Washington - An Alaska ethics report has concluded that Senator John McCain's running mate, Mrs Sarah Palin, abused her power as governor when she fired a state official.

The report is almost certain to be a distraction for the McCain-Palin ticket as it tries to catch up with Democrat Barack Obama in the polls.

In the closely watched case, Mrs Palin was accused of pressuring the state official to fire her former brother-in-law, Mr Mike Wooten, and then firing the official when he refused. Mrs Palin maintains the firing had been over a budget dispute.

In the report, investigator Stephen Branchflower documented that former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan was subjected to a veritable barrage of demands from Mrs Palin, her husband and her staff to fire Mr Wooten, who had been involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with Mrs Palin's sister.

The report found that his refusal to fire the trooper was 'likely a contributing factor' in Mr Monegan's termination in July, but it also concluded that the governor's decision was 'a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority' to hire and fire department heads.

But the report's suggestion that Mrs Palin used her husband and staff to conduct a campaign against a state employee, in what was perceived by some as a personal vendetta, could be damaging to her ability to portray herself as a reform-minded, experienced executive ready to step into the White House as Mr McCain's vice-president.

Twelve members of the Legislature's 14-member Legislative Council, the interim body that meets when the Legislature is not in session, deliberated in a closed-door session over the findings for most of the day before voting unanimously to release the 263-page document publicly. The council includes 10 Republicans and four Democrats. The committee, however, recommends no criminal investigation and has no authority to sanction the governor.

The McCain camp, which had tried to keep the report from being released because it said the process had been politically tainted, began almost immediately to try to limit the damage.

Mrs Palin's lawyer, Mr Thomas Van Flein, disagreed with the findings.

'In order to violate the ethics law, there has to be some personal gain, usually financial. (The investigator) has failed to identify any financial gain,' he said.

The Democrats were quick to use the report as fresh ammunition.

'Governor Palin has violated Alaskans' trust,' said Ms Patti Higgins, Alaska's state Democratic Party chairman. 'I hope that in the light of this finding, Governor Palin will stop playing partisan politics to the detriment of Alaska's future.'

The report comes three weeks before the Nov 4 presidential elections. The McCain ticket has been struggling to gain ground in the polls as the economic crisis spreads.

Mr Obama opened a double-digit lead over Mr McCain in a Newsweek magazine opinion poll yesterday, at 52- 41 per cent among registered voters.

Los Angeles Times, AP