Fired Official Contacted 36 Times By Palin And Her Staff

The Alaskan public safety commissioner fired by Sarah Palin was contacted three dozen times over 19 months by the governor and her staff, who were pressuring him to get Palin's former brother-in-law, a state trooper, off the force, reports the New York Times.

At one point, the commissioner Walter Monegan got a phone call from the director of Palin's Anchorage office asking that the trooper, Mike Wooten, not be assigned to work at a state fair in 2007, where he had volunteered for duty in full costume as "Safety Bear," a child-friendly mascot.

The reason provided by the gubernatorial aide was that Palin "was also planning to attend and did not want the trooper nearby."

Monegan claims that he was fired because he failed to remove Wooten, who was engaged in a brutal child custody battle with Palin's sister.

"I thought to myself, 'Man, do they have a heavy-duty network and focus on this guy,'" Monegan told the Times.

Palin's aides also discussed Wooten with Monegan's successor, Chuck Kopp during pre-employment conversations. "Is there anything you can do?" an aide asked Kopp.

Read the whole story here:

Comments

[suhud]

The "three stacks of personnel files?" Just how Todd get his hands on that confidential information and lug it to her office? Does being Sarah's First Dude and Best Bud gives him the legal right? If so, what kind of muscle will he flex, if she gets elected? Sounds like the plan is to throw him under the bus, to clear her. Guess they have to...there are no more souls to sell.

[rpd123]

I wondered the same thing. What legal/moral/ethical right does this yahoo have to personnel files?

[PT6]

McCain Matches Wall Street Corruption and Fake Justification for War in Iraq

McCAIN MATCHED “WALL STREET CORRUPTION IN HIS POLITICAL CAMPAIGN” BY PULLING A “TRICK” WHICH WALL STREET OF LAST YEAR WOULD BE PROUD!
HIS MOVE ALSO ECHOS BACK TO THE "FALSE JUSTIFICATION FOR ENTERING IRAQ!"

When McCain heard that the Alaska Sureme Court denied the Delay he wanted and knowing that the Alaska Congress is releasing an “Authorized Misuse of Power Investigation Report by a Respected Investigator,” McCain pulls a “TRICK” out of the “Wall Street Hat of Tricks.” No it was not "naked shorts" of "excessive leveraging" or combining "risky loans into "AAA" paper!

McCain had a Bogus Unauthorized Report manufactured which echos back to the Manufactured Justification for Going into Iraq by Bush/Cheney.

So this smacks of both the Current Corruption on Wall Street and the Corruption in the Bush Administration related to “Faking the Need for a War in Iraq stating Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

This brings McCain/Palin into the middle of the Corruption that McCain says he is trying to FIGHT and ELIMINATE!

This will further convince the AMERICAN PEOPLE he is UNFIT to Lead!

McCain could have been free of a VP candidate who is clearly pulling his campaign down and put in FRESH BLOOD!

But instead he decides to jump in the middle of this "Misuse of Power Findings" with both feet and make himself part of the dishonesty!

[genia]

don't look now...but as of yeaterday we are being swiftboated...ACORN was raided.

oh...and pass this along to everyone you know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eniG9l_7its

[orkranger]

I'd like to see Biden in Alaska and hold a ralley. Palin would go nucular!

[scordsdu]

Did you see Baldwin on 20/20. Fathers having little to no contact with their own children. Alec Baldwin has spent over 3 million in custody battles to have little to no contact with his own child Ireland. He described the courts like amoral pit bosses forcing him and Kim Basinger to the table to blow their money on a futile game of lawyers. This baloney has got to end.

[TN]

Poor Todd, his wife is out meeting all of these rich handsome politicians that can offer her soo much more than he can. As controlling as he is, and as needy as she is, I suspect he is crying to her on the phone every night, now that they sent him home. When Palin said, she and todd would go back and campaign in Michigan, she sounded like she was running for Pres. and todd for VP, bye, bye Todd.

[anonnymouse]

Unfortunately, on Larry King tonight they announced she is not being held responsible for this. I wonder who made that decision and why? I suspect that she has people with big pockets now. Or other means of meddling with justice. Do people know she is in an organization dedicated to making Alaska a separate nation? I saw her in a video on YouTube addressing the people in that orgnaization. She is a slippery person for sure.

[luvangelHussein330]

Even though the official report is coming out tommorrow by investigators. Moose Burger Barbie decides to clear herself anyway:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081010/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate

[aflyinyoursoup]

That's because "the fix is in"!
She knows that this whole affair has been 'MASSAGED" by the McCain political machine.
It's a FARCE!
She's a FARCE!

[chrisberge72]

It's all cool, man, it's all cool. Nov. 4th is going to be a new kind of day.

[MajorChode]

Just what the heck is wrong with these people? 36 calls to Monegan and a dozen more to Peterson and they want to deny they weren't pressuring Monegan to fire Wooten? Todd Palin was casing Wooten for Christ's sake and taking pictures of his every move. How dumb do they think everyone is? Palin is so vindictive she makes Cheney look like Mother Teresa. Palin claimed Wooten shot a moose cow illegally, yet she gladly accepted meat from it and never said a word until her angelic sister started divorce proceedings with Wooten. Someone should investigate the Palins' role in that heinous crime, or at the very least their mental stability.

[LovCatsCA]

So the potentially guilty send out a PR that they aren't guilty? Do we accept criminals judging themselves and deciding their innocent? This report from the Republicans is clearly a conflict of interest!

I know low info voters and many whites can't accept a mixed race person for President under any circumstances however, that doesn't mean the rest of the voters or the world will accept this cheap dirty trash and vote for McCain.

[whizkid]

Talk about the bridge to nowhere.
Trying to offer this guy as an example of virtue.

[drumz]

what's virtue got to do with it peekid? she's a snake and the oily repukelican machine is greas'n palms big time to save her from the bipartisan report. Do you know what bipartisan means?

[LemonMeringue]

I am surprised this 30 year public servant did not sue the governor for harassment.

[postman606]

Lemon, the lawsuit comes after the investigation. That dictates how the dollar amount.

[rodhemeon]

''As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States''
Palin the ''Maverick'' grabs her shotgun....If she and McCain begin to spiral downward in the polls....as they will.......The rich and powerful may very likely create a major international incident.....To allow John McCain to come to the rescue..........

Republican or Democrat....
You will feel a cold chill running down your spine....as McCain and
Palin assume control of the nuclear trigger.

[MIAMI08]

What we can do to get the word out on Palin associations with the alaskan independence party is to email the networks and ask why they are ignoring all the associations of palin and mccain.

[Macalistar]

Did you see this article that Kepps posted below...
http://www.salon.com/

[LemonMeringue]

I've been contacting the networks. Only MSNBC has covered it via Olbermann.

[TN]

What about Dr. Muthee, the witch doctor that prayed, on tape, over palin that the demons be gone, make away. Of course the narcissist, that she is, thought he was saying, make a way for her to be govenor. That's why she thinks all of this is from god. Apparently he didn't make her demons away.

[NicoloM]

Sadly, the NYT article only vaguely addresses what role the VP selection has had on the investigation into Monegan's firing and cooperation by Palin. If McCain lawyers are up in Alaska, what are they doing? Do they have a legitimate purpose? Have they contacted witnesses or potential witnesses-- and if so by what authority if they represent McCain's interests? Have they obstructed an investigation?
Alaska is somewhat unique because of obvious facts, which are not well understood. It is a long way from the contiguous 48. It is hard to appreciate the isolation if you live on the east coast where halves of a city are in two different states. Second, it gets dark and stays dark a long time in the winter. In Juneau it drizzles so much that even when its not dark, it is gray most of the time, so it is easy to see how people feel a little cabin fever and dwell on catfights like the custody battle of a sister, especially for the fundamentalists who have extremely polarized thinking patterns. Finally, the population is small, people know people who know just about everyone else. In other words it is easy for gossip to spread and feelings to get hurt.
What I learned working for the State is that many would rather fight than get things done, so don't look for anything remarkable from the investigation, this is sort of like winter recreation for Palin and her crowd.