The tip of the iceberg?

One thing to keep in mind as first reactions to Branchflower's troopergate report roll in is that the stonewall didn't crumble until the last days before the report was released. This had consequences. From Branchflower's introductory comments:

On October 6, 2008 Attorney General Talis Colberg announced that some of the above employees have decided they wish to honor their subpoenas and provide information about this case to the Legislative Council. Given that last minute decision and in view of the publication date of October 10, 2008 for this report, it has not been possible to include any such information herein. It is anticipated that the additional information will be submitted to the Legislative Council in a separate report prepared by the employees and/or the Attorney General. Their report is separate from and independent of my report.

Out of deference to her position, no subpoena was issued for Governor Sarah Palin. However, she was requested to cooperate with the investigation by providing a sworn statement. She has not done so. Governor Palin's sister Molly McCann was requested by me to give a deposition; she declined through her attorney. |Branchflower Report, p. 5|

The implication is that the Legislative Council will have to commission another investigation in order to complete the inquiry. A crucial question now has to do with the scope of that investigation. The Legislative Council could choose to take the $25,000 Branchflower didn't spend and hire someone off the street to write an appendix. Alternately, the Legislative Council could choose to widen the scope of the investigation. I, for one, would be eager to see hearings focused on Todd Palin's role in Alaska government. And what about those private email accounts? Surely the Legislative Council ought to investigate to determine whether the Palin administration attempted to evade Alaska's open records act.