Thursday, October 9, 2008

This piece of work thinks she can clear self of all wrongdoing



Palin pre-empts state report, clears self
Alaska lawmakers expected to release ethics probe findings Friday
The Associated Press
updated 6:55 p.m. AKT, Thurs., Oct. 9, 2008
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.

The move came hours after the state Supreme Court refused to halt the ethics investigation.

Lawmakers were 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.

Campaign blames former opponent
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."



Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27105917/

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3 Comments:

At October 10, 2008 at 1:20 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The hypocrisy in the Palins and the people who surround them over this investigation is monumental. However, the most disturbing issue is that of her staff refusing to answer the subpoenas along with her husband. This is a direct attack on the judicial system. That Rove, Meiers and Gonzalez have been allowed to do so, encouraged to do so by the current administration, is a direct slap in the face to millions of soldiers who have fought and died for the Constitution and the American way of life. As a citizen, your loyalty is to your country, not your boss. The Republicans never keep their promises, are never wrong, and can make any situation look like its what they actually wanted. I never would have believed our government could be so polluted by such lies, corruption, mismanagement and greed....such inattention to what they are supposed to be doing that it is all crashing down around them now. Unfortunately, its taking us down, too.

 
At October 10, 2008 at 1:21 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Likely Damaging" Report on Governor Scheduled for Release Days Before November ElectionIs the McCain campaign afraid of an 'October surprise' involving vice-presidential pick Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska? The Alaska state senator running an investigation of Gov. Palin says the McCain campaign is using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing his final report by Oct. 31, four days before the November election. "It's likely to be damaging to the Governor's administration," said Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, appointed the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate...

 
At October 14, 2008 at 6:58 AM , Blogger Patricia Hecker said...

It is IMPERATIVE this dangeruous liasion of Palin and McCain never get elected.
This country is in trouble now from 8 years of neglect, just imagine what dumb and dumber could do!!!


OBAMA-BIDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

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