Sarah Palin=Kwame Kilpatrick

Members of Governor Sarah Palin's staff and her husband, Todd Palin, who is not employed by the State of Alaska, have declared that they will not comply with subpoenas to testify before a State Legislature investigation into allegations that Palin wrongfully terminated the state public safety commissioner. Failure to comply with a State Legislature subpoena is a crime in Alaska punishable by a fine up to $500 and up to six months in jail.

That's right. Palin's husband and her staff members, at her encouragement, are committing a crime.

Glenn Greenwald:

It ought to be striking to read an article that reports this:

(a) X is illegal under the law, punishable with fines and prison;

(b) Political official P just announced that s/he will do X;

(c) The reason is that P knows there will be no consequences for X.

That's the elimination of the rule of law and core democratic processes expressed in elementary logical terms, and that's what the AP just reported yesterday about the Palins' refusal to comply with subpoenas, and what media outlets have been reporting for years about what Bush officials have done. But it's not striking. It's now the standard way our lawless government functions.

Reasonable people can disagree about Troopergate, and whether an investigation should in itself disqualify someone from running for public office. The fact remains, however, that whether or not Palin committed a crime in firing Walt Monegan, she is currently engaged in the commission of a crime by obstructing the State Legislature's investigation and by telling her staff to do the same.

It's striking that McCain would select as his Vice-Presidential nominee a person who was under active investigation for misconduct in office. It is unforgivable (even if his own campaign is not behind efforts to actively interfere with the investigation) that he lets her remain on the ticket.