ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's husband is defending his role as her close adviser, and says there was nothing improper about his contacts with members of her administration.

The Republican vice-presidential nominee and her husband are the subjects of a state abuse-of-power inquiry. They are accused of pressuring the state's public safety commissioner to fire a state trooper involved in a messy divorce with the governor's sister.

In a sworn affidavit Todd Palin agreed to give as part of the investigation, he described regular contacts with members of his wife's administration but says there's nothing wrong with that. He says previous governors have relied on their wives for advice and there shouldn't be a double standard for Alaska's first female governor.