Public investigation clears the air, Palin says

Some are calling local Republican Sarah Palin a whistle blower for forwarding complaints about questionable ethical behavior on the part of fellow Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commissioner Randy Ruedrich to the Department of Law. She says the decision has not made her popular among party leaders, but she had to act on her conscience.

"Like I preach to my kids every day, you've got to do the right thing," Palin said Thursday. "Despite the consequences, I'd do it over again -- I wouldn't have swept their concerns under the rug."

Palin said the one thing she would have changed is that she would have liked to have seen the matter become public months ago.

"The longer it was held, the more damage was done," Palin said. "That was not fair to Alaskans, who had been very concerned about the issues AOGCC worked on, and was most unfair to AOGCC staffers, who have a lot of integrity. The technical staff members are above reproach in not allowing partisan politics to taint their work product."

Palin said she was not motivated by any ill feelings toward Ruedrich, who is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the the law department.

"It never was, and still isn't a Sarah versus Randy issue," she said. "He is the chair of the party of which I am a part."

That didn't mean she could simply not act, she said. As commission chair, she said, it was part of her job duty to make sure complaints brought forward by staff were heard.

"You know what you're getting into when you take a job with the state government and you're working on a shared server in a public building," Palin said. "You shouldn't expect these blanket privileges providing that you can do anything you want to do and not expect to get caught."

Palin said she feels the delay in making the investigation public cast doubts on the ethical fortitude of her and others involved with AOGCC. She said she had been pushing for the matter to be public shortly after an investigation began, and she mentioned when she resigned in January from the commission that she was frustrated at not being able to speak about matters that would clear the cloud over the commission.

"I feel like I can start defending again, the AOGCC personnel," Palin said. "I am sure there will be ramifications, but I'm not one to, and never would, sweep things under the rug."