By Ken Fireman, Bloomberg

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's appeal as a corruption-fighting outsider may be undercut by a legislative probe of her conduct in a personnel case.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain said he chose Palin as his running mate today in large part because of her record as a corruption fighter.

``I found someone with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special interests and entrenched bureaucracies; someone who has fought against corruption and the failed policies of the past,'' McCain said as he introduced his running mate at a campaign event in Dayton, Ohio.

Her record includes leading an ethics investigation against a fellow Republican member of a state energy conservation body as well as a willingness to take on large oil companies over energy development.

It also includes one potential blemish. The Alaska Legislature voted last month to investigate allegations that Palin dismissed the state's public safety commissioner after the commissioner resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a contentious divorce from Palin's sister.

The legislature has hired a former district attorney to investigate the case and asked him to issue a report by Oct. 31 - - just before the Nov. 4 general election, state Senator Hollis French said in an interview.

Palin fired the public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, on July 11. Several days later, Monegan said he had been pressured by members of Palin's administration and family to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Potential Embarrassment

French said it ``remains to be seen'' whether the investigation embarrasses Palin. The important issue, he said, will be whether evidence emerges that ties Palin directly to efforts to pressure Monegan.

Gerald McBeath, a political scientist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, said he didn't regard the probe as a serious threat to the governor.

``This is small potatoes,'' he said. ``This isn't going to detract much from her candidacy.''

French, a Democrat from West Anchorage, said he is serving as the legislature's liaison with the investigator, Stephen Branchflower.

Monegan said he resisted the pressure to fire Wooten, who had been married to Palin's sister and was involved in a child custody battle with her.

Palin has denied pressuring Monegan in the case of the trooper. At the time of Monegan's dismissal, she said she wanted the department to move in a new direction.

The legislative probe of the Monegan case isn't connected to a separate, four-year federal investigation of alleged political corruption in Alaska. The federal probe has resulted in convictions of or guilty pleas from three state legislators, the chief of staff of Palin's predecessor and two executives of an oil-services company, as well as the indictment of Senator Ted Stevens.