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But a moment of reassessment is a good time to reassess things for yourself, so I spent this week reading about the lost world of the 1990s. I skimmed the Starr Report. I leafed through books by George Stephanopoulos and Joe Klein and Michael Isikoff. I dug into Troopergate and Whitewater and other first-term scandals. I reacquainted myself with Gennifer Flowers and Webb Hubbell, James Riady and Marc Rich. After doing all this reading, I’m not sure my reasonable middle ground is actually reasonable. It may be that the conservatives of the 1990s were simply right about Clinton, that once...

A Wall Street analyst who spoke to Peter Smith the day before he reportedly committed suicide told the Daily Caller News Foundation there were no indications the Chicago businessman and anti-Clinton political investigator was about to take his life. [ ] “This does not seem like a settled story. It made perfect sense to me he might have died of natural causes, but little chance he would have killed himself,” Ortel said. [ ] Ortel vigorously dismissed the allegation that Smith took his own life. Ortel, who may have been the last person to speak with Smith prior to his...

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Officials have revoked the law enforcement certification of the former Alaska State Trooper at the center of the so-called Troopergate scandal that led to investigations into whether Sarah Palin abused her power as governor. http://m.peninsulaclarion.com/news/2015-05-02/trooper-at-center-of-palin-probe-loses-police-certificate#gsc.tab=0

In a sign that Mitt Romney's campaign team plans to adjust following growing criticism from fellow Republicans, CBS News has learned that Romney campaign senior adviser Kevin Madden will soon be taking on a larger and more visible role within the campaign. Sources tell CBS News that Madden will be spending more time on the road with Romney and is likely to become a more public presence as a TV spokesperson for the candidate. He will hit the road with Romney next week, following Romney's New Hampshire vacation. This move to make Madden a more public face of the campaign...

Kevin Madden, a Republican communications expert with long ties to Mitt Romney, will become a more frequent and visible spokesman for the presidential campaign, a source close to the decision said on Friday. The increased responsibilities for Mr. Madden came in the wake of criticism from nervous Republicans about Mr. Romney’s campaign team. The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial that the campaign “looks confused in addition to being politically dumb.”

TRENTON — The State Police are investigating complaints that two troopers escorted a caravan of luxury sports cars at speeds in excess of 100 mph down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City last month. The occupants included former Giants running back and sports car enthusiast Brandon Jacobs, according to a source with knowledge of the trip. In the complaints, obtained by The Star-Ledger, witnesses said that in the early afternoon March 30, they saw two State Police patrol cars with their emergency lights flashing driving in front of and behind the southbound caravan, which included dozens of Porsches, Lamborghinis,...

<p>At least one mystery from Sarah Palin's short reign as governor of Alaska appears to have been cleared up by claims made in a manuscript for a book proposed by former Palin aide and confident Frank Bailey.</p> <p>Many have wondered why Palin, who professes to be pro-life, named to the Alaska Supreme Court Morgan Christen, who is pro-choice. The move took both conservatives and liberals by surprise in 2009.</p>

Trooper once tied to Jones suit fired ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE The Arkansas State Police last week fired a longtime trooper — a man once linked to passing to news organizations damaging information about former President Bill Clinton’s time as governor. Fired Feb. 18 for reasons the state police declined to disclose, Ronnie Anderson was first hired as a civilian employee in 1977 and commissioned as a trooper in 1985, state police spokesman Bill Sadler said. Anderson has 10 days from the date of his firing to appeal his termination. Until then, the agency will not release any records related to the...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who spoke to The Hill Monday evening, denied Sarah Palin's allegation that his campaign stuck her with a $50,000 legal bill to pay for the cost of vetting her as a potential vice presidential candidate. McCain said the bill was for legal work related to allegations that Palin made improper use of her influence as Alaska's governor to press for the dismissal of a state trooper named Mike Wooten. Wooten was embroiled in a custody dispute with Palin's younger sister, Molly McCann. "That was addressed by Trevor Potter," said McCain, "That was over the troopergate." In...

A well-placed source in the Alaska Department of Public Safety informs me that Mike Wooten, the Alaska State trooper who was disciplined for various violations of the law and placed on desk duty, has now been turned loose back on the street. Wooten, Sarah Palin's ex brother-in-law, who was disciplined for various infractions, including using a Taser on a child, shooting a moose out of season, and driving a police vehicle after consuming alcohol, whose misdeeds ultimately led to the dismissal of the former Commissioner of Public Safety by Governor Palin, has been returned to street duty with the Alaska...

You may remember Trooper Mike Wooten from the whole "Troopergate" fiasco, which was pushed hard by the media and the Democrats in an attempt to smear Governor Palin. Alaska Senator Hollis French promised an "October surprise" to close out the investigation and Alaska Senator Kim Elton was later rewarded by the Obama administration for his role as the hatchet man in charge of the Legislative Council that oversaw the investigation.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The lawyer for Gov. Sarah Palin's husband fired back at Alaska state senators Saturday, disputing that Todd Palin and others "ignored" subpoenas issued last fall during the Troopergate investigation of the governor. Attorney Thomas V. Van Flein said that immediately after a judge's decision refusing to intervene, all subpoenaed witnesses, including Todd Palin, filed detailed written responses to lawmakers. "These are not the actions of contemptuous witnesses, rather, they reflect a studied and deliberate invocation of law and due process, and in accord with the rule of law, once the court issued its decision, the parties then...

A Mat-Su drug investigator and the union representing Alaska State Troopers are alleging political meddling in the Sherry Johnston drug case, including a delay in serving the search warrant because of the November election. Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, who became nationally known in September when Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, announced their daughter, Bristol, was pregnant and he was the father. Palin was running for vice president while Sherry Johnston was under investigation. Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Joe Masters and troopers director Col. Audie Holloway vigorously dispute that there was anything irregular in how this...

Walt Monegan just answered a phone call and confirmed he plans to file a letter of intent Friday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. A longtime Anchorage cop who rose to become chief of police, Monegan said people have been talking to him about running for office since before he left the city.

Sarah Palin did nothing wrong in firing Walt Monegan, the Alaskan State Personnel Board has concluded.  Their independent investigator criticized the legislature’s investigator for applying the wrong law.  They also said that Todd Palin did nothing wrong in pressing for action against the governor’s former brother-in-law: A new report just released — hours before the polls open on Election Day — exonerates Gov. Sarah Palin in the Troopergate controversy.The state Personnel Board-sanctioned investigation is the second into whether Palin violated state ethics law in firing her public safety commissioner, and it contradicts the earlier findings by a special counsel hired...

Timothy Petumenos, an independent investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board, addresses the media on Monday, November 3, 2008, in the Hotel Captain Cook A new report just released -- hours before the polls open on Election Day -- exonerates Gov. Sarah Palin in the Troopergate controversy. The state Personnel Board-sanctioned investigation is the second into whether Palin violated state ethics law in firing her public safety commissioner, and it contradicts the earlier findings by a special counsel hired by the state Legislature. Both investigations found that Palin was within her rights to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan....

A new report just released -- hours before the polls open on Election Day -- exonerates Gov. Sarah Palin in the Troopergate controversy. ... Both investigations found that Palin was within her rights to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. But the new report says the Legislature's investigator was wrong to conclude that Palin abused her power by allowing aides and her husband, Todd, to pressure Monegan and others to dismiss her ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten. Palin was accused of firing Monegan after Wooten stayed on the job.

Findings from the Personnel Board report: 1. There is no probable cause to believe that Governor Palin violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act by making the decision to dismiss Department of Public Safety Commissioner Monegan and offering him instead the position of Director of the Alaska Beverage Control Board. 2. There is no probably cause to believe that Governor Palin violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in any other respect in connection with the employment of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten. 3. There is no basis upon which to refer the conduct of Governor Palin to any law enforcement agency...

Just heard it on CNN Lou Dobbs. Sarah Cleared by the officials conducting the Troopergate inquiry.

A report detailing whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power by firing her public safety commissioner will be released on the eve of the election. Timothy Petumenos, an independent investigator hired by the Alaska Personnel Board, says he will release the report during a news conference 7:30 p.m. EST Monday....