In Press Release, Parnell Seeks to End Leaks of Confidential Information. Lieutenant Governor Asks Attorney General to Step In.

(July 23, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska) – Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell today asked Attorney General Dan Sullivan to provide recommendations on how to prevent leaks of confidential information in ethics probes.

Parnell’s request comes after the leak of an investigator’s confidential and preliminary report related to an ethics complaint filed against Governor Sarah Palin.

“These leaks must stop,” Parnell said.  “If we allow public officials to be tried and convicted in the press through abuse of the legal process, then the Executive Branch is at risk.  The rule of law is threatened.”

Parnell said that leaking the investigator’s preliminary report is just like walking into a courthouse, lifting some notes from the jurors’ break room and publishing them before all the evidence is in and before a verdict is reached.

Parnell recognized the need for accountability for public officials, but said the ethics laws are being abused.

“If confidential information was leaked from our courts, there would be an outcry,” he said.  “There must be respect for the law when it comes to Executive Branch ethics investigations.”