At issue is whether Palin, her administration or family improperly pressured state Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire a state trooper — the ex-husband of Palin’s sister — and whether Palin fired Monegan when that didn't happen. Trooper Michael Wooten and Palin’s sister, Molly McCann, are divorced but still battling in court over custody and visitation.
The McCain campaign says Palin “was never directly involved” and blamed the controversy on the campaign of the Democratic nominee, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.
“The Governor did nothing wrong and has nothing to hide. It's outrageous that the Obama campaign is trying to attack her over a family issue. As a reformer and a leader on ethics reform, she has been happy to help out in the investigation of this matter, because she was never directly involved,” the campaign said in a statement.
Palin has repeatedly said she did not pressure Monegan and did not know until recently that anyone on her staff might have done so.
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Palin recently acknowledged, based on an internal inquiry, that a half dozen people in her administration had initiated contacts with the Department of Public Safety about Wooten.
Monegan also disclosed for the first time Friday that Palin sent him two or three e-mails that referenced her ex-brother-in-law and his status with troopers but he wouldn't provide them because of the ongoing investigation.
Monegan said he believes his firing was directly related to the fact Wooten stayed on the job.
“It was a significant factor if not the factor,” Monegan said.
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The Legislature is spending up to $100,000 “to investigate the circumstances and events surrounding the termination of former Public Safety Commissioner Monegan, and potential abuses of power and/or improper actions by members of the executive branch.”
The investigation is supposed to wrap up by Oct. 31, just days before the general election.
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Before she was governor, Palin pushed for a trooper investigation of Wooten over a number of matters, including using a Taser on his stepson, illegally shooting a moose, and accusations of driving drunk. At one point, Palin and her husband hired a private investigator.
Troopers did investigate, and Wooten was suspended for 10 days, later reduced to five. That took care of it, Monegan said. But the Palin administration and Todd Palin wouldn't let go, he said.
Palin initially said that, after she took office in December 2006, she broached the subject of Wooten with Monegan just once, when they discussed her security detail. She said that she told Monegan that Wooten “had threatened to kill my dad and bring me down.” She said she thought that was the end of it.
Monegan said Palin called him on his cell phone one night in January 2007 about Wooten, but it wasn't related to her security detail. He said he had already met with Todd Palin about Wooten, whom he hadn't heard of before, and had looked into the family's complaints only to learn they already had been investigated. Palin seemed frustrated that nothing more could be done, he said.
“For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff,” Monegan said Friday from Portland. “What they said directly was more along the lines of ‘this isn't a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.’”
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This stuff could be troublesome.
Nope, at issue is the time honored Rogue Cop protected by a powerful Union...no more, no less. In Mexico, the Union always wins...in the USA, mebbe 50-50 (until we lose the secret ballot).
It's the same deal as Atty. Gen. Gonzales. These pols serve at the pleasure of the Exec. but the rats will not let go of this one.
Palin might lose the Republicans the copsucker vote?
As well he should have been for letting a DUI police officer with a history of racism against the local Indian population, bar fights, threats of murder and misuse of his office stay in that office with no more than a five day suspension.
This guy was nothing but some of the ole boy garbage she has cleaned out of the local politics. He is an example of why she is a hero.