a statement, where she mentioned $5 donors who were giving from their heating bills (correct me if I’m wrong). And, Sarah had no knowledge of this? And, didn’t speak about this fund trust with her long-time friend, ever?

    She’s up a creek with no paddle.

  366. Polly says:

    76 SystemBucker Says: Of course, the Washington Times may not be reporting this accurately – who knows anymore, it’s all becoming very tangled!
    –”The Associated Press claims that outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be found guilty of violating her state’s ethics rules, citing a report leaked from the State Personnel Board on one of the 19 ethics complaints filed against her.”–
    ——
    67 Cassie Jeep Pike Palin brought up the point that the article says “leaked from” not “leaked by” the Personnel Board. So, the leaker may still be a mystery, but would be awesome if it were one of the PBs. Shows that they are starting to see the tangled web of deceit… maybe someone on the PB actually has a conscience.

  367. Lee323 says:

    52 Philip Munger Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 6:28 PM
    “The sooner, Sarah, Todd, Bristol Palin, Kristen Cole and a host of others are put under oath in a serious legal situation, the better.”
    ————————————-
    You mean like the time the Wasilla clan was put under oath for Troopergate last fall?

    You know….that other time of really getting-down-to-the-truthiness oath-taking.

    ‘Cause if my memory serves me right….there are unresolved questions of possible perjury from that session of oath-taking. Petumenos didn’t bother to ferret out that little snag….

    Why do I get a little jaundiced around the gills when “oath-taking” and “Palin” are mentioned in the same sentence?

  368. ocliberal says:

    One would think that somewhere along the line just one of them would learn that there are times when you just shouldn’t say anything.

    The Mark Twain adage was never more true as it is applies to one soon to be ex-Governor of Alaska and her loyal, yet hapless minions.

    It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

  369. pvazwindy says:

    I bet C.R.E.W is looking at this trust fund, and strategizing a move. This is what there all about, right?

  370. pacos_gal says:

    Seagull, I thought about it and when I pulled up a search, one of the first was a Burke/Cole interview and I felt ill at the thought of listening to it.
    Maybe if we hint more? 🙂

  371. Martha Unalaska Yard Sign says:

    OK, I’ve had it with these people. Kristan Cole, you are next in line for being slapped with a dead salmon! And guess what? The banana peels and dog poo come after that. Just keep that mouth open!

  372. anon blogger says:

    JHop – the complaint regarding the SarahPac was dismissed. Would SarahPac also violate the same statute?

  373. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    Seagull Junker Palin Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 6:34 PM
    (you know that photo of Todd & Sarah on the trust fund page? – stolen I say!)
    —————————————————-
    I have cracked their evil plan!

    The photo on the front page of the Alaska Fun Trust is flipped – so it’s not really them!

    I hope it’s not just some parallel-universe Palins . . . .

  374. Lower 48-er says:

    I smell something fishy and it’s not the salmon.

  375. austintx says:

    25 tm68 Says:
    And if the Valley was smart, they would boycott her real estate business on principle. Everyone should pull their houses listed with her off the market and find someone else to do business with.
    **********************************************************************
    Hopefully she is not like her mother and fleece a bunch of people and run off with the money.

  376. SystemBucker says:

    I posted this on the open thread…thought it was worth posting here as well.
    —————————————————
    Here’s an article in the Washington Times that says the State Personnel Board leaked the report to the AP. Who’s on the Board that would leak this info??? Of coarse, the Washington Times may not be reporting this accurately – who knows anymore, it’s all becoming very tangled!

    Oh Yeah, and on the right side of the article you won’t be able to miss the big Sarah PAC ad with it’s big donate button…I just found this amusing as I read the Ethics article.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/23/hot-button-34613253/

    –”The Associated Press claims that outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be found guilty of violating her state’s ethics rules, citing a report leaked from the State Personnel Board on one of the 19 ethics complaints filed against her.”–

  377. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    Pacos – I keep hinting for someone (not me!) to do it!!!

  378. KaJo says:

    Read The Brad Blog for a new wrinkle on this latest ethics violation/complaint filed:

    (an excerpt)

    Did Palin attorney defame an ethics complainant in recent statement?

    A brief, two paragraph statement [PDF] by the private attorney of Alaska’s very-soon-to-be-former Gov. Sarah Palin was posted on the governor’s official public state website on Monday.

    Attributed to “Thomas Van Flein — Personal Attorney for Governor Palin”, the statement posted to the Governor’s officially run state website at http://www.gov.state.ak.us decries the latest ethics complaint filed against Palin — alleging the improper disclosure of gifts and the receipt of free services — as an abuse of the state Ethics Act.

    That the official state website would be used to publicize the private response of Palin on Monday to another ethics charge is somewhat ironical, given Tuesday’s leak of a preliminary independent report [PDF] from a state ethics commission investigator finding “probable cause” that Palin’s “official” legal defense fund violated the Ethics Act in that it made use of her “official position for personal gain.”

    Citing Alaska Statute 39.52.120(a) which states that a “public officer may not use, or attempt to use, an official position for personal gain,” the state’s independent investigator, Thomas M. Daniel notes that “personal gain” is defined by law as “a benefit to a person’s or immediate family member’s personal interest or financial interest.”

    Does the use of the state’s website to publicize Palin’s personal attorney’s response to an official ethics complaint constitute the use of “an official position for personal gain”? Was the complainant allowed to post her attorney’s response to the complaint, or to Palin’s personal response to it, on the official Alaska state website? Of course not.

    Perhaps one more ethics complaint needs to be filed in Alaska before Palin quits her job as Governor this weekend.

    (I first posted this heads-up over @ Palingates, if you recognize the links and excerpt)

  379. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    I could just about join the cultists poised over their cauldron invoking curses upon Tom Daniel. If he’d done the job of investigating the slush fund then he should have had the guts to write it up instead of trying his best to gloss over the ugliness.

    He and Flea are no better than the Keystone Kops.

  380. pacos_gal says:

    Okay, I really hate to ask, but who is going to start listening to all those Cole, Van Flein and Palin interviews to verify what was said when?

    I have a headache just thinking about. 🙁

  381. tamara says:

    I have this vivid image of $P, nuckels in hears and $ signs in eyes, going lalala$$$$lalaa$$lalala, whatever you say, my little Flea, whatever you recommend my sweet Cool K, whatever you want my little Meggy Piggy. Don’t want to know about the $, Alaska comes first.

  382. Cassie Jeep Pike Palin says:

    Is this what a meltdown looks like?

  383. LIsabeth says:

    Pvazwindy

    Why would the personnel board leak the story? I must be missing something

  384. Village Reader says:

    Everyone involved with Palin are idiots. They are so full of self-importance and hairbrained views, they can’t even keep their stories straight. There is documentation disputing Palin and her BFF’s regarding the defense fund. Anyone in their right mind would know you can’t say one thing and act innocent the next day….. oh wait.. oops…Forgot we’re talking about Palin and crew. Never mind. Bottom line.. Palin’s stories have sprung so many leaks she can’t even keep her lies straight.

  385. SS says:

    I think that Fairbanks is her safe zone. There is a reason she needs to be there.

  386. Cassie Jeep Pike Palin says:

    Thanks–pacos_gal Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 6:31 PM
    ———————–
    But it says “leaked from”, not “leaked by” the Personnel Board. Obviously the letter was written to the PB, the question is who leaked it actually.

  387. pacos_gal says:

    Philip,

    I’m sure that Daniel would give a sworn statement as to what Cole told him in his interview with her. (ref. conferring with Palin)

    If as Mr. Coale stated, money Has been paid out of the fund, then that is a serious offense.
    Rob in Ca, said it was confirmed, that it was the Fund and not the Pac that Mr. Coale was speaking of.

  388. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    Sooooooo, Gov. Palin puts a letter from her private atty on the Gov. website to state that she doesn’t use the Gov-ship for personal gain.

    Then her BFF puts a letter stating that she has never spoken to Sarah Palin about the fund trust on Sarah Palin’s facebook page. (you know that photo of Todd & Sarah on the trust fund page? – stolen I say!)

    Complete whackjobbery

  389. Sorry – meant to say – that Ms. Cole is inserting all those feet. It’s a three for one deal.

  390. JRC says:

    I’m just stunned at amateurish way Palin’s administration, national image and now this huge trust fund has been mismanaged.

    The drama never seems to end.

  391. SS says:

    @ 48
    Alaska should say to them to stop lying. Obviously Alaska cared about cleaning up politics at one point. Isn’t that why she was voted in in the first place. The legislature,personel board and citizens really need to say enough this is not how WE roll! They need her to be accountable to the upmost and preserve their state integrity.

  392. Open mouth insert your foot, the governor’s foot, Stapelton’s foot….. this is so badly done it is just painful to watch, a terrible trainwreck in progress. It is so bad, it isn’t even entertaining….
    – If the ethics folks miss this one, things are going to get exceptionally serious.

  393. ocliberal says:

    There may not be an Easter bunny or a Santa Claus but every time AKM posts one of her amazing posts it is like Christmas!

  394. pacos_gal says:

    Nan, I just made a copy of the front page of SarahPac and Alaska Fund Trust pages.

  395. Cassie Jeep Pike Palin says:

    pvazwindy Says:

    is there a link to the Washington Times article?

  396. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    Professor G. 😀 I hope your get your wish.

  397. THAT is one of your best posts!
    BUSTED!!

  398. THAT is one of your best posts!
    BUSTED!!

  399. THAT is one of your best posts!
    BUSTED!!

  400. Another Canuck says:

    #33 CGinWI
    You are refering of course the The Pentagon Papers which were a United States of America release.. Ms Cole refers the the release of paper in the great Republic of Palin.. a whole different country thus this it it’s biggest.

  401. Jo says:

    Hmmmm…here’s an interesting portion of the Alaska Fund Trust agreement:
    Successor Trustees: In the event that the original named Trustee herein shall desire at any time to be relieved of his duties herein, said Trustee may resign by written notice to SARAH PALIN, who may appoint a successor Trustee with the qualifications set forth in paragraph 4 above. In addition, SARAH PALIN shall have the same power to appoint a substitute Trustee in the event of the death, incapacity, or failure to act in accordance with the terms of this instrument of any Trustee. In the event of SARAH PALIN’s inability to act as a result of incapacity or other reasonable cause, the proper legal representative of SARAH PALIN shall have the right and authority to seek the appointment of a substitute Trustee.

    But she has no knowledge of the trust or anything to do with it…

  402. JHop says:

    chat anyone?

  403. Professor Geezer says:

    TRIAL!

  404. The sooner, Sarah, Todd, Bristol Palin, Kristen Cole and a host of others are put under oath in a serious legal situation, the better.

  405. John says:

    She has no time to spend on governing because she spends it all on ethics complaints, late night comedians, and bloggers who post pictures of Eddie Burke being held in her arms.

  406. SS says:

    @46
    you mean the Meet and Greet tours are not governing?

  407. Polly says:

    43 Team Alaska Says: Sounds like the Parnel picnic on the 25th is going to be a festive affair. I wonder if the national media will be invited for some mouse chili and Gino’s word salad.

    Probably why Murdoch’s plane is in Alaska? Fox News is in the state? Someone wrote a letter to the editor (ADN/7/23 Letters already up) that Parnell’s oath should have been in Juneau, where Governor’s usually get sworn in. Why did Palin choose Fbks? – BTW, is it a typo or did you really mean “mouse” chili?? — lol

  408. LIsabeth says:

    They are total liars!! Thisvis similar to when Sarah wanted to lie about Todd being a member of the AIP. You know in thar Schmidt emails where he told her no. Are they stupid or do they just think we are all stupid.
    This infuriates me that they think they can just worm their way out of this!
    They are CONARTISTS.
    Is there anything we can do to stop them from pulling this and getting away with it?? It is great AKM wrote this out so clearly but will Daniels or the personnel board say to Sarah “stop lying”
    I don’t think so.

  409. anon blogger says:

    So, who authorized SarahPac to reference and/or divert monies to the legal fund????

  410. ocliberal says:

    And I bet Ms. Cole just decided to write that lil old letter all on her own. I’m sure her BFF didn’t have anything to do with that at all.

    The more they doth protest though it really does leave one wondering, how bad is it?

    And if the PPB (Personal Personnel Board) leaked the letter, what does that say????? Is it a crazy kamikaze strategy to get the complaint thrown out? Or is someone on the PPB thinking they are the next to be thrown under the bus and is doing some preemptive CYA’ing?

    You really can’t make this stuff up.

    Something else I’ve wondered about. Does Sarah Palin ever do any governing or mothering? I mean seriously, between twittering, hair appointments, pedicures, lawyer appointments and sign language sessions with her BFF (since they can’t ‘talk’ to each other) when does she have the time do anything else?

  411. Candy Knight says:

    Goodness, you’re not suggesting that $arah and her minions are LYING, are you?

  412. Polly says:

    30 John Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 6:14 PM
    Palin is the beneficiary of the Alaska Fund Trust. Cole is in charge of that trust. It would be irresponsible for her to have not even mentioned the existence of the trust to Palin before yesterday.

    I hope the rest of Alaska and the country have the common sense to see this plain and simple. Anyone in their right mind would know that Cole had to have at least mentioned it before yesterday. Geez!

  413. Team Alaska says:

    Lair lair pants on fire.

    Sounds like the Parnel picnic on the 25th is going to be a festive affair. I wonder if the national media will be invited for some mouse chili and Gino’s word salad.

  414. curiouser says:

    38 BigSlick – That was one great catch!

  415. Wasilla Warrior says:

    I just read Ms. Cole’s letter on Facebook I hope she can take a hit…I hear that bus coming round the bend.

  416. curiouser says:

    AKM – The mudflats time machine trip was a fun ride with the twists and bumps and enlightenment all along the way.

  417. aeroentropy says:

    Headbangery!

  418. BigSlick says:

    And here is what I find hilarious – by posting Kristan Cole’s letter on Sarah’s own Facebook site, Sarah crosses the line again by taking action related to the AFT.

    Lie upon lie, layer upon layer of lie upon lie, no wonder her hair is thinning.

  419. the problem child says:

    I think this is worth sharing one more time:
    —————
    Okay, the Jon Givens who appears to be the trust’s lawyer (appeared at press conf. w/ Kristen Cole (thanks, tamara)) is a partner with the law firm that represents the Mat-Su Valley Board of Realtors and ReMax Properties, Inc..
    http://www.lawyers.com/Alaska/Anchorage/Bankston-Gronning-OHara,-P.C.-37887-f.html?

    Wonder whose interests he is really representing (hint: Re-Max Wasilla is Kristen Cole.)
    ———————-
    I am particulary disturbed about the fact that there has been clear oversight from Palin and her minions about how everything has been set up.

  420. Professor Geezer says:

    I smell a TRIAL!

  421. John says:

    I agree with tm68. To lie about something that is so obviously false……I think I need to go look up the DSM IV definitions of pathological liar and compulsive liar.

  422. Nan (aka roswellborn) says:

    Just curious if anyone has “captured” the PAC page yet.

  423. CGinWI says:

    “…the contents of which are unprecedented in the history of our country.”

    Ummm, Pentagon Papers?

  424. Aussie Blue Sky says:

    Oh, I’ll bet Mrs Palin was shocked when she found out about the Alaska Fun Trust yesterday!

    Shocked, I tell ya . . . . .

  425. tm68 says:

    Seriously, this level of lying is truly pathological. To lie to something that can so easily be proven to the contrary is insanity. They are not right in the head. Normal people are simply not that self-destructive, nor consider the average person to be that blind.

  426. John says:

    Palin is the beneficiary of the Alaska Fund Trust. Cole is in charge of that trust. It would be irresponsible for her to have not even mentioned the existence of the trust to Palin before yesterday.

  427. Terpsichore says:

    10 Lori in Los Angeles Says:
    July 22nd, 2009 at 5:59 PM
    I, too wondered WHO asked you Kristen? WHO? And Cole also accuses Kim Chapman of the leak, without any evidence. I hope Chapman sues Van Flien and Cole for defamation.
    * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * *
    Maybe Shannyn can e-mail her the phone numbers of some pro bono lawyers …

  428. BigSlick says:

    Wow, I predict there will also be plenty of perjury charges to go around when all is said and done.

  429. Nan (aka roswellborn) says:

    It seems as if she’s also thrown “Mr Greta” (thank you, Donna) – Coale? – under that infamous bus, too. Didn’t he just say a day or so ago that “almost all the legal bills have been paid” – ?

    wow. Just – wow.

  430. mhrt says:

    These people need a time machine ..back to the 50s ..when there were no video,internet or camera phones. they still do not get it that anything they say has been captured somewhere.

  431. tm68 says:

    I am so appalled that this Cole woman is lying through her teeth like this! Is she kidding me? The LINK is on Palin’s PAC page and Palin had no clue that the fund existed? I am so utterly offended that they think we are this stupid. Kristin Cole is in CYA mode big time. If she was smart, she’d bale on the Good Ship Palin before she goes down in flames with it.

    And if the Valley was smart, they would boycott her real estate business on principle. Everyone should pull their houses listed with her off the market and find someone else to do business with.

    There is one down the street from me. Think anyone would notice if I drew a mustache on her!? LOL Oh god, I’ve been spending too much time reading about Palin’s middle school behavior- it’s rubbing off…

  432. pvazwindy says:

    Tomorrow’s Washington Times is reporting that the leaker-was the personnel board.

  433. Seagull Junker Palin says:

    Cole did an interview along with Van Flein with Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC. You know, when they were @ Lake Lucille….they spoke specifically of the Fund Trust.

  434. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    Here is Kristen Cole’s entire letter:

    http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=106658938434&ref=mf

    I loved this line: “What was the reason for my involvement? The preliminary letter suggests that perhaps I served as Trustee so I could get some job with the state. This is amazingly wrong and so incredibly hurtful.”

    Like what Kristin? A job being in charge of the Wasilla Dairy perhaps?
    A job on the board of the Royalty Oil and Gas Commission perhaps?
    Gee, why would we think you might get some job with the State?

  435. Cassie Jeep Pike Palin says:

    Lies will always trip you up, my grandmother always said.

    The trouble ALWAYS is that you can’t quite remember exactly what it was you said..

    But the old “innertubes” make a permanent record now.

    Also, too, I think that the letter leaked to our Canadian neighbors that our founding fathers wrote to the colonies ( and which differed from the one given to the Canadians on the issue of religion) in an effort to enlist their support in the American Revolution, might be a little more important that this report, Ms. Cole.

    But that’s just my opinion…

  436. ocliberal says:

    I think Kristi should do her BFF a really big favor and release financial reports showing how much money is in the fund and how much money has been paid out of the fund and to whom money was paid. I’m sure that would help to give us all the warm fuzzies that everything is on the up and up.

    And in regards to Sarah’s BFF saying:

    The first and only time I have spoken with the Governor about the Trust was yesterday to alert her that I was responding to this violation of the law and leak of preliminary and confidential materials from the complaint.

    All I can say to that is…

    I mean like seriously Kristi – How stupid do they think we are??????

    But I can tell Kristy and Sarah are BFF’s. The both subscribe to philosophy that the best defense is to try and blow everyone away with gibberish and lies and hope no one notices that nothing they say makes any sense at all.

  437. SS says:

    Good point greytdog @13

    “Has Palin or Cole or any of their chums filed papers to establish a 501(c)(3)? Cuz that’s where the Alaska Trust Fund money is going to go.”

    Someone should look and keep looking to see what new 501(c)(3) have been filed

  438. pacos_gal says:

    Palin and Cole’s own words come back to haunt them. Her 3 page letter will not stand up in a court of law, because they have both said too much in interviews and on camera for this last chance letter to be believable.
    In fact, in the interview with the investigator, Daniel, Cole herself, refuted her own words now “She also stated, however, that the governor gave her approval to create the trust as the “official” legal defense fund for the governor and authorized the use of her photograph on the the trust’s website.”

    I’m sure he will get a written affidavit to that fact, since it is in the report.

  439. Donna says:

    but…but…I thought Mr. Greta said he had advised her on it. How can you not know of something about which you have been advised?

  440. jojobo1 says:

    Will be interesting to see how this all turns out.Also how the old Lt Governor governs.Will he also think he is above the law like Palin does JMO

  441. Wasilla Warrior says:

    Great piece ! Questions that must be asked ! Being a valley girl it’s a shame to see
    former Miss Alaska, and well known business woman Kristan Cole getting pulled down into the muck with her unscrupulous friend Governor Palin. Prior to Palin’s lying and honesty problems, Ms. Cole has had an excellent reputation in the valley and many considered her for elected office in the future, I hope she considers all of that before she falls to heavily on her sword for Palin…Once the lying the starts there is no turning back…it’s a shame, really.
    Cole should consider herself chosen to these various boards because she is qualified and not feel obligated to lie for Palin…she could come out of this smelling like a rose or a rotting fish.

  442. Terpsichore says:

    Pardon my vernacular, but what a pile of horsesh!t

    Oh, and thanks AKM for digging up the “money quote” from Daniel (i.e., his giving her a way out).

    That’s what they’ve been doing since 7/14, sitting around in their little Star Chamber, stratgizing what to do and deciding who has to go under the bus.

    Question: If Meg Stapleton, Palin’s spokesperson says something in that capacity, isn’t it taken as given that that’s what Palin said?

    Dig up any quotes of Meg, speaking on behalf of the soon-to-be ex-Gov., regarding the AFT. Could be useful.

    Man, poor Sarah didn’t know all these people were doing this stuff illegally and putting her at risk? Boy, she’s gonna need some supersized bus to throw Kristan, Meg, and Van Flein under!

  443. Greytdog Δ says:

    Has Palin or Cole or any of their chums filed papers to establish a 501(c)(3)? Cuz that’s where the Alaska Trust Fund money is going to go. . .a non profit run by Palin to “progress this country” and she’ll be speechifying all over the place. . .but that trust fund money is the seed money. . .maybe they’ll buy her a jet to fly around in. . .

  444. anon blogger says:

    Cole did an interview a week or so ago on MSNBC. Can’t remember the subject, but I bet she had Palin’s okay for that interview.

  445. M. Bergert says:

    Great research! Now I hope the other news outlets pick this up and spead the information to others. It is very damaging and again demonstrates how much Sarah lies.

  446. Lori in Los Angeles says:

    I, too wondered WHO asked you Kristen? WHO? And Cole also accuses Kim Chapman of the leak, without any evidence. I hope Chapman sues Van Flien and Cole for defamation.

  447. SS says:

    Sarah says jump and they jump!

  448. anon blogger says:

    The SarahPac ethics complaint was dismissed by the Personnel Board. That is exactly the same as the Alaska Legal Fund, is it not?? Is that the reason why the recent report fell into the hands of the press?? Before it went to the Personnel Board to be dismissed maybe??

    SarahPAC is a different entity than the Alaska Fund Trust. The SarahPAC ethics complaint was investigated by Tom Daniel and was dismissed by the Personnel Board. The rules governing the PAC which is set up in Virginia (I believe) are different than the rules governing the defense fund, and this complaint was also investigated by Tom Daniel, but found to have merit. AKM

  449. Physicsmom says:

    Maybe she was asked by the Easter Bunny.

  450. DrChill says:

    Its a good thing she only uses state emails, because now we have access to the complete truth.

    And whats this about the tooth fairy ?

  451. justafarmer says:

    eeewwww

  452. nswfm CA says:

    from the last thead:
    When I get home, I’m having a drink to Andree and all the other Alaskan role models for civic activism, complainants and bloggers included. Then on Sat and Sunday, I’m having another drink as in “Ding Dong, the Witch is DEAD!”

    And any atheists, like Gryphen, I’m having another one for you! Please leave religion out of the American Government.

    Thanks to all of you.
    —–
    and you especially, AKM.

  453. nswfm CA says:

    AK, please kick her in the a$$ on the way out. What an F’ing liar. Like people are too stupid to go to a library or the GOOGLE! Jaysus!

  454. CorningNY says:

    As usual, something here smells fishy–and it’s not all the salmon drying. These people couldn’t tell the truth to save their lives.

  455. Nebraska Native says:

    Oh my. Curiouser and curiouser…