First dude to blame for Troopergate

spike

spike

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Sarah Palin was kept in the dark while her husband repeatedly asked top officials to help get his former brother-in-law kicked off the state police force, affidavits show.

The documents were released as part of the so-called Troopergate Scandal and the investigation over the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner Walter Monegan who allegedly refused to fire Mrs Palin's brother-in-law Mike Wooten, an Alaskan state trooper, following a messy divorce from her sister.

A report on the case, which made international headlines after Mrs Palin's surprise selection as the Republican vice presidential nominee, will be released on Friday.

It could reveal the extent of the Alaska governor's husband's involvement in her administration.

Affidavits filed with investigators suggest Mrs Palin was not involved while her husband Todd repeatedly met with her aides about family affairs.

Mr Pailn said: "I have heard criticism that I am too involved in my wife's administration. My wife and I are very close. We are each other's best friend. I have helped her in her career the best I can, and she has helped me."

He told the governor's top aides emotional stories about Mr Wooten threatening and emotionally abusing his family.

He said he talked to anyone who would listen. He gave them photos and documents, which they forwarded to others in the administration, and he questioned how Mr Wooten kept his job.

But Mr Palin said he never pressured anyone, including his wife, and said that after repeatedly talking about the matter with her, she finally told him to "drop it".

"Anyone who knows Sarah knows she is the governor and she calls the shots," he wrote.

"I make no apologies for wanting to protect my family and wanting to publicise the injustice of a violent trooper keeping his badge."

Even Mrs Palin's special assistant, Ivy Frye, said she was distraught when she was told about the situation.

"I've felt empathy for the Palin and Heath families in having to endure harassment, intimidation, threats and abuse from a former family member," Mrs Frye wrote.

But she said she never talked about it with Mrs Palin or mentioned the idea of asking Mr Monegan to fire Mr Wooten.

Mr Monegan has said he was fired for not dismissing Mr Wooten, a claim that triggered the politically-charged investigation.

Mrs Palin has said she fired Mr Monegan over a budget dispute.

The documents were released on Wednesday, the same day the state Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit designed to block the probe.

The court said it would rule promptly but did not state when.
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http://itn.co.uk/news/5f7252c8a6830c9eb08460238753be50.html
 
Not that this has anything to do with the topic. But I hate the media adding a "gate" suffix to every scandal since Watergate. It's f*ing annoying.
 
Monegan’s firing was lawful, the report found.

The investigating committee apparently concluded that the so-called "family grudge" actually did motivate Palin. Unless Palin made comments indicating that the “family grudge” was a factor in her decision, the finding that it did seems like an act of "mind-reading."

Branchflower said Palin violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Lawmakers don’t have the authority to sanction her for such a violation, and they gave no indication they would take any action against her.

Under Alaska law, it is up to the state’s Personnel Board — which is conducting its own investigation into the matter — to decide whether Palin violated state law and, if so, must refer it to the Senate president for disciplinary action. Violations also carry a possible fine of up to $5,000.

So, they spent 100k to possibly fine her 5k. And they don’t have the authority to sanction her. :rolleyes:


Conclusion

The framers of Alaska's Constitution vested the office of the governor with very broad discretion to fire the head of any department, for virtually any reason, without preapproval or review by the legislative branch of government.

Given the entire record, I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.

Legal Discussion

The Alaska Constitution gives the governor broad authority to appoint the head of each department, subject to legislative confirmation. AK constitution article III, section25. That constitutional authority also permits a governor the right to dismiss department heads because "[t]he right to hire implies the right to fire."

The governor may discharge department heads without cause. The constitution provides that department heads "serve at the pleasure of the governor." AK Constitution Article III, section 25. Those who serve at the pleasure of their employers are subject to discharge at will.

In light of this constitutional and statutory authority, it is clear that Governor Palin could fire Commissioner Walt Monegan at will, for almost any reason, or no reason at all.
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The ironic thing about this whole episode is that if you take Palin out of the story, the MSM would be screaming for this trooper’s head once they learned that he was drinking in his squad car, illegally taking wild game, tasering children, and threatening to kill people. :shrug:
 
I knew Spike would be doing a pee pee dance over this. It is, of course, a big nothing.

Imagine this. You have intimate knowledge of the wrongdoings of a close family member and you approach the person who is the immediate superior of this person. You take your spouse along as a corroberative witness. Nothing wrong here -- unless ...

you are a politician and then it is in some way unethical for you to attempt to bring this to the authorties.
 
In the meantime, this gets ignored.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/10/obama-camp-downplays-ACORN-payments/

Obama camp downplays ACORN payments
S.A. Miller (Contact)
Friday, October 10, 2008

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's campaign distanced itself Thursday from its $800,000 payment linked to the liberal ACORN organization, which is under investigation in several states where it is suspected of filing fraudulent voter registrations.

Federal Election Commission reports show ACORN-affiliated Citizens Services Inc. got $832,598 from the Obama campaign for get-out-the-vote work during the primaries. But those payments stopped in May and the Obama campaign says they should not be an election issue.

"This is going to be an historic election with unprecedented voter participation, and we are committed to protecting the integrity of the voting process," Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said. "We support local officials in their efforts to investigate any fraudulent behavior and the full prosecution of any illegal activities."

Still, the contributions to Citizens Services draw the Obama campaign closer to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, and the growing voter-fraud scandal that this week spread to the battleground state of Ohio.

The elections board in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, is reviewing about 65,000 voter cards submitted by ACORN after flagging 50 cards filled out for duplicate names, fictitious addresses, noncitizens and recycled names and addresses of currently registered voters, said board spokesman Mike West.

Similar probes reportedly are under way in other large Ohio counties.

Citizen Services is inextricably tied to ACORN. Along with nonprofit sister organization Project Vote, Citizens Services and ACORN share the same New Orleans address and the same executive staff while money flows freely between the three entities. In 1996, Project Vote's tax returns show it paid ACORN more than $4.6 million for campaign services and Citizens Services more than $779,000 for legal and administrative services.

The ACORN political action committee endorsed Mr. Obama for president.

Its national voter-registration drive - which is targeting low-income, minority and young voters who tend to vote Democrat and likely favor Mr. Obama at the polls - is implicated in investigations of bogus voter applications in a dozen states, many of them battlegrounds.

Voter registration is key to Mr. Obama's election strategy. First-time voters, especially students and minorities, helped fuel Mr. Obama's primary wins, and his campaign is looking for the same results to capture swing states such as Ohio on Nov. 4.
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This is kinda like those who said Bush went after saddam to revenge the threat against his father. Considering his father was President, it's not a bad plan.

When the Governors father is threatened, it's reasonable to fire the cop who threatened him.
 
jimpeel said:
In the meantime, this gets ignored.
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I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career (emphasis added). Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work. - Barack Obama, Speech to ACORN, November 2007
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ACORN's voter rights tactics follow the Cloward-Piven Strategy:

1. Register as many Democrat voters as possible, legal or otherwise and help them vote, multiple times if possible.
2. Overwhelm the system with fraudulent registrations using multiple entries of the same name, names of deceased, random names from the phone book, even contrived names.
3. Make the system difficult to police by lobbying for minimal identification standards.
 
barneyjp1.jpg


"Just move along, folks. Nothing to see here."
 
Conclusion

Given the entire record, I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.

Legal Discussion

The governor may discharge department heads without cause. The Alaska constitution provides that department heads "serve at the pleasure of the governor." AK Constitution Article III, section 25. Those who serve at the pleasure of their employers are subject to discharge at will.

In light of this constitutional and statutory authority, it is clear that Governor Palin could fire Commissioner Walt Monegan at will, for almost any reason, or no reason at all.
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I believe you can find that quote on or about page 68 of the report.


The libs have given Palin a huge victory here.

Most Americans will love Sarah Palin even more for firing a corrupt cop who used a taser gun on a 10 year old kid.
 
But wait, there's more:

A Republican lawmaker wants the Democrat overseeing an investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's dismissal of her public safety commissioner removed because he seems intent on damaging her vice presidential candidacy.

Democratic state Sen. Hollis French "appears to be steering the direction of the investigation, its conclusion and its timing in a manner that will have maximum partisan political impact on the national and state elections," state Rep. John Coghill said in a letter dated Friday.

Coghill wrote in the letter that French was quoted in media reports that the results of the probe were going to be an "October surprise" that is "likely to be damaging to the administration." The comments lead Coghill to believe the investigation is lacking in fairness, neutrality and due process, he wrote.
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Here's a pic of dear Hollis (5th from left) and Kim Elton (far left w/beard), fellow "investigator."

palininvestigatorsqg8.jpg


(larger image at: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L6pDyjqqs...8/rWBVCFBSpB4/s1600-h/palin+investigators.jpg)
 
chcr said:
Ignored by whom? It's been all over the news here in America.
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Ignored by those who post here. Its been on here in America, too.

The article I posted was from the Washingtom Times. I wonder what ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, etc have said.
 
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