Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:45 pm
The soap opera that is Gov. Sarah Palin’s political career took another turn late today as Palin has been forced to tell her supporters not to donate to an unofficial legal defense fund, because she is legally not allowed to accept the donations. You would have thought that her supporters might have checked the law, before they set up the website and the fund, but apparently they are as smart as she is.
The unofficial legal defense fund was set up by Clayton Paslay, who runs the Free American Citizens PAC. The organizers had contended that the fund is legal. The Sarah Palin Blog posted that, “It is legal. It’s just not the official one. Please tell people that the official one is soon to come. Again, we do not know that donors will comply with our terms and guidelines which are very strict – we may end up needing to contact every single donor to ask the questions that we will be asking. However, we appreciate any and all assistance! Thank you.”
Apparently it wasn’t quite legal enough because Meghan Stapleton, a Palin family spokesperson, sent out a statement through SarahPAC that told her supporters not to donate to the unofficial fund, “The continuing generosity of Alaskans and Americans is overwhelming as many reach out to assist Governor Sarah Palin and her family with their legal bills. However, the official legal defense fund for Governor Sarah Palin has not been formed and the Governor cannot accept monies for those obligations from any other entity than the one in formation. Numerous federal and state laws need to be abided by and the official legal defense fund will have very strict donation guidelines. We thank everyone interested in helping the Governor. The best way to assist her will be through this official fund which will launch later this month.”
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I guess somebody didn’t fully examine the law before they set up this fund. It is nice to see that Palin’s supporters are just as clueless as she is. How these morons could set up a fund, and tell Palin’s supporters that it is legal, when obviously they didn’t do their full diligence is beyond me. Of course, the idea for this legal defense came from Bill O’Reilly which should have been a big red flag to all involved, as the next good idea that O’Reilly has will be his first.
If I was Palin, I would flattered by the gesture, but also breathing a sigh of relief, because I just avoided another ethical landmine. However, since Palin and ethical problems go together like peanut butter and jelly, it is a pretty safe bet that there will be more problems in her future.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
