An investigation launched by Alaskan lawmakers into the behavior of Governor Sarah Palin in the so-called Troopergate case has concluded that Palin abused her power by either pushing for the firing for a policeman once married to her sister or by preventing her husband Todd from doing so.

The report comes at a time when Palin and John McCain are trailing in the polls and cannot use any bad news.

The report was written by investigator Steve Branchflower and made public late Friday afternoon.

In it, Branchflower concludes that “I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides.” Furthermore, Branchflower said in his report, “[t]he legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

He further found that, “although Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin’s firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.”

Team McCain responded immediately to the report concluding: “Today’s report shows that the Governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan. The report also illustrates what we’ve known all along: this was a partisan led inquiry run by Obama supporters and the Palins were completely justified in their concern regarding Trooper Wooten given his violent and rogue behavior. Lacking evidence to support the original Monegan allegation, the Legislative Council seriously overreached, making a tortured argument to find fault without basis in law or fact.”

Although the report indeed clearly states that the firing itself was legal, the McCain campaign is clearly spinning this matter to its own advantage. Palin had, as conservative blog Hot Air explained, legitimate and illegitimate reasons to fire Wooten. “The former means the termination itself was lawful, the latter means her compliance with the ethics statute wasn’t.”

Palin’s hands were certainly not clean.

Having said that, Wooten was (and is) not exactly the best trooper in the state. An investigation into his conduct as a trooper concluded that he had displayed “unbecoming conduct,” “personal misconduct” and a “failure to perform duties properly and use of government property properly.” Furthermore the investigation found “two incidents to conformance to laws” and one incident “involving alcohol.”

The findings would be problematic for any politician running for (a higher) office, but especially for one who presented herself as a maverick reformer, willing to take on the establishment and democratize Washington, D.C. The report will give fodder to Palin’s opponents who may argue that Palin may try to get rid of the current establishment only to replace it with one of her own making. This new establishment, Democrats will argue, will not merely be equally bad as the current one, but worse.

Although the report could normally cause independents and moderates to turn their back on the Republican ticket, McCain-Palin was trailing in the polls by as much as 11% already. The ones supporting her and McCain now will probably continue doing so, for it is to a large degree the Republican base that supported them fully yesterday and that undoubtedly continue to support them today and tomorrow.

It does destroy any hope (for conservatives) of Palin and McCain making a comeback.

Unless, that is, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will also be faced with an October surprise.