Legal News

Sarah Palin Becomes the Latest Pol to Create a Legal-Defense Fund

By Amir Efrati

Okay, we admit it: Whether she flexes her pardon muscles, defends her First Amendment rights, or nominates a friend to a top legal job in Alaska, the Law Blog enjoys writing about former GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin’s forays into the world of law.

So we were tickled pink when we read this morning that the Alaska governor’s biggest supporters are setting up a legal-defense fund for her. Why would they do that? To help pay old legal bills, deal with recent ethics complaints against her and, according to this WSJ story, perhaps give her a political boost. Click here for the fund’s Web site.

Palin has about $500,000 of legal debts, stemming in part from investigations into efforts to fire an Alaska state trooper who was her former brother-in-law. A legislative investigation found that Gov. Palin abused her power in the matter, but a subsequent investigation by the state Personnel Board concluded she could not be held responsible.

There’s more. About a dozen new ethics complaints, labeled frivolous by her supporters, have been filed against Palin in the past four months. Some of the complaints are perplexing: one says Palin improperly benefited personally by speaking at a recent anti-abortion dinner in Indiana.

The move by Palin supporters comes after several private citizens tried setting up alleged legal-defense funds for Palin that she didn’t officially sanction. Donations to the official fund will be capped at $150, and the names of donors, dates and contribution amounts will be made public.

WSJ says such funds have become increasingly common as scrutiny of politicians has intensified. While helping officials to rally supporters, the accounts also have been a source of controversy, in part because they are sometimes lightly regulated relative to campaign funds. (The Web site for Palin’s fund links to legal-defense funds for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. John Kerry)

Seems like there are legal-defense funds for just about anything these days, including comic books and farmers who want to protect their constitutional right to sell food directly to consumers.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on April 24, 2009 (boomark / email).