By: Ben Smith

Capping a bad week, Alaska legislators give Palin the courtesy, at least, of a Friday night release for that state’s version of troopergate, with a long report (.pdf) that finds she "abused her power" and violated an Alaska ethics statute in getting a trooper fired, but was within her rights to fire her top cop.

Perhaps equally damning, the report essentially accuses Palin of dishonesty. It also contradicts the best Palin spin, which isn’t about the details but about the big picture: That she and her family were afraid of the fired trooper, who had allegedly abused her sister. The evidence is "inconsistent with such claims of fear," Branchflower writes, adding that the allegation of fear was "not bona fide."

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