McCain Camp Clears Palin Of Wrongdoing In Troopergate Before State Report Is Even Issued

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Trying to head off a potentially embarrassing state ethics report on GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, campaign officials released their own report Thursday that clears her of any wrongdoing.

Sen. John McCain's running mate is the subject of a legislative investigation into whether she abused her power as governor by firing her public safety commissioner. The commissioner, Walter Monegan, says he was dismissed in July for resisting pressure from Palin's husband, Todd Palin, and numerous top aides to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, Palin's former brother-in-law.

Lawmakers are expected to release their own findings Friday. Campaign officials have yet to see that report _ the result of an investigation that began before she was tapped as McCain's running mate _ but said the investigation has falsely portrayed a legitimate policy dispute between a governor and her commissioner as something inappropriate.

"The following document will prove Walt Monegan's dismissal was a result of his insubordination and budgetary clashes with Governor Palin and her administration," campaign officials wrote. "Trooper Wooten is a separate issue."

Monegan said Thursday that he doesn't know what to expect from the legislative panel's own report.

"I just hope that the truth is figured out," Monegan told The Associated Press on Thursday. "That the governor did want me to fire him, and I chose to not. You just can't walk up to someone and say, 'I fire you.' He didn't do anything under my watch to result in termination."

Palin's critics say that shows she used her office to settle family affairs.

"When you're the governor, you leave your household hat at home and you become governor," said state Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican who has frequently clashed with Palin.

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The campaign's report instead blames former campaign opponent, Andrew Halcro, who has a blog, of conspiring with Wooten to pin Monegan's dismissal on the family's dispute with Wooten. Three days after Monegan was fired, they say, Wooten told his ex-wife, Palin's sister, that: "You guys are going down. Get ready for the show."

Two days after that confrontation, they say, Halcro and Wooten met at a hotel bar in Anchorage for more than three hours _ and that evening, Halcro posted the first accusations on his blog that Monegan had been fired because of a vendetta against Wooten by the Palin family.

"It is tragic that a false story hatched by a blogger after drinks with Trooper Wooten led the legislature to allocate over $100,000 of public money to be spent in what has become a politically driven investigation," the 21-page report concludes.

Although the report describes Wooten as a separate issue, the McCain campaign goes into great detail about the "rogue" trooper and his "long history of unstable and erratic behavior." The campaign describes allegations of violence, including threatening Palin's family and shooting his stepson with a stun gun.

The report also includes allegations that Wooten cheated the workers' compensation system. Todd Palin has said he had numerous conversations with government officials about why Wooten was allowed to stay on the job.

"The Palins make no apologies for wanting to protect their family and wanting to bring attention to the injustice of a violent trooper keeping his badge and abusing the workers' compensation system."

But Todd Palin said he never pressured anyone, including his wife.

The McCain campaign says the investigation has become "muddied with innuendo, rumor and partisan politics."

___

Associated Press writer Adam Goldman contributed to this report.

Comments

[Richard22]

Todd Palin claims he complained about Wooten as a "regular citizen". But regular citizens don't sit in on meetings with the governors, and get copied on official emails.

If Maria Shriver and her friends called a California state employee 36 times to let him know what actions "Arnie" wanted to be taken, would that be not perceived as undue coercion -- and abuse of power?

[Grunty1]

A the bare minimum, it certainly wouldn't be "a regaular citizen"

[lemonyashes]

And Todd Palin didn't make these phone calls to these same officials before his wife was governor, so it tells me he was using "leverage" of her office.

[seachild]

why is Palin scheduled (confirmed) to be a guest on SNL, October 25th???????....does this mean she's already CLEARED???...

[elakelaiset]

Wait, I've heard this one before: "Move along folks, there's nothing to see here."

Luckily, and thanks to the Alaska State Supreme Court, we'll be able to see BOTH "reports."

[BPCentrisAmerican]

Nothing like a political campaign circumventing state law.

[rkrenke]

This is not the kind of leadership this country needs - Palin and her ilk are beyond shameful.

Hopefully, the Alaskan legislature will do the right thing and impeach this woman, and Wooten and Monegan will both follow-up with a slander suit.

[nassau]

there's a risk that this will ever lead to a conviction or even anything embarrassing to palin. there's too much money and power invested in this and on the line for them to not buy, bully or threaten the judge in the case.

[Barometer]

Why is the mainstream media so shy of investigating the Alaskan Independence Party connections of the Palins?

Where is the FBI in all of this? Has the Bush administration nullified law enforcement as well as the courts?

[rkrenke]

I agree. Odd that the corporate-owned media has no problem spreading whatever Ayers falsehood the McCain camp advances, yet they refuse to report on this issue, as well as Palin's ties to Thomas Muthee and the Alaskan Successionist Party.

If Ayers, Rezko, and Wright are fair game then so is Muthee, Troopergate, and the Alaskan Successionist Party.

Perhaps we should all send emails to the NYT, WaPo, and all of the network and cable news outlets asking that very question.

[Dynamohum]

I agree flood the media outlets with emails, faxes, letters asking for investigation and airtime for Troopergate and Alaska Secessionist Party. I know that Rachel Maddow and Keith Olberman have already been reporting on this mess for weeks, but no one else that I know of. It is ridiculous that not one word has been said, especially after how much time has been spent on "That one", my candidate for President, Obama!

[elakelaiset]

Three cheers for the Alaska State Supreme Court! They blocked the Republican legislators' attempt to scuttle the report, thus the need for the Campaign to Nowhere to "get out in front of" the report with their own "report." Now let's see that other, official, maverick-content-free report...

[mothragirl]

I find it interesting that republicans, and mostly John McCain in th last few months have touted states rights and keeping power and decisions local. They are showing blatant disrespect towards Alaska and their ability to investigate. Why do so many people with a little power feel as though they are above the law? This is just another example of how important this race is. I'm not saying that Obama is the answer to everything. I remember a month ago I was getting angry at his campaign for coming off dispassionate and detached. HA! McCain has run a disgraceful campaign. This is just another piece in th ebig picture puzzle.

[lemonyashes]

Obama has improved since the convention and yea I want him to show more passion still but the angry black man will haunt if he does much more than he already is doing. And I got admit Obama has a sixth sense about exactly what, when, and where to work it.

[harobamason]

Next up.. Sarah Palin: Palling Around With Secessionists

Here is a devastating video demonstrating Palin's CLEAR ASSOCIATION with the AIP - the Alaskan Independence Party. This is not Todd Palin speaking but Sarah Palin herself and she is not 8years old.

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

Watch it and pass it on to friends and journalists and continue posting on blogs!

MSNBC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vni5Rm1bSjQ&feature=related=related

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/10/palin_chryson/index.html

AT LAST SOMEONE IS DOING A DEEP INVESTIGATION INTO THE PALINS!

Go check out the Christian Exodus website and open Newletter #7. There is an interesting article "Is Sarah Palin an Alaskan Secessionist in Disguise?"

The part I found interesting:

"I was really taken aback to hear of Sarah Palin, since I had learned about her already at the Second North American Secessionist Convention, which I attended in Chattanooga last year with a delegation from Christian Exodus. There Dexter Clark, a hardcore libertarian secessionist from the Alaskan Independence Party, with a distinguished beard and gift for poetic oratory, assured us that she was really one of us, a secessionist in disguise, who had run as a Republican only for the practical purpose of getting elected. "

Check it out... quite an interesting read.

If in fact sarah had no knowledge then she is incompetent

If she did have knowledge she abused her power

Either way she is a danger to America

Secessionism is Treason

[Cathar]

Well if McCain cleared her it must be true. Like she never took earmarks,she can see Russia from her front porch and this makes her an expert on foreign policy, that her husband secessionist activites were boys just having fun. Yea I can buy all of this. By the way I just saw the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause having a latte at Starbucks, just like Sarah.

[OutragedMom]

Don't forget, she is the foremost energy expert in the country.

[AgeofReason]

Absolutely! The American people can trust the Maverick McCain campaign to be completely non-partisan in the way they clear their VP candidate of this ethics charge. The bipartisan legislative report doesn't even need to come out now that the McCain campaign has spoken!

[AndrewInToronto]

'...the 'rogue' trooper and his 'long history of unstable and erratic behavior.'

Almost sounds like a maverick. :-)

[MDinOK]

During Palin's run for mayor the AIP (who supported her) accused her opponent of being Jewish. Remember, Todd Palin was a member of this group from 1995-2002.

"While Palin played up her total opposition to the sales tax and gun control — the two hobgoblins of the AIP — mailers spread throughout the town portraying her as “the Christian candidate,” a subtle suggestion that Stein, who is Lutheran, might be Jewish. “I watched that campaign unfold, bringing a level of slime our community hadn’t seen until then,” recalled Phil Munger, a local music teacher who counts himself as a close friend of Stein."

"...Though Palin never made this accusation, her 1996 campaign for mayor was the most negative Wasilla residents had ever witnessed." Does this sound familiar?

A link to a very interesting article.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/10/palin_chryson/index1.html

[phoebie]

Whew! Am I glad that troopergate has been put to bed by the McCain campaign.
By the way, anyone heard the term "maverick' lately?

[DaOne]

I hope Alaskans appreciate that federal campaign officials are writing state reports for them now.