Top Ten Reasons TrooperGate is a Fair Investigation

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 05:27:15 PM EST
Tags: Sarah Palin (all tags)

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Via Alaskan radio host Shannyn Moore, here are the top ten reasons TrooperGate is a fair investigation:

1. It began with a 12-0 vote of eight Republicans and four Democrats.

2. The President of the Senate, a Republican, voted in favor of the investigation.

3. The Speaker of the House, a Republican, voted in favor of the investigation.

4. The investigation began in July, well before Governor Palin was placed on the national ticket.

More...

5. Governor Palin pledged over and over to cooperate with the investigation. Here’s a quote from a KTUU story July 18, 2008. “We would never prohibit, or be less than enthusiastic about any kind of investigation. Let’s deal in the facts, and you do that via investigation.” And another from Sharon Leighow, Governor Palin’s press secretary in an Anchorage Daily News story from July 29, 2008. “The governor has said all along that she will fully cooperate with an investigation and her staff will cooperate as well.”

6. The Project Director, Hollis French, was not a member of the committee that started the investigation.

7. The Republican senator that supplied the crucial vote in favor of subpoenas has a John McCain for President sign in his yard, and he represents the area around Governor Palin’s home town.

8. At the meeting when subpoenas were issued, every member present from the House Judiciary Committee voted to support the Senate’s subpoenas, including the Chairman, a conservative Republican, and the vice-chair, a conservative Republican.

9. The investigator, Steve Branchflower, who is actually gathering the facts and writing the report, has no ties to either party.

10. Because filing a complaint against yourself, and then moving to have that complaint dismissed, is not a good way to get to the truth. (”Palin Calling for an End to Investigation She Requested” ABC News

Shannyn adds as number 11 (greater detail here):

11. Palin flip flopped on Trooper Wooten. Here’s her glowing recommendation (pdf, link fixed)!

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Top Ten Reasons TrooperGate is a Fair Investigation | 43 comments (43 topical)

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I'm not sure. The repubs have a pretty good (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by WillBFair on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 05:47:46 PM EST

argument agains it: that state law prohibits it because it might influence and ongoing election. And anyway, we have more effective argument we should be using against mccain instead, like the war and economy and deregulation, etc...

The state law prohibits the (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by befuddledvoter on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:37:28 PM EST

investigation when it may impact an ongoing STATE election only.


what about (none / 0) (#16)
by RoboDruid on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:40:36 PM EST

Alaska deciding who its electors will be? Is that a state election?


: I reviewed the statue (none / 0) (#22)
by befuddledvoter on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:06:12 PM EST

linked here last week. It seems pretty well clear that it means state election only.

Agree (5.00 / 2) (#34)
by BrassTacks on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 08:36:27 PM EST

This issue will not persuade anyone to vote against McCain. We have more important issue that will accomplish our goal.


It may be fair... (5.00 / 5) (#2)
by outsider on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:00:14 PM EST

...but that doesn't mean it is politically wise to keep plugging the depths of Troopergate, if one has Obama's best interests in this election at heart.

Most importantly: most of the reasons this person cites have to do with the fact that the investigation has the support of local Alaskan Republicans. But Palin has made it one of her themes that she ran against, and upset the local Republican establishment. So it would be easy for her to argue that this is why they support the investigation: she has made enemies, and they are out for revenge. Citing these reasons just allows her to reinforce her maverick image, IMO. Like others, I say: leave well alone.

Troopergate becoming more like Watergate (5.00 / 2) (#11)
by bobalaska on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:31:51 PM EST

Actually, the state republicans Palin attacked are either out of office and/or in jail. Moreover, the FBI began their investigation - with raids on legislators' offices- before Palin began criticizing the legislators.

The reason there was bipartisan support for an independent investigation is that no one believed her explanations, either the original or many subsequent versions.

Now the MCain campaign has parachuted lots of people into the state to take over state government and to manage troopergate. It makes you wonder what soming gun(s) they are afraid of.

Troopergate is proof that the coverup is worse than the crime. It has moved from a relatively- in the great scheme of things- minor offense into deception, stonewalling, etc. with tape recordings and other information showing up which show Palin's complicity.


Actually, it seems much more like (5.00 / 1) (#39)
by JavaCityPal on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 09:03:03 PM EST

Whitewater.


: Actually, more like J-walkinggate (none / 0) (#42)
by Exeter on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 11:34:15 PM EST

Sad sad (5.00 / 3) (#9)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:24:25 PM EST

Since Palin whipped up on both Demos and Repubs I don't see this as anything but payback.

I have been around here for over 5 years and seen many posts condemning police brutality, and rightfully so.

The cause of all of this is that the Director would not fire a trooper who has been convicted of:

Tasering a 10 year old child.
Drinking on duty.
Killing a moose out of season.
Threatening to kill someone. (I think that is called assault.

I am embarrassed for some of my old opponents and their actions.

Politics truly does cause strange bedfellows.

Jim, the troopers conduct (5.00 / 0) (#17)
by Jeralyn on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:42:50 PM EST

is not the issue. It's an investigation into whether Palin abused the power of her office. Please stay on topic.


However that is the political dimension (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by Salo on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:46:08 PM EST

ie She's the Maverick who tried to cut through the bureaucratic red tape.


: The other argument (none / 0) (#20)
by Salo on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:47:58 PM EST

is that she's someone who doesn't understand due process.

I haven't been reading enough, I guess (none / 0) (#23)
by JavaCityPal on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:09:57 PM EST

If the commissioner who was given a choice to take a different government job or resign said that he was never asked or told by Palin to fire the trooper, how did Palin abuse her power?

Is there an element in the events that I missed?


Wooten's Workers Comp Claim (none / 0) (#25)
by MTSINAIMAMA on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:24:04 PM EST

There is another element to the investigation, that Palin's office tried to interfere with Wooten's Workers Comp claim. Frank Bailey, Palin's aide, was given confidential info which could have only come from Wooten's file. Who gave it to him? There is some evidence to suggest that it may have come from Todd Palin who was also improperly given the file.


Todd Palin, the (none / 0) (#26)
by JavaCityPal on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:30:44 PM EST

oil worker? Now I'm so confused I will just have to ignore the entire topic. It is beginning to look a lot like Whitewater (not Watergate, Whitewater) at this point.


: Todd, Palin, The Man w/ Many Hats (none / 0) (#45)
by daring grace on Tue Sep 23, 2008 at 10:25:24 AM EST

The Washington Post profiled him the other day:
"And to a degree that has surprised many state government observers, Todd Palin also has become involved in policy, sitting in on his wife's meetings, traveling on state business and weighing in on some legislative issues.
"John Harris, the Republican speaker of the Alaska House, said he had never been called by the spouse of a governor before the two calls he got from Todd Palin. One was to argue for moving the state capital to Anchorage. The other was to ask Harris to "keep an eye" on a key aide who had an affair with the wife of one of Todd's best friends.
"Political hands in both parties say the Palins are often referred to as a team -- "Sarah and Todd" -- and one Democratic lawmaker said Todd Palin has become her "de facto chief of staff.""
The New Republic even has a piece comparing him to Hillary Clinton in the earliest days of the Clinton presidency--the two for one thing.

Sticking to the Main Issue (none / 0) (#44)
by factchecker on Tue Sep 23, 2008 at 09:05:39 AM EST

The main questions for me are whether Ms Palin abused the public trust under cover using her office and did she or someone she knows break the law by accessing Trooper Whooten`s private records and then use any information gleaned from that access to do harm to Trooper Whooten in any way? I suspect little vetting was done for Ms Palin about this matter thus the media blackout while they are busy trying to kill everything. Its going to be hard to do. I also don`t buy the character assasination on Mr Whooten. If he is a good person or not has absolutly nothing to do with the question of whether or not there was an abuse of Ms Palin`s office. These are important questions I feel we should know before the elections!


You know what? (5.00 / 2) (#37)
by Steve M on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 08:48:22 PM EST

If that was Palin's side of the story I would completely empathize with her.

Since that's not her story, and since she adamantly denies that she fired the Director for any such reason, I'm not going to invent a better story for her than the one she chose to tell.


Ever heard of Due Process of law? (3.50 / 2) (#15)
by Christy1947 on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:40:16 PM EST

One of the serious problems with the Palins' attempts to get Trooper Wooten fired has to do with legal procedure. If all of the events happened before date X, then if the government elects not to charge or the Trooper is not found guilty on those charges, there are serious problems with trying to come back and cover the ground a second time. The essential principle of Due process is that the government gets one crack at charges, and if it elects not to charge or if it loses, and does not win on appeal, that is the end of the matter.

You may not like the decision made, but the fact is that the State Police took their swing at Wooten and he got and apparently served a five day suspension. The government's chance was to appeal THEN, in 2005, not to try again in a new administration in 2007. It is not a valid response to the five day suspension to say that he should have gotten more and therefore the Palin family gets a second crack at him, several years later when finally in the governor's office. because she is the governor and he is the First Dude.

And I hasten to point out that you only have Palins' version of the threat. Do you genuinely think that because a pol or any other person thinks that the first trial didn't give a satisfactory result, they are allowed to try again on the same charges two years later? Or change the penalty because NOW they have the authority to do it?

And are you really fooled by the 'reformer' campaign line at this late date after all that has come out about her abuse of power and cronyism? Yes, there are factions in the AK republican party, but that doesn't mean that one of them is good and one of them is not because one of the two proclaims itself a reformer. How is it reform to fire a Police commissioner for proposing to take a trip to Washington seeking a grant, for not being a team player, when the Governor's Office approved the trip?


No, (none / 0) (#13)
by befuddledvoter on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:36:22 PM EST

the trooper was not "convicted of" anything. He adamently denies ever threatening to kill anyone. He admits the tasering. He deines drinking on duty. Not sure of the moose out of season.


: You are wrong. (5.00 / 2) (#30)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:53:54 PM EST

You will find the letter of suspension in this Link.
It is a PDF file.
Read and educate yourself.

ha (none / 0) (#24)
by connecticut yankee on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:15:49 PM EST

Ah, the old, "she's lying but she's justified" spin. Worked for Ollie North and G Gorden Liddy as far as the right wing is concerned as well.

And its not just this trooper, its the police union, the top cop, and the legislature. Palin herself admitted her staff had acted inappropriately. The question is how much involvement she had.


Hello? Palin's stated reason for firing (none / 0) (#41)
by A DC Wonk on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 10:13:12 PM EST

Monegan is based on his performance!

If Trooper Wooten were that bad, then Palin should say, "yes I pressured Monegan to fire him!"

You can't have it both ways.


I say Dems should do both (4.00 / 0) (#21)
by Lou Grinzo on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:03:36 PM EST

Pursue Troopergate AND the whole angle of "look at the financial mess we're in--and McCain wants to put Palin one heartbeat away from the presidency? What kind of judgment is that???"

The recommendation link doesn't work (none / 0) (#3)
by Teresa on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:03:17 PM EST

for me but I will say this...I recommended my future sister-in-law (now ex) for a job. She turned about to be the biggest witch I've ever known. She had us fooled and so may have this trooper.

link fixed (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by Jeralyn on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:07:46 PM EST

I left the "h" out of "http", it's fixed now.


Now it says the page is not available. (none / 0) (#8)
by Teresa on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:11:06 PM EST

McCain critters may have removed it?


I just replaced it with a working link (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by Jeralyn on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:35:35 PM EST

here


: she misspelled (none / 0) (#28)
by kempis on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:53:17 PM EST

agitate (aggitate) and believe (beleive).
Maybe she really is Dan Quayle.

Palinish so I hope not OT (none / 0) (#4)
by Katherine Graham Cracker on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:06:49 PM EST

a friend had suggested donations to Planned Parenthood in Palin's name...this is the response one donor received:
got my reply from PP today for my donation yesterday in honor of S Palin.

Cecile Richards, President
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
P.S. About the McCain-Palin ticket: I believe my late mother, Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas, would have said "women voting for this ticket is just like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders." Pass it on!

: lol, she sounds like her mom! (none / 0) (#7)
by Teresa on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:10:11 PM EST

: so long as you don't say (none / 0) (#18)
by Salo on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 06:44:33 PM EST

like Cows voting for Ray Kroc.

: Republicans would enjoy that (none / 0) (#36)
by BrassTacks on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 08:40:39 PM EST

I have little doubt that republicans would love to see democrats giving their money to planned parenthood rather than to democrat candidates.

Does anyone have any idea... (none / 0) (#29)
by Jerrymcl89 on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 07:53:40 PM EST

... as to what law Palin may have broken? I haven't followed this case super-closely, but as far as I know, all Palin is accused of is reporting Wooten's conduct to his superiors, and firing someone she needed no reason at all to fire. It all just seems like a fishing expedition to me, and having been opposed to that sort of thing in the Clinton years, and really can't support it now.

He was never fired, no one was... (none / 0) (#32)
by JavaCityPal on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 08:01:48 PM EST

not the trooper, and not the commissioner. He was given the opportunity to accept a position better suited to his skills and he refused the transfer. He made the decision to become unemployed himself.


That may be so... (5.00 / 1) (#33)
by Jerrymcl89 on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 08:05:28 PM EST

... I really wouldn't know. I know the trooper is still a trooper. And the supervisor of the troopers serves at the pleasure of the governor. So I really do not see a crime.


no one said she's being investigated (none / 0) (#35)
by Jeralyn on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 08:37:24 PM EST

for a crime. It's an ethics investigation into whether she, her husband and her staffers misused the power of her office.


If there's no crime... (5.00 / 4) (#38)
by Jerrymcl89 on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 08:51:36 PM EST

... I don't see any merit to the case. It's just a fishing expedition to score political points, and I think most voters will see it that way. I understand the desire to attack Republicans in the same way they've attacked Democrats (specifically, the Clintons) in the past, but in terms of this case, I don't think there's any "there" there.


Yeah, no one cares (none / 0) (#40)
by BrassTacks on Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 09:51:46 PM EST

The guy still has his job. No one was fired. Voters will see it as silly, political, thing, like Whitewater or Travelgate. They don't quite understand it and don't care to.


: There is a point to this though (none / 0) (#43)
by LadyDem on Tue Sep 23, 2008 at 02:03:28 AM EST

because abuse of power is not what we want or should accept in our leaders. This investigation that she said she would fully cooperate with is now in limbo because Palin's husband and her staff have refused to honor subpoenas. This in itself is an abuse of power and a big deal no matter what you think of the "evidence" or validity of anyone's claims in this situation. Subpoenas are legally issued by our judicial and legislative branches of government. For the executive branch to ignore them is against the law. This is a clear indication of how Sarah Palin would behave if she were VP and that makes her very much like Bush and Cheney who are famous for doing whatever they want and thumbing their noses at Congress' subpoenas. Refusal by an executive to honor our laws puts our entire governmental system at risk. I don't feel comfortable with politicos who think they are above the law and I sure don't want any more of them anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The Relevant 'There' There (none / 0) (#46)
by daring grace on Tue Sep 23, 2008 at 10:30:46 AM EST

is in the fact that Governor Palin is running as a reformer, someone who cleans up all the nasty business of business-as-usual pols.

If she were not, you might be right that the amount of 'there' there wouldn't merit much attention from voters.


the Checkers speech (none / 0) (#47)
by diogenes on Tue Sep 23, 2008 at 11:00:13 AM EST

So in October after the investigation is done Palin will make a speech saying that the investigation found her wrong in going after a trooper in a custody battle and will detail his various misdeeds (taser of the ten year old, etc) which she cannot say now while the investigation is ongoing. All the soccer moms will say that if they had an exhusband like that and they were governor they would have done the same thing, law or no law, and will back Palin. The Democrats who oppose Palin's actions will come off like Michael Dukakis reponding to the debate question in 1988 about what he would do to someone who victimized his wife.