Palin faces more ethics charges related to per diems

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Friday July 10, 2009 · 6:16 AM PDT

2009/07/10 · 06:16

Remember how Sarah Palin claims she was driven out of office by the costs of responding to ethics complaints? Well, Sarah better pull out the checkbook--she's got another one.

If Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin thought her decision to step down might end ethics accusations against her, she quickly found out she was wrong.

Just days after her bombshell resignation announcement, a new ethics complaint was filed with state authorities arguing that she should not be able to claim per diem funds when she stays at her Wasilla, Alaska, home instead of Anchorage or Juneau, where she has offices. The complaint says she was charging the state when she stayed in Wasilla and commuted to her offices.

Palin's per diems aren't a new issue for us. Last year, it emerged that Palin might not have reported her per diems as income, as required (h/t to clammyc). Indeed, earlier this year, Alaska officials ruled Palin owed $19,500 in taxes on those per diems.

According to a WaPo story on Wednesday, Palin might be violating Alaska law by taking those per diems.

State policy allows for reimbursement if a state official must travel 50 miles or more from his or her home for state business. Palin's lakeside home in Wasilla and the state office building in Anchorage are about 45 miles apart.

Five miles may not be much to you, but when you consider Palin bills herself as a champion of open and ethical government, it's pretty significant.

Keep this one filed away in case Palin's foolish enough to run for president in 2012.

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