Trust in the works for Palin defense

WASILLA — With ethics complaints continuing apace, supporters of Gov. Sarah Palin have decided to set up a legal defense fund for her.

The Alaska Fund Trust, which goes live on the Web this morning, will accept donations of up to $150 per person to help pay down Palin’s legal fees.

According to Kristan Cole, the trust’s sole trustee and first contributor, those legal expenses have risen to $500,000 — all money the governor is liable for herself. The state doesn’t pay her attorney’s fees in ethics cases.

Cole said Thursday that, in her mind, most of the complaints have been frivolous.

“The governor’s not independently wealthy like a lot of politicians are,” Cole said. “I really think that’s why they’ve attacked her this way, to distract her, to bankrupt her.”

Cole’s position is of a piece with that of the governor’s office. In a response to the latest ethics complaint — that Palin’s trip to speak at an anti-abortion dinner and her work with the SarahPAC political action committee violated ethics rules — Mike Nizich, the governor’s chief of staff called the complaints “almost criminal.”

“Governor Palin has spent a considerable amount of time and money fighting ethics complaints, and no charge has been substantiated. I hope the publicity-seekers will face a backlash from Alaskans who have a sense of fair play and proportion,” Nizich wrote in a press release.

Recent ethics charges that have made headlines included complaints that the governor brought her children along on state trips and that she wore Arctic Cat gear to watch the Iron Dog snowmachine race in which her husband was a participant. Arctic Cat is one of Todd Palin’s sponsors.

“An objective person can look at that and see exactly what’s going on,” Cole said.

And, Cole said, she and others like her got together and came up with a way to fight back, so the ethics complaints don’t distract or bankrupt the governor.

She said the fund is similar to ones set up for other politicians, citing John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Ted Stevens.

But the rules of the Alaska Fund Trust, she said, are decidedly strict. Unlike other funds, the money can only go to legal expenses. Unlike other funds, donators have to be private, U.S. citizens and can’t be lobbyists.

She said plans are being put in place to make public all the contributors and when they donated as well as all the expenses that have been paid out.

“That’s not a requirement. It’s something that we’re choosing to do,” Cole said.

As for start-up costs, Cole said most have yet to be paid. The Alaska Trust Company, which will administer the fund, is waiting for the fund to get going before it gets paid.

“The gentleman who helped design the Web site out of Anchorage hasn’t been paid yet,” she said.

Thursday, Cole said, the plan was to have the Web site up and running starting in the wee hours of Friday morning. That Web address is: thealaskafundtrust.com. Inquiries can be sent to media@alaskafundtrust.com or PO Box 87954, Wasilla Alaska, 99687.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.