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WASHINGTON - Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin on Saturday flatly denied the veracity of an Alaska state probe finding that she abused her power as the state's governor.
Asked if the charge were true, Palin told CNN television "No, and if you read the report you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about it. You have to read the report."
A probe by Alaska's Legislative Council out Friday concluded that Palin had violated ethics rules for public officials by allowing her husband, Todd Palin, to use her office to press officials to fire her former brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten.
"Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda ... to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired," read a section of the 263-page report.
"She had the authority and power to require Mr Palin to cease contacting subordinates, but she failed to act," the report added.
A Republican-dominated bi-partisan committee launched the investigation following Palin's decision to sack Alaska public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in July.
The inquiry found that although Palin was within her rights as Alaska governor to dismiss Monegan, she had breached ethics rules by allowing her husband to badger officials into firing Wooten.
Monegan claimed he was fired because of his refusal to sack Wooten, who had been involved in an acrimonious divorce with Palin's younger sister in 2005.
Meanwhile Democrat Barack Obama opened a double-digit lead over Republican rival John McCain in a key opinion poll Saturday.
Just over three weeks from the November 4 vote, Obama leads McCain 52 percent to 41 percent among registered voters, according to the latest survey conducted by Newsweek magazine.
A similar poll a month ago showed the two candidates tied at 46 percent.
- AFP /ls
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