"TROOPERGATE" -- The official state investigation into "Troopergate" has ended. Here is how the AP summarized the conclusion:
A
legislative investigator found that Palin violated state ethics laws
and abused her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired
as a state trooper.
... The inquiry looked into Palin's dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner
Walter Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure
to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle
with the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a
legitimate budget dispute.
Stephen Branchflower, a retired prosecutor hired to conduct the
investigation, said Monegan's firing was lawful. But the pressure Palin
and her husband put on him, he said, was not.
The original ethics complaint at the heart of "Troopergate" involved the dismissal of Walt Monegan, a state employee. Alaska Democrats began circulating the rumor that Governor Palin fired Monegan because she had pressured him to fire Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, the ex-husband of Palin's sister Molly, and Monegan refused.
However, the ethics commission hearing was called by Gov. Palin herself, not Walt Monegan or the state Democratic party, because Gov. Palin wished to defend herself publicly against the allegations. The political end of the investigation was helmed by Alaska State Sen. Hollis French, a long-time friend and political ally of Walt Monegan. French famously stuck his foot in his mouth a few weeks ago, declaring that the commission's findings could become the "October surprise" for the McCain campaign. So much for impartiality.
The Commission's report stated that Sarah and Todd Palin's continued pleas to have officer Mike Wooten disciplined or fired constituted a misuse of power by the office of the Governor. But the commission recommended no criminal investigation (in other words, they found no criminal wrongdoing) and referred the matter to the Alaska Senate, which actually has the power to sanction Palin if it so chooses.
The Wall Street Journal has more, including this statement from the governor's office:
“The so-called ‘Troopergate’ incident began with Governor Palin’s
removal of Walt Monegan as commissioner of public safety. Today,
investigator Steve Branchflower vindicated the governor by finding that
she acted within her constitutional authority to remove ‘at-will’
employees.
“However, along with several members of the Legislative Council, we
question how Mr. Branchflower reached the conclusion that Governor
Palin abused her power with respect to Trooper Mike Wooten. That
finding required speculation and assumptions on Mr. Branchflower’s part
and could not be supported solely on the basis of the evidence that he
collected. We agree with the comments made that Alaskans should
consider the report in total rather than relying solely on the
findings.”
Considering that we may be just weeks away from electing the Democratic party's Chicago Political Machine into the White House, this whole affair reeks of triviality to me.
