Thread: Palins "Troopergate" issue looks to be blowing up...

IMHO the one area where Palin has real vulnerability that could dramatically effect the Presidential race is the "Troopergate" issue. I DID try and find an existing thread to tuck this in, but felt burying it would make it too hard for others to contribute as more is known. For the record, I would have felt mucho guilty starting two political threads in the same day back in the Padded Room... now not so much.

(NOTE: Edited in color at a later time)

ABC News is reporting that the Alaska Senates investigation will be "Fast Tracked" and news has leaked that Palin and the McCain campaign are trying to deep six or delay the investigation;

Originally Posted by ABC News

Investigation into Palin Now on Fast Track
Sources Tell ABC News that Report Will Be Released Almost Three Weeks Early

ABC News has exclusively learned that Alaska Senator Hollis French will announce today that he is moving up the release date of his investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired. The results of the investigation were originally scheduled for release Oct. 31 but will now come almost three weeks earlier, according to sources.

Alaska state senator Hollis French, who is running an investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin, says the McCain campaign is using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing his final report by Oct. 31st.
(The Associated Press)

The announcement is set for 9 a.m. AKDT time.

The Alaska state senator running an investigation of Gov. Palin had accused the McCain campaign of 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 Legislative Counsel Committee investigation.

Palin, who has denied any wrongdoing and has said she has nothing to hide, has hired private lawyers to represent her in the matter.

Originally Posted by Anchorage Daily News - Opinion

Palin\\\'s stall
Governor is stonewalling the Troopergate investigation

Gov. Sarah Palin is taking the wrong approach to Troopergate. She should be practicing the open and transparent, ethical and accountable government she promised when running for governor and boasts about now that she's on the national stage.

Instead, Gov. Palin has begun stonewalling the Legislature's attempt to get the bottom of allegations that she, her family or staff violated ethical or state personnel rules.

As a result, the Troopergate allegations hang over Palin's future and cloud her candidacy for vice president.

The allegations are that she, her family or administration improperly pressured then-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire Gov. Palin's ex-brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten, who had been in the middle of a custody dispute with Palin's sister.

In July, when legislators started talking about conducting an investigation, Palin denied any wrongdoing and said she welcomed an investigation.

"Hold me accountable," she said.

The Legislature took her up on that offer. But this week, she basically told the Legislature, "Never mind."

Palin's lawyer has asked the Legislature to drop its investigation. He had the governor file an ethics complaint against herself, in a bid to turn the entire matter over to the state Personnel Board, which would hire an independent investigator.

This is not an open and transparent attempt to establish Gov. Palin's accountability. It is an attempt to drag out the investigation until after voters decide the fate of her vice-presidential bid.

Instead, Gov. Palin should honor her pledge to cooperate with the Legislature's investigation, conducted by former state prosecutor Steve Branchflower.

She could start by telling aide Frank Bailey he has to talk to the legislative investigator. She should fire him if he doesn't.

Bailey was caught on an audio recording of a phone conversation with a Public Safety Department official, in which Bailey pushed to get Wooten fired.

Bailey was put on paid leave, not fired. A spokeswoman for Palin said that while Bailey is on the state payroll, Palin can direct him to cooperate with the legislative investigation.

So why is Bailey still on the payroll, after he bailed on a scheduled interview with the legislative investigator Wednesday?

The Legislature hasn't given its investigator the power to subpoena, or compel, testimony of witnesses. Subpoenas appeared unnecessary, since it appeared the governor and administration would be cooperating.

That's over. It's time for the subpoenas.

The Legislature's investigation is supposed to be wrapped up by Oct. 31. That's obviously poor timing from the standpoint of the McCain-Palin presidential campaign, coming just a few days before the national election.

Instead of trying to delay the whole thing, Palin should take a cue from U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, who asked that his corruption trial be moved up so it would be completed well ahead of the November general election. Voters deserve to know the outcome of Sen. Stevens trial and the investigation into Palin.

When this investigation into Troopergate started, Gov. Palin's response was refreshingly open. Since she became the Republican candidate for vice president, her approach has changed for the worse. America deserves the same openness and ethics from vice-presidential candidate Palin that she promised to Alaska voters in 2006.

BOTTOM LINE: Gov. Palin is stonewalling on Troopergate; the Legislature should issue subpoenas.

'Threat'?

Palin's lawyer tries to play Secret Service card

Gov. Sarah Palin's lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, made an absurd threat in his battle to get the Legislature to back off its ethics investigation of the governor and her staff.

Van Flein said legislative investigator Steve Branchflower tried to call First Gentleman Todd Palin directly on "a secure and confidential line. This represents a serious security breach that we may be obligated to report to the Secret Service."

Hello? Branchflower is acting on behalf of the Legislature. That's a security breach?

Lawyers are supposed to vigorously represent their clients, but claiming that a legislative investigator's phone call may be a security matter worthy of Secret Service attention is ridiculous.

Gov. Palin should keep her legal attack dog on a shorter leash.

BOTTOM LINE: More obstruction from Palin in Troopergate.

jeebus Tim, fkn 6 font and no highlights, no colors other than one yellow line, and you expect us to read all that??????????????????

Yeah, that could be an issue, particularly as she fired the dude that wouldn't fire her ex bro-in-law, and the dude has emails that are pretty damning...

I'm watching this guy right now - he Tazered his EDIT: stepson on request.

I think the Democrats are being played. Palin is nothing but a distraction. There's only one Republican who matters and it's John "Super-Cynical Opportunist" McCain.

there may be more......

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0..._n_124034.html

Forcing McCain to admit she is a mistake will give the dems the power they need to show being a maverick is not all its cracked up to be. If making bad choices is his idea of change, McCain is going to get fried.

I hope this leads to other examples of how she fired people who got in her way. She is not a barracuda, she is just a plain bitch.

Originally Posted by Tye 1on

jeebus Tim, fkn 6 font and no highlights, no colors other than one yellow line, and you expect us to read all that??????????????????

Yeah, that could be an issue, particularly as she fired the dude that wouldn't fire her ex bro-in-law, and the dude has emails that are pretty damning...

Totally...just goes to show, in addition to all of her asinine stances on abortion, book banning, gay rights, etc...Palin's just not the brightest candle in the cathedral.

Originally Posted by Adolf Allerbush

Totally...just goes to show, in addition to all of her asinine stances on abortion, book banning, gay rights, etc...Palin's just not the brightest candle in the cathedral.

well it did take her six years at four schools to get a degree, i don't think people like her because she's smart. i cant really say why people like her, maybe their love for her fills a void.. they need to.

Originally Posted by Tye 1on

jeebus Tim, fkn 6 font and no highlights, no colors other than one yellow line, and you expect us to read all that?????????????????? ...

Yeah... My future ex-wife was standing at the door tapping her foot waiting for me to finish so we could go shopping. I kinda HAD TO drop the ball on the rest of my organizational "coding", or get even more crap. I suppose I could go back and add a bit in, since that is long and it does really help (at least IMHO).

Originally Posted by basom

there may be more......

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0..._n_124034.html

THANK YOU!!! I had seen that earlier today and totally spaced on pulling it into this thread.

Originally Posted by deepbackground.msnbc

Alaska police union files complaint against Palin

By Aram Roston and Amna Nawaz, NBC News producers

The GOP candidate for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, may be facing yet another ethics investigation back in her home state of Alaska. An ethics complaint obtained by NBC News was filed Wednesday by the police officers union in Alaska, requesting a probe into possible wrongdoing by the governor or her office. It was brought on behalf of state trooper Mike Wooten, an ex-brother-in-law of Palin who is at the center of the "Troopergate" scandal.

The complaint alleges that the governor or her staff may have have improperly disclosed information from Wooten's personnel records. The complaint alleges "criminal penalties may apply."

John Cyr, director of the union that filed the complaint, told NBC News, "It seems obvious to us somebody has improperly accessed [Wooten's] personnel file."

The McCain/Palin campaign Thursday launched a spirited defense when contacted by NBC News. They say the personnel files were not protected; a campaign source says Wooten himself had previously signed a waiver allowing a divorce lawyer to obtain his personnel records. The campaign then sent a copy of that waiver to NBC News, which reads "I hereby waive any privilege I may have to said information to said attorneys."

The issue concerns disclosures about Wooten's records made by a Palin aide - Frank Bailey - in a February 2008 phone conversation. The police officers' union complaint claims the transcript of that conversation clearly indicates there was improper access to Wooten's records.

The McCain/Palin campaign, in a response to NBC News, provided a family twist to the story, saying the governor's husband - Todd Palin - was the source of that information to Bailey. They say the information came from divorce proceedings, and that Gov. Palin never improperly accessed any records.

Taylor Griffiths, a spokesman for McCain, said "When you're a real reformer like Sarah Palin, who isn't afraid to take on entrenched political interests, scurrilous attacks and empty allegations come with the territory."

Originally Posted by basom

well it did take her six years at four schools to get a degree, i don't think people like her because she's smart. i cant really say why people like her, maybe their love for her fills a void.. they need to.

Bloomberg is reporting it was 5 schools in 5 years... if you include returning back to the University of Idaho a second time.

-University of Hawaii at Hilo in 1982 after high school, staying only a few weeks because of the constant rain

-switched to North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene for two semesters in 1983

-Palin then attended the University of Idaho in the fall of 1984 and the spring of 1985

-moving to Matanuska-Susitna College in Palmer, Alaska, for the 1985 fall semester

-She returned to University of Idaho in 1986, AP said. Palin earned a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987

Yeah - just like this whole "baby" thing blew up.....in the Democrat's face.

Do you guys ever learn??? Or are you intentionally trying to FAIL?

Originally Posted by hutash

Forcing McCain to admit she is a mistake will give the dems the power they need to show being a maverick is not all its cracked up to be. If making bad choices is his idea of change, McCain is going to get fried.

You still gotta take the Dubya factor into account, hutash.

Look at all the underhanded shit he did.
Has the conscience of the US actually improved?


edit: Starship Troopers!

edit/edit: Killa From Wasilla

Six colleges/universities in six years as per http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5728215

This a great resume for a maggot/ski bum, but hardly reassuring for a holder of national office.

Not that I have anything against U of Idaho (my daughter is at WaSU, and will likely take some classes there,) but it certainly is not in the same league as Columbia or Harvard. But to have a lot of her experience from junior colleges is just sad.

Originally Posted by splat

You still gotta take the Dubya factor into account, hutash.

Look at all the underhanded shit he did.
Has the conscience of the US actually improved?


edit: Starship Troopers!

edit/edit: Killa From Wasilla

I try not to even think of Dubya...I still hope to wake up and find the last 8 years was just a bad dream..."A bit of undigested beef"

Originally Posted by hutash

Six colleges/universities in six years as per http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5728215

This a great resume for a maggot/ski bum, but hardly reassuring for a holder of national office.

Not that I have anything against U of Idaho (my daughter is at WaSU, and will likely take some classes there,) but it certainly is not in the same league as Columbia or Harvard. But to have a lot of her experience from junior colleges is just sad.

Well, you didn't go to the U of I for a Journalism degree, either. I left there because ISU had the rep for being the nest Journalism school in the state. I was ten years ahead of her and she was born in my hometown. But she doesn't get a kitchen pass from me for either of those coincidences.

She didn't like the rain in Hilo????? BWAAAAA!!!!!
She sure didn't major in research.

Jeebus Tim
I thought you were on the Porn brigade and wouldnt consider starting a thread about politics at such a time.
I'm very disappointed in you.
I thought you were on our side!
Huck you!

Originally Posted by hutash

Forcing McCain to admit she is a mistake will give the dems the power they need to show being a maverick is not all its cracked up to be. If making bad choices is his idea of change, McCain is going to get fried.

I hope this leads to other examples of how she fired people who got in her way. She is not a barracuda, she is just a plain bitch.

They'll never admit it is a mistake because

1. It's going to work

WHy?

Because ANYFUCKINGTHING works in the fucking USA if you massage the press. Everyone is calling McCain a "maverick" now!!! No surprise, after they way they handled/did what they were told regarding Iraq. It's an insult to sheep to use that word to describe the American press.

Really fucking sad.

Originally Posted by Huckin eh?

Jeebus Tim
I thought you were on the Porn brigade and wouldnt consider starting a thread about politics at such a time.
I'm very disappointed in you.
I thought you were on our side!
Huck you!

You mean you didn't know I had TWO FACES???



It's been pretty obvious that my two loves in life are Sex and Politics... When ever they intersect I go nearly bonkers!!! Consider the Elliott Spitzer Hookergate thread as evidence/proof: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...d.php?t=116017

ps. This reminded me of the scenes in Chronicles of Riddick where the helmet face turns to the 2nd face (my 2nd most favorite movie of all time...);

Originally Posted by hutash

Six colleges/universities in six years as per http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5728215

This a great resume for a maggot/ski bum, but hardly reassuring for a holder of national office.

Not that I have anything against U of Idaho (my daughter is at WaSU, and will likely take some classes there,) but it certainly is not in the same league as Columbia or Harvard. But to have a lot of her experience from junior colleges is just [common and relatable to a lot of middle america].

fixed

You guys keep forgetting that YOU are not who they are targeting with Mrs. Palin.

These emoticons need to go,they suck:

=I'm confused about my gender liking and abuse 'script drugs
= I can suck cock in a coma
= I am the creepy winky dude
=I am filled with self-importance, irregardless of my Circle-K job
=I just shit in my underwear
=I just farted on top of the shit in my underwear

Valerie Plame? Watergate? Those cases seem a whole lot more complicated than anything going on with Palin.

With Palin running for the White House, I am certain we will see the facts on the matter. I'm sure McCain has the facts. It's just a matter of time before we will.

Originally Posted by Jer

Yeah - just like this whole "baby" thing blew up.....in the Democrat's face.

The Obamazombies must think the GOP vetters didn't bother to look into any of the allegations beforehand.

More hitting the main stream news now...

Originally Posted by Newsweek

Team McCain and the Trooper
Nominee's ally moves to curb probe of Palin

Key Alaska allies of John McCain are trying to derail a politically charged investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner in order to prevent a so-called "October surprise" that would produce embarrassing information about the vice presidential candidate on the eve of the election.

In a move endorsed by the McCain campaign Friday, John Coghill, the GOP chairman of the state House Rules Committee, wrote a letter seeking a meeting of Alaska's bipartisan Legislative Council in order to remove the Democratic state senator in charge of the so-called "troopergate" investigation.

Coghill charged that the senator, Hollis French, had "politicized" the probe by making a number of public comments in recent days, including telling ABC News that Palin had a "credibility problem" and that the investigation into the firing of public safety commissioner Walter Monegan was "likely to be damaging to the administration" and could be an "October surprise." Wrote Coghill: "The investigation appears to be lacking in fairness, neutrality and due process."

The investigation, authorized by the Legislative Council last July, revolves around charges that Palin abused her power by embroiling the governor's office in a bitter family feud involving her ex-brother in law, a state trooper named Mike Wooten. Specifically, the council is investigating whether Palin fired Monegan when he refused to dismiss Wooten (who at the time was involved in an ugly custody battle with Palin's sister) after getting repeated complaints about him from the governor and her husband, Todd Palin. (Among the allegations that were raised against Wooten by Palin's sister: he had Tasered his ten-year-old stepson and shot a moose without a permit.) Palin has denied wrongdoing; Monegan has said he believes his firing was connected to his refusal to fire Wooten.

French, the Democrat overseeing the probe, has hired a special counsel to determine, in effect, whether Palin "used her public office to settle a private score," he recently said. He has also suggested that the probe may turn up evidence that state laws were violated by Palin's aides because they pulled confidential personnel files on the trooper.

But Coghill, who told NEWSWEEK that he has the backing of Republican Speaker of the House John Harris in his effort to remove French, suggested Friday that the investigation into Palin's firing of Monegan should be shut down entirely. "If this has been botched up the way it has, there's a question as to whether it should continue," Coghill told NEWSWEEK.

The move underscored the huge political stakes in the outcome of a legislative investigation that is being closely monitored by both the McCain and Obama campaigns because of its potential impact on the fall election. "How can this possibly be read as anything but a partisan attempt to shut down a legitimate investigation that was approved and funded with bipartisan support?" said one state Democratic legislative aide, who asked not to be identified because of the political sensitivities. Coghill told NEWSWEEK that he decided to write his letter to strip French of his position on his own-without any coaxing by McCain campaign officials.

But a top McCain campaign official acknowledged that the GOP lawyer had given the campaign a "heads up" about his letter and that the McCain campaign approved of the effort to remove French.

"An investigation that was supposed to be non-partisan has become a political circus and has gotten out of control," said Taylor Griffin, a top communications aide dispatched from McCain campaign headquarters to Alaska this week to monitor the investigation and related matters. (Griffin also said that Palin has "nothing to hide" about the Wooten matter.)

As a further sign of the sensitivity of the probe, a lawyer for Palin told NEWSWEEK Friday that Todd Palin, the governor's husband, was in the process of hiring his own separate counsel to represent him in the legislature's probe. Thomas Van Flein, Governor Palin's lawyer, would not identify who is now representing the governor's husband. But he sought to deflect charges that Todd Palin, a commercial fisherman and oil company worker, had improperly intervened in state business by inviting Monegan to the governor's office and asking him to look into Wooten's status on the state police force. (For his part, Wooten has acknowledged that he "made mistakes," but that he was "punished appropriately" when he was suspended from the police force for five days in 2006.)

In an interview on Friday, Van Flein sought to deflect charges that Todd Palin may have acted improperly by talking to the state public safety commissioner about Wooten. Todd was "the governor's husband and a citizen of the state and he has every right to an opinion as [does] everyone else," Van Flein said.

One major reason the probe is so sensitive is that it raises the prospect that Governor Palin's credibility could be called into a question in a major state probe on the eve of the election. When the "troopergate" story broke over the summer, Palin adamantly denied that anybody in her administration exerted any pressure on Monegan to fire Wooten. But only weeks later, a tape recording surfaced in which another one of her top aides, Frank Bailey, was heard telling a police lieutenant, "Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, 'Why on earth hasn't this, why is this guy [Wooten] still representing the department?'"

French today acknowledged that some of his public comments about the ongoing probe may have been out of bounds. "I said some things I shouldn't have said," he told NEWSWEEK. But he insisted he had no intention of stepping down because the investigation was really being conducted by Steve Branchflower, a retired state prosecutor who was hired as the special counsel in the probe. French also said today he had moved up the deadline for Branchflower to produce his report. Although it was originally due Oct. 31, the Friday before the election, it will now be completed Oct. 10-in order to be "as far away from the election" as possible.

In the interview with NEWSWEEK, Van Flein, Governor Palin's lawyer, raised other objections to the troopergate probe. He said the legislative investigation ran counter to the Alaska Constitution because it was being conducted in secret and without strict procedural rules. He said that in the "post-McCarthy era", he would have expected more due process guarantees.

Van Flein also told NEWSWEEK that as part of defense preparations for the investigation, he had taken his own depositions from potential witnesses—including one this week who refused to give testimony to the Legislature's special counsel. That was Frank Bailey, the former senior Palin aide who was recorded mentioning the concerns of Palin and her husband that Wooten was still on the police force.

In the deposition taken by Van Flein, which Palin's lawyer made available to NEWSWEEK, Bailey acknowledged he had "overstepped my boundaries... I should not have spoken for the governor, or Todd, for that matter. I went out on my own on this discussion."

But Bailey also confirmed in the deposition that Palin had herself raised Wooten's name with the state police during her first security briefing after she won election as governor in November 2006. Bailey said he sat in on the briefing with Gary Wheeler, then head of the governor's security detail. Wheeler asked Palin and her husband whether they were aware of any threats against her that the new bodyguards should be concerned about. "They specifically brought up only one person, and that was Mike Wooten," Bailey testified. "There was a serious genuine concern about not only their safety but the safety of their family, their kids, their nieces, nephews, her father, regarding Trooper Wooten." Bailey testified that Sarah Palin never asked him to do anything about Trooper Wooten, but that Todd Palin did talk to him about "issues about Trooper Wooten," and expressed "frustration" that the state police were doing nothing to respond to the Palins' concerns.

Tim, I usually enjoy your color-coded text and different font sizes to emphasize important topics,but that whole article is way too damn small, even with your added color.

Originally Posted by SnowRider4Life

Tim, I usually enjoy your color-coded text and different font sizes to emphasize important topics,but that whole article is way too damn small, even with your added color.

I know, I know... But in addition to my highlighted portions, there are some decent counter arguments made in the rest of the article. My choices would have been;

1) Post the parts I liked and skipped the rest with NO link to full article.
2) Post the parts I liked and skipped the rest WITH link to full article.
3) Post the whole article and highlight the points I liked.
4) Post the whole article with NO highlights at all.

In the end I chose #3... makes it LONG, but also fair... and even though I'm a devout "Anybody but Bush" advocate, I strive to be fair first. I figure, if you are super lazy you're not in the PolAss to begin with... but those less interested will skim my highlights and just ignore the rest. Those REALLY interested can read the whole thing. I use the small text font to avoid it taking 10 pages on someones screen, and figure for those interested for whom the text is too small, the link I provide shows it in it's original format - probably easier to read. Hope everyone understands.

Edit: If I find lots of fluff in an article that just restates the original story, etc. I will usually snip it - then indicate that with a "..." so those who want the FULL story know more is available at the link.

2nd Edit: Just skimmed the whole thread... FYI this same argument probably applies to the articles shown earlier as well.

just wait till she's indited on felony extortion charges.

Originally Posted by ak_powder_monkey

just wait till she's indited on felony extortion charges.

Tease!!! Spill it...