Message to Kristan Cole: It's time to release the records of Sarah Palin's Alaska Fund Trust! - UPDATE!

John McCain recently had a great idea!

He put a running clock on his website, with the question:

"When will Hayworth release the names of his Secret Abramoff Trust Fund donors?"

Well, we don't know the answer either, and we don't really care who has donated to teabagger Hayworth.

But John inspired us and we thought that we at Palingates should have a clock, too!

Why? Because Sarah Palin's best friend Kristan Cheryl Cole is now 249 days overdue with disclosing "the contributions as well as the amounts and categories of expenses" of the "Alaska Fund Trust", Sarah's "legal defense fund". Kristan Cole is the trustee of this fund, and she is obliged to make the disclosure on a quarterly basis, according to the Trust Agreement -from the FAQ:

"8. Will there be any disclosure of contributions and expenses?

Yes. The Trustee will disclose on a quarterly basis the contributions as well as categories of expenses with amounts."

The Alaska Fund Trust was set up on April 22, 2009. The first report was therefore due on July 23, 2009. That's when we start our sweet clock:

Coincidentally, Kristan Cole made a public statement on July 22, 2009 - but this statement had nothing to do with her obligation to release the quarterly report.

Kristan Cole was forced to speak in public after the report of the attorney Thomas Daniel was leaked to the media. He was the investigator for the Alaska Personnel Board during the investigation of Kim Chatman's ethics complaint. Kristan Cole denied that Palin was "involved" in the Alaska Trust Fund. Sure! I think we believe in the Easter bunny as well! Back in July 2009, Mudflats published an excellent article questioning these statements of Kristan Cole.

Investigator Daniel reported that there is "probable cause to believe Palin used or attempted to use her official position for personal gain because she authorized the creation of the trust as the "official" legal defense fund." Download Daniel's original report HERE.

Since then - silence!

However, it's worth to take a closer look at the Alaska Trust Fund again.

It has been noted before that Sarah's practical "Legal Defense Fund" is in fact nothing more than a handy slush-fund for her and her family. The "Trust Agreement" leaves no open questions in this respect:

"3. Rights of Withdrawal

a) Each of the beneficiaries of this trust, shall, in each calendar year, have an absolute and unrestricted power to withdraw from this Trust up to the lesser of the total additions made to this Trust during each calendar year or an amount in cash or other property (including the cash value of life insurance policies, if no other cash or property is available) equal the lesser of the total additions made to this Trust during each calendar year, divided equally among such beneficiaries, or an amount in cash or other property (including the cash value of life insurance policies, if no other cash or property is available) equal to the maximum amount which qualifies for the Federal Gift Tax exclusion allowed by Section 2503(b) of the Code (currently $13,000 per donor, but such amount shall be adjusted to provide the maximum amount excludable) presuming that a donor's spouse, if any, has consented to treat any such eligible gifts as being made one-half by such donor and one-half by such donor's spouse. The holder(s) of such power are hereinafter referred to as "Donee". Except as otherwise provided herein, said power of withdrawal shall not be cumulative from year to year, must be exercised separately for each calendar year in which any such addition or additions are made, and shall be exercisable only by written notice to Trustee of the amount Donee wishes to withdraw, but no purpose for said withdrawal need be shown.

4. Beneficiary.

The beneficiaries of this Trust shall be SARAH PALIN. In addition, the class of potential beneficiaries shall include any "Covered Individual. For purposes hereof, a "Covered Individual shall be any other person determined by the Trustee, in the Trustee's sole and absolute discretion, to (i) hold a "covered staff' position within SARAH PALIN's administration and/or an employee in the office of the Governor of the State of Alaska; and (ii) hold a covered relationship with SARAH PALIN, including without limitation, a family member, such as a parent, spouse, child, grandchild, sibling and other close family relationship. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, in no event shall anyone other than the Trustee exercise control over the Trust property and, in no event shall any beneficiary receive tangible or intangible benefit from the Trust other than such benefit that is incident to or may have arisen out of the defraying, payment, or satisfaction of expenses as provided herein."

So: Sarah's whole family and other people can be granted to right to withdraw money - and "no purpose for the withdrawal need to be shown". How useful! A grifters dream. Regina published a detailed article about this topic on Palingates in July 2009 and about possible criminal consequences, which is worth to be revisited. Back then, Regina came to the conclusion:

"The website soliciting donations states that the money raised will be used only to pay certain legal expenses. The agreement says no such thing. The website states the money cannot be used for personal purposes. The agreement contains a clause that says otherwise."

So where are the quarterly reports? Kristan Cole doesn't need the permission of anybody else to release the reports, the "Trust Agreement" is clear in this respect:

"The Trustee is authorized and directed to release the amounts and categories of expenditures for the benefit of any beneficiary hereunder and the public on a quarterly basis."

Kristan Cheryl Cole: What are you waiting for?

Also: What happened to Kim Chatman's ethics complaint? Since July 2009, the public has heard nothing with regard to the outcome of the ethics complaint, despite the grave concerns of investigator Thomas Daniel. Do we need another clock?

Investigator Thomas Daniel expressed grave concerns in his report about the choice of Kristan Cole to become the Trustee:

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In addition, something else caught our eye.

In FAQ of the Trust, we also read:

"10. Where does the unspent money go?

Once the purposes of the Trust no longer exist, the Trustee, in her sole discretion, will donate unspent funds to qualified 501 (c)(3) organizations."

So, we asked ourselves: What exactly is a "501(c)(3) organization"?

Wikipedia knows - the general definition:

"Colloquially, a 501(c) organization or simply "a 501(c)" is a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation or association. Section 501(c) of the United States Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)), provides that 26 types of nonprofit organizations are exempt from some federal income taxes. Sections 503 through 505 set out the requirements for attaining such exemptions. Many states refer to Section 501(c) for definitions of organizations exempt from state taxation as well."

501(c)(3) in particular means: "Religious, Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary, Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals Organizations"

We found this extremely interesting - and I will tell you why: We recently learned from a reliable source in Alaska that the Palins set up an educational fund for Tripp, and they are directing some of their income to this fund - for example the $ 100,000 that Bristol received for her cover story in "In Touch" magazine! Our information is that this fund is supposed to pay Tripp's college/university expenses in the future.

So - can it be that some of the money of the Alaskan Fund Trust will eventually go in the trust for Tripp or in similar channels that the Palins have created? After all, they are very creative regarding their money affairs, with the invaluable assistance of Sarah's busy lawyer Thomas Van Flein, who is the "registered agent" of Sarah's mystery company "Pie Spy" as well as of Bristol's mystery company "BSMP".

EDIT: We just learned that 501(c)(3) can only benefit an organization, therefore the theory that it could benefit Tripp's educational fund is apparently not valid. Many thanks to our reader "AuntieRuth"!

Our second theory is, by the way, that Sarah Palin will eventually set up her own charitable organization which will then receive the money. ;-)

Kristan Cole, publish the reports! After all, you have nothing to hide, right?

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UPDATE:

Our reader "mxm" has left a very interesting comment, which I would like to add to the post for the discussion. I would also like to point out that the Alaska Trust Fund is still accepting donations via PayPal (some of our readers made test donations today via PayPal - it worked!). Due to the lack of information and disclosure, we can only speculate what the current situation is with the Alaska Fund Trust. However, we do have Kristan Cole's own statement from July 22, 2009, in which she says:

"I am here to address the unusual letter that was leaked yesterday, the contents of which are unprecedented in the history of our country, suggesting that a legal defense fund could somehow be unethical. This is particularly notable, and concerning, in light of the fact that the Trust, on my instructions, has not paid even one penny to Gov. Palin or her lawyers. I issued that instruction because I was aware the Board was reviewing this matter."

Here is the comment by "mxm":

Kristan Cole is the sole Trustee, and as such she made commitments to the donors to provide quarterly reports. Anything related to trust fund use is under the sole discretion of Trustee Cole. As she has not released any reports in the nearly 12 month duration of the the trust, one has to search out sources of information related to the AFT cash flow. This is what I have found, 2 critical pieces of information:

(1) The bots conducted a webathon for the fund, and reported raising in excess of $115,000.

"You have already achieved 23% of our goal to retire $500,000 in legal bills that Governor Palin is held personally responsible ..."

(2) SarahPAC paid some interesting legal invoices.

The Alaska legal firm Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen submitted 3 invoices to the PAC.

12/08/2009
Legal Services, Political Services, June
$45,000

12/08/2009
Legal Services, September
$10,000

12/08/2009
Legal Services November
$10,000

Attorneys with Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, and Tiemessen must have a greater degree of PAC and political experience than the consultants and specialized attorneys Sarah Palin paid to advise her PAC. The firm was paid $65,000 in December 2009.

Diane Cooley provided legal services to the PAC and was paid $4,060.

Baker & Hostetler provided legal services to the PAC and was paid $13,500.

From these two facts, I surmise that the AFT is either frozen or broke. If frozen, as a result of the yet unresolved ethics complaint, then it may hold at least $115,000. If the AFT is broke, and it was used to pay Palin's self-claimed legal bills of $500,000, then the PAC was tapped to pay some more personal legal bills.

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UPDATE 2:

In this post, we didn't mention so far that there were actually two ethics complaints filed against Sarah Palin because of the Alaska Fund Trust. It was not only Kim Chatman who filed a complaint, but Andree McLeod filed a second complaint in December 2009. You can download the full text of Andree's complaint HERE.

The outcome of the second complaint is unknown as well - nobody knows what's going on. No information has been given to the public.

Although Sarah Palin has "left the building", her hand-picked appointments like her chief of staff, Attorney General, and every commissioner have not. They are still playing fast and loose with the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, and continue to protect and defend Palin’s political interests when it comes to complaints regarding her "legal defense fund".

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GRIFTER WATCH - 1) What happened to Sarah Palin's "legal" fund? - 2) Teabaggers latest - UPDATE

Kristan Cole is a close friend of Sarah Palin and acts as a spokesperson and fundraiser for the family. She created the Alaska Fund Trust, together with a website where things are explained to the gullible people she invites to donate money to Sarah Palin and her family.

The website uses the terms "open and transparent" frequently:

"I joined with fellow Alaskans in forming the Alaska Fund Trust to help alleviate Sarah's legal debt incurred while performing her job as well as eliminate the incentive for future attacks by her opponents. In doing so, we have created one of the most restrictive and transparent legal funds in history."

"Thank you for your interest in the Alaska Fund Trust. In the spirit of complete openness and transparency, the signed Alaska Fund Trust Agreement can be downloaded here."

"Halfway through her first term as Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin has done so much for her state and her nation. She has been a champion for much needed transparency and accountability in government."

In the FAQs section of the website, we can see this question:

Q. Will there be any disclosure of contributions and expenses?

A. Yes. The Trustee will disclose on a quarterly basis the contributions as well as categories of expenses with amounts.

The fund was started on April 22, 2009 and nobody has seen any of the promised quarterly reports.

OK, Kristan, for the sake of so much openness, accountability and transparency, please show us the money!

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Here's Kristan acting as spokesperson, although she doesn't mention the fund. This video has some footage of Sarah Palin carrying Trig in her inimitable style.



One of the many accomplishments of Sarah Palin during her short stint in office was to appoint Kristan Cole and other grifters to positions where they could supervise the money grabbing operations of the revamped Mat-Su Creamery. Many good people endured heavy financial losses and had their reputations dragged through the mud while the grifters lined their pockets with federal and state money. Kristan Cole features heavily in the Dairygate fiasco.

Sarah Palin's gift to Alaska

Alaska has very strange laws and their judges make some strange decisions. Andree McLeod filed a lawsuit in October 2008 regarding Sarah Palin's use of private e-mail accounts to conduct state business. This practice keeps communications out of the public records. Not an example of open and transparent government, which was one of the cornerstones of Sarah Palin's campaign for governor of Alaska.

Not surprisingly, Andree lost. Superior Court Judge Patrick McKay ruled in favour of former governor Sarah Palin. It may not have any bearing on this case, but it's interesting to know that Judge McKay has two charges of drunk driving against him. He was arrested in 1988 and again in August 2009.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Patrick McKay has been charged with drunk driving.

The officer put the 56-year-old judge under arrest and took him to the Anchorage Jail where he was later released on $500 bail. His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.

This is the second time McKay has been charged with drunk driving. In 1988, he was convicted and served the mandatory three days in jail.

McKay has been a Superior Court judge since 2005 when he was appointed by Gov. Frank Murkowski.

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One issue Sarah Palin exploited during her campaign in 2006 was ethics. Her first legislative action after taking office was to push for a bipartisan ethics reform bill. But openness and transparency didn't apply to her and neither did the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. When Alaskans took issue with their governor's conduct, they were branded partisan, malicious and frivolous in Sarah Palin's many irate press releases.

One of the reasons she gave for her resignation last summer was the number of such "malicious" attacks, even though she got away with the majority of the ethics complaints against her and managed to spin the ones where she had to repay the state for her children's travel on the state's dime, for example.



Sarah Palin said she was resigning for the good of Alaska. Her legacy of "putting Alaska's interests first" continues to have precisely the opposite effect. Her histrionics inspired some lawmakers to propose changes to the ethics rules, which would result in less transparency, less accountability and avoidance of responsibility in the part of public officals. They proposed that any ethics complaints should remain secret until the Personnel Board decided to publish their findings and that any person filing a complaint should remain bound by confidentiality or risk having it summarily dismissed.

Sarah Palin made quite a song and dance about the huge financial burden imposed on herself and her family as a result of the ethics complaints against her. In order to remedy that, she started a "legal" fund to collect money from her misguided supporters. The trust document was written in such a way as to make the money available to herself and members of her family for any purpose. Ironically, the fund is frozen, pending the outcome of an ethics complaint.

Some of the changes proposed by the lawmakers above would make any worries about taking responsibility and footing the bill for wrongdoing a thing of the past.

(2) 9 AAC 52.040 is proposed to be changed by adding new provisions establishing standards for the conditions when the acceptance or approval of state money to pay on behalf of, or reimburse a public officer for, expenses incurred for professional legal services to defend against a complaint brought under the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act (AS 39.52) may occur, including when the public officer is exonerated of any violation of the Act.

The much maligned but tenacious Andree McLeod took exception to this proposal:

The AEBEA states that: (7) compliance with a code of ethics is an individual responsibility; thus all who serve the state have a solemn responsibility to avoid improper conduct and prevent improper behavior by colleagues and subordinates. That individual responsibility includes the individual's choice to seek legal council, thereby, they alone should be responsible for expenses incurred by their choice. Secondly, these past 15 months or so have shown, beyond a shadow of any doubt, that there is an inherent and systemic breach in the way and manner ethics complaints are processed, and summarily dismissed. The biased and subjective manner in which the Department of Law deals with ethics complaints is one that must be drastically changed before any state funds are appropriated to cover legal expenses of public officials who conduct themselves unethically. Instead, they are protected and defended by a flawed and corrupt complaint process where the person(s) investigating the misconduct of other public officials is situated within the chain of command of their bosses and their bosses' bosses. The reports that dismiss every complaint I have filed are the best examples that illustrate the dysfunctions that occur when "the Fox Watches the Hen House".

Another proposal is about gifts of travel:

5) 9 AAC 52.060 is proposed to be changed to clarify the application of AS 39.52.130, addressing gifts to a public officer. 9 AAC 52.060(b) currently permits agency heads to determine that a gift of travel received by an employee traveling on state business is a gift to the state, not a personal gift to the employee. The proposed amendment would clarify that the individual employee does not have to submit a disclosure for pre-approved state travel relating to offers by others made in advance to pay travel expenses of a state employee to facilitate state business.

Andree chips in again:

"The important question I have is: Had this regulation (5) been in place already...would it have meant that Kris Perry would NOT have had to claim as gifts all those gifts of travel, lodging, and meals she claimed from the McCain and Chambliss campaigns?"

I submit by example: Kris Perry claimed over $15,000 in gifts for travel, lodging, etc. from the McCain and Chambliss campaigns while she "facilitated state business" and traveled from one end of the country to the other on the very partisan very political Republican vice-presidential campaign trail. Were this regulation in place…the public would NEVER have known the extent of those gratuities that were offered and accepted by this governor's staffer. Keeping these kinds of gifts a secret and under the cloak of secrecy is unacceptable, does not serve the Alaskan public's better interests, and totally violates the intent and objectives of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, AND the Alaska Public Official Financial Disclosure Act.

These changes happen to come along at the same time a governor decided to pursue interests other than being governor. The premise of most of my complaints is found within the many conflicts of interests that resulted because of Sarah Palin's extra curricular activites that had absolutely nothing to do with her role as governor. These changes to the AEBEA regulations do nothing to better define, refine, avoid and resolve those conflicts of interests.

Andree, unlike the ex-governor, sticks to her guns when it comes to the true purpose of ethics rules:

The AG and his staff's time would be better spent on finding ways to make the ethics complaint process free from the biases inherent in the system currently in place….and strengthen the statutes, policies, procedures, and protocols in place to address the chaos that ensues when a governor chooses to put their personal and political interests before the interests of the public when they make deals with other Outside interests and abandon the Office of the Governor and its constitutional duties…to follow their self-proclaimed providential destinies. These regulation changes above merely weaken the AEBEA and its intent…and should be thrown out. Time would be better spent to find ways to better enforce the good ethics laws already in place.

Sarah Palin made a mockery of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. The lawmakers had a golden opportunity to address some of the flaws in the act, such as governors being investigated by their own appointees, a clear example of conflict of interests. Instead, they are doing their very best to ensure that present and future governors and other public officials can indulge in unethical behaviour in lawful secrecy and be paid by the state to do so.

Only in Sarah Palin's Alaska!
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Andree McLeod files new ethics complaint regarding Sarah Palin's "Alaska Fund Trust"

The news came in just a few minutes ago! Andree McLeod has filed a new ethics complaint, and this time the topic is particularly delicate: She challenges Sarah Palin's legal defense fund, the so-called "Alaska Fund Trust" (we call it "slush-fund").

This brings back fond memories of the most devastating ethics complaint against Sarah Palin to date, in which earlier this year State Personnel Board investigator Thomas Daniel found there is probable cause to believe Palin used or attempted to use her official position for personal gain (see HERE and HERE). It has even been speculated that this ethics complaint, which was filed by Kim Chatman, could have contributed to Sarah Palin quitting her job as Governor - just today for example by Andrew Sullivan on the Daily Dish!

EDIT:

Download of Andree McLeod's ethics complaint: Here is the new download link!

The press release by Andree McLeod reads:

Anchorage, Alaska : An ethics complaint has been filed with the attorney general’s office by Alaska resident and registered Republican Andrée McLeod charging ex-governor Sarah Palin with continued violations of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

The attached complaint relates to Palin’s already established unethical legal defense fund. A July 21, 2009 independent investigation report that relates to this same fund already found probable cause that Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act while she abused her position for personal gain and secured unwarranted benefits for herself, her family and other undisclosed public officials.

“Palin continues to compromise the integrity of our Governor’s Office,” Andrée McLeod says. “She continues to misuse her official position even though she was told it is wrong to do.”

The Alaska Fund Trust website, which still accepts contributions, describes her as the current governor of Alaska , even though Palin quit last July.

McLeod continued, “What we have is the epitome of a culture of corruption. Why do public officials permit Palin to get away with bad behavior? Why does justice not prevail on the side of the people in the follow through of what has already been established as an unscrupulous pot of money? We still don’t know how much has been collected during her term and whose been paid from the fund? Why does the administration continue to protect and defend Sarah Palin, even when she’s caught, red-handed, selling out the Office of the Governor?”

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Sarah Palin, money, houses... (and a PS)

So our Sarah is building a chateau nextdoor to the house Todd built and has designs on another adjacent house...

OK. She can do that. She could build an island in the middle of lake Lucille and put a castle there, it would look great, really regal!

But these things cost a lot of money and I'm worried Sarah may have some trouble with that. A real state developer from Alaska estimates the price of the plot where the construction is going on at around $200,000. Add the cost of materials and contractors and we're talking big money. These things always cost more than the initial estimate, don't they?

Sarah Palin made a few dollars with one of her thousands speaking engagements, but that would cover just the purchase of the land. Yes, she may have pocketed a handsome advance for her book, but she would have to sell a pile of books to earn the advance before she makes any actual money out of the deal. Since "Going Rogue" went on pre-order sale, the price has been slashed to less than half of the original cover value and Newsmax is offering free copies to people who subscribe to their magazine. It doesn't bode well.

I'm not sure her appearance at a Milwaukee right to life gig will bring in enough badly needed dollars. According to her Linkedin profile, she's looking for job opportunities. Let's not forget that Todd is unemployed, which is not very helpful when paying for building materials and contractors. At least I expect they're paying the contractors on this occasion. Their original house was built by Todd and his buddies, but in the absence of building permit requirements in Wasilla, we don't know exactly what happened there. Well, Sarah is nothing if not transparent...

Another source of dollars is the Alaska Fund Trust. Yes, yes, it was supposed to pay her legal fees, but the wording of the trust document is somewhat vague and it could really be used for anything, provided the trustee approved. The trustee is beauty queen, dairy industry expert and real estate agent extraordinaire Kristan Cole. She would approve anything Sarah Palin asked for, no questions asked.

The accounts and list of donors were supposed to have been made public in July. Has anybody seen them? Me neither. I find the whole thing a bit odd. Sarah wrote "thank you" notes to a number of donors to the fund with which she had no involvement but her trustee failed to disclose anything about any of it as promised on the official Sarah Palin legal fund website. The last we heard about it was that it was frozen and they had not touched a cent of the money, pending some investigations regarding the legality of the legal fund itself.

I know it's rude to discuss other people's money troubles, but I'm curious...

Sarah Palin owed half a million dollars in legal fees. Is her lawyer still waiting for his money? Did she pay him out of the book advance she hasn't earned back yet? Did she pay him with the money she was paid for the Hong Kong speech? How did she pay for the land nextdoor to her house? If she's going to buy the white house, where is the money going to come from? How did she pay for the materials for the chateau? Are the contractors being paid?

Unless Murdoch considers her book advance a gift and doesn't expect the sales to earn the money back, it doesn't seem prudent to be spending at the present rate...

PS - Are there any tax experts/book contract experts who could help clarify the conjectures about tax-free gifts and clauses that may be included in book contracts regarding advances? Your input is most welcome...

(Kristan Cole photo: AP)
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Sarah Palin, "private" citizen

This week hasn't started very well for $arah Palin.

- Keith Olbermann was very vocal about her "death panel" claims and how she incites hatred. He didn't buy her backtracking.

- Levi talked about the Palins marital problems. Will there be a backlash?

- The Alaska Legislature voted to override her veto of the energy stimulus funds. They couldn't see the strings turning into ropes.

Next week will start with the deadline to comply with APOC's requests regarding full disclosure of Arctic Cat deals and gifts received in 2008.

I keep hoping something really big would hit her. The bribery angle in the Juneteenth lawsuit looks promising, but it would be poetic justice if someone actually launched a legal challenge to her slush fund.

Watching her making a spectacle of herself on Facebook as a "private" citizen is tedious and profoundly irritating. Her profile photo changes on a daily basis to reflect her mood, I suppose.

Somehow I don't think she will post the one photo I long to see: the quitter governor sporting an orange jumpsuit, no make-up, no hair extensions, with only matching silver bracelets as adornments.

The other garment perfect for Sarah Palin would be the customized Team Arctic jacket...

Please visit this site for proper Healthcare Reform information.
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Looking at $arah Palin's legal fund from a criminal law perspective

I received a very interesting e-mail regarding the Alaska Fund Trust website, the AFT agreement and how the two together may have implications in Alaska criminal law.

The AFT website, which exists to solicit donations to the fund, states in the FAQs page:

9. Can the funds be used for personal purposes?

No. Donations can only be used for legal expenses incurred by counsel on behalf of the Governor, her family, and staff as approved by the Trustee.

13. Why is this fund being created?

The Trust Fund is being created to assist the Governor, her family, and staff in paying legal expenses and costs incurred from previous investigations as well as future complaints filed. Her staff is similarly being targeted by these complaints and has also incurred and is incurring significant costs.

As we have previously seen, the agreement fails to state that the purpose of the trust fund is to pay legal expenses, saying instead that its exclusive purpose is to provide a proper means for the acceptance of money, property, and services, including, if necessary, pro bono legal services, to provide for all reasonable, necessary, and appropriate fees or charges incurred by (i) SARAH PALIN as a result of the fact that she is Governor of the State of Alaska or as a result of the performance of her duties as Governor of the State of Alaska; and (ii) Covered Individuals, that may be selected or designated by the Trustee as provided herein, as a result of or arising out of their association or relationship with or employment by SARAH PALIN, in her capacity as Governor of the State of Alaska.

Further, it includes a clause regarding rights of withdrawal up to the maximum yearly amount to fall within the Federal Gift Tax exclusion. It applies to each beneficiary and shall be exercisable only by written notice to Trustee of the amount Donee wishes to withdraw, but no purpose for said withdrawal need be shown.

I'm sorry if I keep quoting the text of the agreement in so many posts, but bear with me, here comes the juicy bit:

Alaska Statutes 11.46.100 defines an assortment of theft crimes, including alternative means of committing theft which include a person who: "(1) with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate property of another to oneself or a third person, . . .obtains the property of another; (2) the person commits theft of lost or mislaid property under AS 11.46.160; (3) the person commits theft by deception under AS 11.46.180; (4) the person commits theft by receiving under AS 11.46.190; (5) the person commits theft of services under AS 11.46.200; [or] (6) the person commits theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received or held under AS 11.46.210."

In turn, for example, theft by deception (false pretenses) is defined in Alaska Statutes11.46.180: "(a) A person commits theft by deception if, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate property of another to oneself or a third person, the person obtains the property of another by deception."

"Deception," in turn, is defined in Alaska Statutes 11.81.900(18); while it "does not include falsity as to matters having no pecuniary significance," is fairly broadly defined to include: "knowingly (A) creat[ing] or confirm[ing] another's false impression that the defendant does not believe to be true, including false impressions as to law or value and false impressions as to intention or other state of mind; (B) fail[ing] to correct another's false impression that the defendant previously has created or confirmed; (C) prevent[ing] another from acquiring information pertinent to the disposition of the property or service involved; (D) sell[ing] or otherwise transfer[ring] or encumber[ing] property and fail[ing] to disclose a lien, adverse claim, or other legal impediment to the enjoyment of the property, whether or not that impediment is a matter of official record; or (E) promis[ing] performance that the defendant does not intend to perform or knows will not be performed."

Summing up: the website soliciting donations states that the money raised will be used only to pay certain legal expenses. The agreement says no such thing. The website states the money cannot be used for personal purposes. The agreement contains a clause that says otherwise.

Perhaps it would help clarify things if an Alaskan citizen or person from elsewhere who contributed to this fund would challenge the whole arrangement in a court of law--or if an impartial Alaskan prosecutor would investigate the matter under state criminal law.

An important point: the State of Alaska is obliged to prosecute any appropriate criminal action. The victims and witnesses in a criminal action should bear no costs whatsoever. Prosecuting authorities bring those cases not on "behalf of" a given victim but on behalf of all the people of the State of Alaska, against whom criminal activities are considered a transgression. A larceny is not viewed so much as an offense against the individual as against the community.

There's more.

A little more food for thought regarding official pronouncements from a certain governor's associates concerning the purposes of this "trust fund": it appears that where a "trust fund" has been set up expressly to counteract citizen requests for clarification of state ethics laws (including at least some number of them under pending investigation at the time) and to deter additional lawful citizen filings essentially by pre-judging every one of them as "frivolous" and unworthy of the Board's attention, attention should be paid under both federal civil rights laws and state law.

Where representatives of the subject of any such request for clarification expressly invites a "backlash" against citizens who exercise their rights to file such requests for clarification, it seems that there should be some consideration of whether other Alaska laws apply.

Under Alaska Statutes 11.56.510, interference with official proceedings is a class B felony:

"(a) A person commits the crime of interference with official proceedings if the person

(1) uses force on anyone, damages the property of anyone, or threatens anyone with intent to
(A) improperly influence a witness or otherwise influence the testimony of a witness;
(B) influence a juror's vote, opinion, decision, or other action as a juror;
(C) retaliate against a witness or juror because of participation by the witness or juror in an official proceeding; or (D) otherwise affect the outcome of an official proceeding; or

(2) confers, offers to confer, or agrees to confer a benefit
(A) upon a witness with intent to improperly influence that witness; or
(B) upon a juror with intent to influence the juror's vote, opinion, decision, or other action as a juror or otherwise affect the outcome of an official proceeding."

I have emphasized the relevant bits of the statutes that apply in this case and it appears the website presents the purpose of the trust fund as one thing while the trust fund agreement presents a very different one, thus at least arguably leading people to part with money, services or property under false pretenses.

The purpose of the fund, as stated on the website, together with several press releases from the governor's office, her twits, etc, may infringe the civil rights of the citizens of Alaska both under state law and federal law.

This post was possible thanks to invaluable input from a criminal prosecutor. Thanks SG, we owe you!
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$arah Palin's "legal expense" fund compared to real legal expense funds

Celtic Diva posted an excellent analysis, by a qualified lawyer from the East Coast, of the wording used in the Alaska Fund Trust.

Funnily enough, when I wrote "$arah Palin's legal fund: questions, questions...", I was puzzled by the same passages explored by the lawyer in Diva's article.

I noticed that the purpose of the trust was for the payment of fees incurred as a result of $arah Palin being the governor of Alaska:

OK, the sole purpose of the fund is to provide for the payment of fees incurred by the governor, her family and other covered individuals, blah blah.

I omitted the word legal when referring to fees because I couldn't see the word in the text of the agreement. But the penny didn't drop until I read Diva's article.

They used the expression "legal fees" on the website, but NOT in the actual agreement. Obviously the website is not legally binding, but the trust agreement IS.

Read the purpose of the trust carefully:

The sole and exclusive purpose of this Trust is to provide a proper means for the acceptance of money, property, and services, including, if necessary, pro bono legal services, to provide for all reasonable, necessary, and appropriate fees or charges incurred by (i) SARAH PALIN as a result of the fact that she is Governor of the State of Alaska or as a result of the performance of her duties as Governor of the State of Alaska; and (ii) Covered Individuals, that may be selected or designated by the Trustee as provided herein, as a result of or arising out of their association or relationship with or employment by SARAH PALIN, in her capacity as Governor of the State of Alaska.

The main purpose is to provide a proper means for the acceptance of money, property, and services, including, if necessary, pro bono legal services (the the word legal appears here, but it's incidental), followed by: to provide for all reasonable, necessary, and appropriate fees or charges incurred by (i) SARAH PALIN as a result of the fact that she is Governor of the State of Alaska or as a result of the performance of her duties as Governor of the State of Alaska (no mention of legal fees), finally extending the benefit of all that lovely money to family and friends selected or designated by the trustee.

It continues in a rambling fashion and does mention legal representation, but only to specify their right to appoint attorneys, negotiate fees etc, for the above purpose, which they were careful to state as fees and charges incurred because $arah is the governor, not that the trust fund exists solely to pay legal expenses. The legal expenses are mentioned in an incidental manner...

In a nutshell: the purpose of the fund is to raise money for $arah Palin, her family and selected friends because she's the governor of Alaska. No strings attached.

We know very well that $arah doesn't like no pesky strings, no siree!

I had a closer look at the other trust agreements offered as examples on the AFT website.

ALL the trusts contain the expression legal expense in their title. $arah's is simply called The Alaska Fund Trust.

The purpose in all the other trusts is clearly specified: to pay legal expenses. In the cases of Stevens and Kerry, the purpose relates to specific proceedings, and in Kerry's case, a specific lawsuit: the Sherwood suit.

None of the other trusts has the Rights of Withdrawal bit:

Each of the beneficiaries of this trust, shall, in each calendar year, have an absolute and unrestricted power to withdraw from this Trust up to the lesser of the total additions made to this Trust during each calendar year or an amount in cash or other property equal the lesser of the total additions made to this Trust during each calendar year, divided equally among such beneficiaries, or an amount in cash or other property equal to the maximum amount which qualifies for the Federal Gift Tax exclusion (...) and shall be exercisable only by written notice to Trustee of the amount Donee wishes to withdraw, but no purpose for said withdrawal need be shown.

The most transparent and restrictive trust in the history of trusts has no clear purpose other than raise money, property, services, you name it, for $arah Palin, family and friends because she's the governor of Alaska, the name of the Trust doesn't reflect anything to do with legal expenses and provides a lovely way for each of the beneficiaries to access tax free money each year, no questions asked.

They did restrict the donations to a maximum of $150 per donor per year, which is, by sheer coincidence, the maximum value of any gifts before they need to be disclosed to APOC.

Most of the wording of $arah's trust was copied and pasted from some of the other examples, omitting some crucial words and introducing the get money for nothing described above.

I also noticed that $arah's and Clinton's trusts are the only ones that make provision for moving the trust to another jurisdiction. In $arah's case at the discretion of the trustee without notice to the beneficiaries...

The AFT website gives the fund the appearance of being transparent and restrictive, but the text of the actual agreement seems to tell a very different story.

It looks very neat , eh? I pity the poor suckers who sent money to this "legal expense" fund. I hope the handwritten thank you note "signed" by the governor is enough to keep each of them on cloud 9...
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More stuff flying from $arah Palin's fingers, via QuitterBerry

#This wk saw add'l violation of law:filer of friv ethics complaint leaks confidential documents out of context 2 create false headlines, pre-
about 3 hours ago from QuitterBerry

#judge investigation,destroy integrity of process&strip rights;Abuse WILL cont til leaks/friv filers r held accntble&press reports accurately
about 3 hours ago from QuitterBerry

# Legal Fees Fund trustee's press conf yest set record straight w/facts/truth re:recent complaint;read transcript in case press chooses not to
about 3 hours ago from QuitterBerry

Here's the whole rant in one paragraph, it's a bit easier to read:

This wk saw add'l violation of law:filer of friv ethics complaint leaks confidential documents out of context 2 create false headlines, pre-judge investigation,destroy integrity of process&strip rights;Abuse WILL cont til leaks/friv filers r held accntble&press reports accurately. Legal Fees Fund trustee's press conf yest set record straight w/facts/truth re:recent complaint;read transcript in case press chooses not to

Kim Chatman could sue $arah Palin for libel, no?

BTW, $arah forgot to provide the link to the transcript she wants people to read in case press chooses not to...
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$arah Palin's handwriting UPDATED

Update: The top and the bottom signatures are by the real $arah Palin. The middle one is from a thank you note.

$arah Palin's fans will be sooo disappointed to learn that their icon has not signed the handwritten thank you notes personally...

As a matter of fact, it appears she has not written them either.


Sarah Palin's handwriting above.


Click on each picture to enlarge

First two notes don't appear to be in $P's handwriting. The third looks iffy...

Any graphologists in our midst?

Somebody must have wrriten and signed the notes on $arah Palin's behalf, to thank the kind people who donated to that fund that has nothing to do with her, as the very first conversation between the fund's trustee and the governor happened only a couple of days ago...

More miscellaneous handwriting here. This form was filled in by at least 3 people...
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$uper$arah!

$arah Palin:

"I find the notion that I have taken any action pertaining to the legal defense trust fund misguided and factually in error... The fund itself was not created by me nor is it controlled by me... In short, I have not ‘acted' relative to the defense fund and it is misleading to say I have."

Kristan Cole:

"The first and only time I have spoken with the Governor about the Trust was yesterday to alert her that I was responding to this violation of the law and leak of preliminary and confidential materials from the complainant."

If Kristan Cole never spoke to $arah Palin about the Trust until yesterday, how did the governor obtain the names and addresses of donors so she could send them handwritten thank you notes?

Did somebody leak this information to $arah behind Kristan's back???

As there were no disbursements from the fund whatsoever, did the governor pay for the cards, envelopes and postage out of her own pocket? (ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)

Some grateful donors show off their good fortune on Sarah Web Brigade:

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Alaska Fund Trust - Navy Vet Gets a Thank You

Navy veteran and Alaska citizen Mark Bowers (follow Mark on Twitter) received a pleasant surprise after he donated to the Alaska Fund Trust to preserve the integrity of the Governor's Office of the State of Alaska. His donation helps to cover the legal expenses of defending against the frivolous complaints filed against Governor Sarah Palin. She surprised him with a personally written thank you note from the governor herself.



2 comments:

Greg said...

I just picked up my mail, and sure enough, there I received a Thank YOu card, too. Several people at Team Sarah, and Conservatives4Palin are reporting that they too have gotten them. Gov. Palin sure has class, that's for sure. I can't remember getting anything from a politician before except a computer generated thank you, followed by a plea for more money.
May 26, 2009 7:49 PM

Ron Devito said...

I got one on May 26 for the donation and also for my work on a POTUS package. I'm still on cloud 9! I didn't blog about it yet, because I have a letter to the editor outstanding with the Frontiersman and I want that to hit first. But I will be posting about it soon.
May 28, 2009 8:05 PM



A few more on Texas4Palin:

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Donation prompts hand-written Palin thank you

If you have not donated the maximum amount of $150 to the Alaska Fund Trust, I urge you to do so right now. You can make your contribution here.

Update: As our commenters have reported, Gov. Palin is apparently hand-writing thank-you notes to many, if not all, donors to the legal defense fund. All the more reason to make your $150 contribution now. Someday you can show your grandkids that the first woman to be elected president of the U.S. sent you a personal message "back when."

4 comments:

Becpt said...

I received a thank you note as well!
May 26, 2009 5:43 PM

Greg said...

I just went out and got my mail, and I received a Thank You card also. Numerous people at Team Sarah and Conservatives4Palin have reported receiving cards today.
May 26, 2009 7:54 PM

wisetrog said...

It's not just him, everyone is getting a personal signed letter.

It's very gracious of her, something that distinguihses the Gov. from the rest of the field but I am worried this might too much of her time. :)
May 26, 2009 7:58 PM

K. Carpenter said...

I got one also.
May 27, 2009 8:05 AM

Neat, eh? $uper$arah has some fantastic powers! The fund doesn't need an administrator. $arah has all the names, addresses and amounts given stored in her pretty head.

(H/T to Patrick & Kathleen and EyeOnYou)
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$urprise! Who's doing stuff behind $arah Palin's back?

$arah Palin was shocked to find out that an official legal fund, called The Alaska Fund Trust, was launched to solicit donations to pay the governor's, her family's and her employees legal bills! $he knew nothing about it.

The trustee of the AFT, Kristan Cole, real estate professional, chair of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation (formerly known as the Agricultural Revolving Loan Fund Board), member of the Royalty Gas and Development board, wife of Brad Cole, who's a member of the Real Estate Commission, former beauty queen and daughter of a convicted embezzler, broke the news to the governor yesterday:

"The first and only time I have spoken with the Governor about the Trust was yesterday to alert her that I was responding to this violation of the law and leak of preliminary and confidential materials from the complainant."

According to Meg Stapleton's statement to the Associated Press, $arah Palin must have had an inkling about the Trust:

"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 to 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."

Meghan Stapleton
Palin Family Spokesperson

Spokesperson means she speaks on behalf of $arah and her family, no? A mouthpiece, as if the governor or her family were uttering the words themselves...

SarahPac is authorized by $arah Palin. From the website:

Who is behind SarahPac?

Gov. Sarah Palin believes all Americans must work together for the future, regardless of their party affiliation. Gov. Palin is the honorary chair of SarahPac, and its supporters are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and those unaffiliated with any political party.

SarahPac solicits donations to the Alaska Fund Trust.


A legal document, the Alaska Fund Trust Agreement, has a whole paragraph regarding successor trustees, using $arah Palin's name in big capitals:

In the event that the original named Trustee herein shall desire at any time to be relieved of his duties herein, said Trustee may resign by written notice to SARAH PALIN, who may appoint a successor Trustee with the qualifications set forth in paragraph 4 above. In addition, SARAH PALIN shall have the same power to appoint a substitute Trustee in the event of the death, incapacity, or failure to act in accordance with the terms of this instrument of any Trustee. In the event of SARAH PALIN's inability to act as a result of incapacity or other reasonable cause, the proper legal representative of SARAH PALIN shall have the right and authority to seek the appointment of a substitute Trustee.

Wow! Kristan Cole put the governor's name in BIG CAPITALS in a legal document without any consultation with the governor???

So many things going on behind $arah Palin's back: the Trust, her spokesperson speaking, her SarahPac asking for money to be given to the official legal fund...



Bad, bad people!
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$arah Palin's legal fund: questions, questions...

$arah Palin is protesting that neither she nor her attorney, Thomas Van Flein, have received any money from the Alaska Fund Trust.

I find the notion that I have taken any action pertaining to the legal defense trust fund misguided and factually in error. I am informed that this fund was created by experienced attorneys in DC and was modeled after other similar funds established for senators and others. The fund itself was not created by me nor is it controlled by me.

(The examples of other legal funds given on the AFT's website are all for federal officials and are all regulated according to federal laws. $arah's legal fund appears to fall outside the scope of any laws...)

Neither I nor my lawyer has received a penny from this fund, and I am informed the Trustee was withholding any action or payment pending final resolution with the Personnel Board. This is the hallmark of legal compliance and prudent conduct.

The "transparent" trust, run by Palin's long time friend Kristan Cole, aims at raising an undisclosed amount of money to pay $arah Palin's legal bills. Nobody really knows the total amount of these bills:

Palin's lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, would not give a case-by-case accounting of how Palin has incurred so much legal debt, saying "that type of breakdown is protected by the attorney-client privilege."

The first listing of donors and the amounts given are due in August, although it's not a legal requirement to disclose anything, according to the Newsminer:

Palin's friends and supporters created the legal defense fund in April. It's not known how much it has raised. The trust has no oversight from the state or federal political watchdog agencies.

The Federal Election Commission said the defense fund is a state matter. The Alaska Public Offices Commission, which oversees campaign spending and financial disclosures of state elected officials, has no plan to get involved in regulating it, officials said.

Cole said there are no legal requirements for the trust to register with either agency or to disclose donors. However, Cole said she will list names of all donors and the amounts they gave on the legal defense fund's public Web site four times a year, with the first posting likely in early August.

Without any oversight, are we supposed to take Kristan Cole's word for the total raised to date?

I find the wording of the AFT agreement a bit confusing. Here are the passages I find puzzling:

This Trust Agreement is made in Wasilla, Alaska, as of the22nd day of April, 2009, by and between KRISTAN CHERYL COLE, as Settlor, and KRISTAN CHERYL COLE, as Trustee, establishes THE ALASKA FUND TRUST, a trust for the payment of expenses or amounts incurred, undertaken or paid in connection with claims, allegations, investigations, accusations, complaints, legal inquiries, requests, and proceedings, including the response and defense thereof, arising out of or by virtue of the activities of or performance of duties as, or on Governor Sarah Palin, in her capacity as (or as a result of her being) the Governor of Alaska. Alaska Trust Company shall serve as administrative and custodial manager of the Fund as provided herein below.

Trust Purpose

The sole and exclusive purpose of this Trust is to provide a proper means for the acceptance of money, property, and services, including, if necessary, pro bono legal services, to provide for all reasonable, necessary, and appropriate fees or charges incurred by (i) SARAH PALIN as a result of the fact that she is Governor of the State of Alaska or as a result of the performance of her duties as Governor of the State of Alaska; and (ii) Covered Individuals, that may be selected or designated by the Trustee as provided herein, as a result of or arising out of their association or relationship with or employment by SARAH PALIN, in her capacity as Governor of the State of Alaska.

Rights of Withdrawal

Each of the beneficiaries of this trust, shall, in each calendar year, have an absolute and unrestricted power to withdraw from this Trust up to the lesser of the total additions made to this Trust during each calendar year or an amount in cash or other property equal the lesser of the total additions made to this Trust during each calendar year, divided equally among such beneficiaries, or an amount in cash or other property equal to the maximum amount which qualifies for the Federal Gift Tax exclusion allowed by Section 2503(b) of the Code (currently $13,000 per donor, but such amount shall be adjusted to provide the maximum amount excludable). Except as otherwise provided herein, said power of withdrawal shall not be cumulative from year to year, must be exercised separately for each calendar year in which any such addition or additions are made, and shall be exercisable only by written notice to Trustee of the amount Donee wishes to withdraw, but no purpose for said withdrawal need be shown.

OK, the sole purpose of the fund is to provide for the payment of fees incurred by the governor, her family and other covered individuals, blah blah.

How come the beneficiaries can withdraw up to the maximum amount excludable from the Federal Gift Tax without stating the purpose for the withdrawals?

$arah Palin also protests that she doesn't have anything to do with the running of the trust, so how does she explain this:

Successor Trustees

In the event that the original named Trustee herein shall desire at any time to be relieved of his duties herein, said Trustee may resign by written notice to SARAH PALIN, who may appoint a successor Trustee with the qualifications set forth in paragraph 4 above. In addition, SARAH PALIN shall have the same power to appoint a substitute Trustee in the event of the death, incapacity, or failure to act in accordance with the terms of this instrument of any Trustee. In the event of SARAH PALIN's inability to act as a result of incapacity or other reasonable cause, the proper legal representative of SARAH PALIN shall have the right and authority to seek the appointment of a substitute Trustee.

Another interesting bit:

Trustee's Accounts

The Trustee shall keep (or, in the Trustee's sole and absolute discretion, shall cause others to keep) accurate written records and books of account of the Trustee Estate, showing the manner in which the Trust Estate is invested and all receipts, disbursements, and other transactions involving the Trust Estate. All such records and books of account shall be the property of the Trustee during the duration of this Trust and they, together with the Trust property and all reasonable evidence thereof, plus any accounts, shall not be made available during the Trust term except as hereinabove provided or as may be required by applicable law. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, in no event shall any Trustee at any time acting hereunder be required to make any current or final reports, inventories or accountings to any court.

It's quite obvious that I'm not a lawyer, but I can read English. The terms of this trust always seemed contradictory to me. Maybe a lawyer could guide us through the wording of this agreement and tell us how it makes sense? What are the applicable laws for disclosure of the accounts? The last sentence is particularly interesting: Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, in no event shall any Trustee at any time acting hereunder be required to make any current or final reports, inventories or accountings to any court.

All these points may be moot if the trust is deemed unethical as it may serve no purpose at all. What would happen to the money then? Do they have to give the money back to all the donors? Will they give it to charity? What's the legal status of the trust after July 26?

One more question: even though $arah Palin stated that she has not received any money from the trust, if the trustee made any disbursements for whatever reason, wouldn't it be a no-no? How is the Alaska Trust Company being paid to administer the trust? Are they a charity? If they're not being paid, is the money coming in without anybody keeping a log of the donations?

We know only of $130,000 collected so far, according to the totals published by the people who ran the legal fund begathon. If there's more money in the pot, as John Coale indicated, I would be very curious to know what the total really is and if there were any disbursements since the trust's inception, considering what $arah Palin said: "...and I am informed the Trustee was withholding any action or payment pending final resolution with the Personnel Board."

Will we see any figures and other details in early August? Will we be able to trust the trustee's accounts, if they're published at all? Kristan Cole promised to divulge a list of donors, but not much else...

So many questions...
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