Palin under probe for police chief's firing

Washington: Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, is an ethics reformer under an ethics investigation that is ploughing through private domestic matters.

Palin is under investigation to determine whether she pressured and then fired the state police chief in July because he refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law.

At the time, the governor's younger sister was involved in a bitter divorce and child custody dispute with the man, a state trooper. A bipartisan committee of the state legislature voted unanimously to hire a retired prosecutor to investigate. His report is due in October.

Troopergate

The firing of state Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan has unearthed a stream of private details about the governor, her husband and her family. The state probe is also focusing on a half-dozen top state officials accused of trying to drive trooper Mike Wooten from the force.

Critics say the episode - dubbed Troopergate in Alaska - cuts against Palin's reputation as an ethics crusader who holds even her own party accountable. "It undercuts one of the points they are making that she is an ethical reformer," said state Senator Hollis French, a Democrat who is managing the $100,000 (Dh367,000) investigation.

The McCain campaign supported Palin, saying: "Governor Palin has been fully cooperative in this situation and has nothing to hide. She has been a leader and proven reformer, demanding accountability and transparency from Alaska's government which resulted in landmark ethics legislation."

Profile: Not just a pretty face

• A former beauty queen who has been dubbed "America's Hottest Governor," Sarah Palin has nevertheless demonstrated during a meteoric political career that she is more than just a pretty face.
• The 44-year-old mother of five is a conservative opponent of abortion.
• In December 2006, she became the youngest person ever to hold Alaska's governorship.