Palin's Troopergate explained: an all Repuglican scandal

[exlrrp]

Originally Posted by Gimpy

You should know better than to try and convince a "CONservative" that their reasoning at best is "confused", or at worst "absolute horse manure"!

I just love waiting for the proverbial "hammer" to come down on this Palin "troopergate" issue.

The "Cons" will be squawking louder than a flock of laughing sea gulls!

Stay good,

Gimp

Gimp:

I wouldn't waste my time trying to talk sense to a conservative----anyone who thinks a pit bull with lipstick on is a "hottie" is too perverted to try and talk sense to.

But I'm merely stating the facts of the case and there's a lot, lot more:
here's today's breaking news on this item, from Newsweek, Sarah Palin and her family are acused by a judge of "emotional abuse" on a child. I'm NOT kidding!!

HEY CONSERVATIVES!!!!!!!! How many times did a judge accuse Obama's family of emotional child abuse??

".....'TROOPERGATE'
Warned by the Court
A judge repeatedly told Palin and family not to badmouth her sister's ex

By Mark Hosenball | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Sep 9, 2008 | Updated: 7:36 p.m. ET Sep 9, 2008
An Anchorage judge three years ago warned Sarah Palin and members of her family to stop "disparaging" the reputation of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten, who at the time was undergoing a bitter separation and divorce from Palin's sister Molly......

.......Allegations that Palin, her husband Todd, and at least one top gubernatorial aide continued to vilify Wooten—after Palin became Alaska's governor and pressured state police officials to take action against him—are at the center of "Troopergate," a political and ethical controversy which has embroiled Palin's administration and is currently the subject of an official inquiry by a special investigator hired by the state legislature.

Court documents show that Judge Suddock was disturbed by the alleged attacks by Palin and her family members on Wooten's behavior and character. "Disparaging will not be tolerated—it is a form of child abuse," the judge told a settlement hearing in October 2005, according to typed notes of the proceedings. The judge added: "Relatives cannot disparage either. If occurs [sic] the parent needs to set boundaries for their relatives."

As the divorce case dragged on, the judge's concern about family "disparagement" appeared to deepen. In an order signed Jan. 31, 2006, which granted Palin's sister and Wooten a final divorce decree, Judge Suddock continued to express concern about attacks by Palin's family on Wooten. The judge even threatened to curb Palin's sister's child custody rights if family criticism of Wooten continued........"



Now you can really see what having the Palin family running around the halls of Washington would be like: emotional abuse and family vendettas. Some great Repuglican family values in evidence here, What Kind of person would TASER their own 10 year old? the same kind that likes torture!!

Stay good, Gimp, and a "terrorist knuckle bump" to ya!
james

[SEATJERKER]

...

...James,...

...You've got to be kidding, right,...

...We all know what people go through during a D-I-V-O-R-C-E, people "tend" to protect one's own family.

...And as we all know, Law enforcement officers have one of the hardest "jobs" out there, and the stress levels I'm sure are at a high number, therefore leading to "bringing the job home with them", therefore leading to a higher number of failed relationships, and divorce,...

...This guy was no rose, yet, if all the Democrats have as their "ace in the hole" is to just keep trying to discredit the the other canidates, that's not a positive way of running a campaign, and it just shows me their continious mindset of "change" is to keep digging "down",(not up) with useless "Enquiring minds want to know" tabloid trash, and to me, stooping lower does not "change" direction in a positive way for the people of this Nation.

...So why hasn't the Democrats come out, and layed out the plans for "change" for everyone to see them, and marvel in how grand it will be, and how long it will take to achive utopia,...

... Tell me more about the man behind the man, and exactly how he intends to accomplish this, the greatest of assignments, with just a smile?,...

... Chesire cats dissappear,...

...

[reconeil]

You whacked-out Dem Hacks are have gotten even sicker & more wartime undermining than usual!

Certainly hope that by some strange fluke or illegitimate or illegal votes that the 1-2-3
Strike-Out and/or nationally-suicidal Obama, Biden & Pelosi Chain of Command,..........
NEVER COMES TO BE!!!

Such might be GREAT for ACLU, DNC, UN, Muslim Enemies & foreign nationals in general,........
but sure-as-hell or unarguably WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO for America EVER!

Besides, I don't believe that neither Camp David or The White House should be move to
either Berkeley, Denver, Hollywood or San Francisco, anyway.

Neil

[darrels joy]

UPDATE on Trooper’gate: Desperate left falsely accuses Palin of “refusing to testify”

Posted by: MataHarley @ 5:36 pm in Politics, Sarah Palin
Visited 506 times, 300 so far today
First of all, a H/T to Allahpundit at HotAir for posting the PDF link to Palin’s Ethics Disclosure. And a thank you to Curt for giving me the heads up, as I was buried under work today.

For historic foundation, read
Trooper’gate: Beating MSM distortions to the truth.

~~~

We learn much from Sarah Palin’s “Ethics Disclosure Form”, filed Sept 1st by her Anchorage attorney, Thomas Van Flein. But before I go into details on her story of Trooper’gate, let’s address the latest leftist smears perpetuated by Talking Points Memo, and some of his merry band of gullible followers … dutifully falling in line here on Flopping Aces.
The goal? Spam the internet with with the lies so that the faith in Palin will be shaken enough that the truth - when it finally surfaces - will no longer matter. It will merely be a page A-23 one line correction… damage done.

That spam of lies happens to be that Palin is refusing to testify. Per TPM mudracker-in-chief, Josh Marshall:

It didn’t take long. We’ve already brought you news of the official investigation into Gov. Palin’s firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Steve Branchflower, the lead investigator, began trying to arrange a deposition of the governor days before her veep selection. And despite claiming executive privilege to shield requested emails, up until that point Palin had promised full cooperation with the probe.

Now, however, she is refusing to submit to questioning by Branchflower unless he and the legislative committee that appointed him agree to relinquish control of the investigation and turn it over to a state review board made up of three Palin appointees.

In one of those yellow journalism scandal headlines, “Palin Wants Independent Trooper-Gate Probe Called Off”, TMP goes on to mischaracterize the legal process for the Trooper’gate investigation.

In the latest sign that Sarah Palin’s promised cooperation with the Trooper-Gate investigation is failing to materialize, her lawyer is now demanding that the entire case be taken out of the hands of the independent prosecutor hired by Alaska lawmakers, and given over to a state personnel board — whose three members were appointed by the governor herself.

In an unusual “ethics disclosure” filed last night, along with related documents, to the state Attorney General, Palin’s lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, asked the personnel board to look into the firing of Walt Monegan, the former public safety commissioner at the center of the case. Van Flein also asked the legislature to drop its own investigation, contending that only the personnel board has jurisdiction over ethics. And he suggested that if the legislature didn’t agree to hand the matter over to the personnel board, Palin would not be made available for a deposition.

“Unusual” ethics disclosure?? It is part of procedural law. Perhaps it’s “unusual” in that it’s not common to have these ethics investigations.

Especially since Governor Palin has made it her prime business to end corruption by cleaning house. But Marshall is disingenous to suggest this is some unique and questionable approach to Alaskan law governing ethics violations.

I, personally, don’t see anything wrong with following Alaskan law, pursuant to AS 39.52.210(a), for for jurisdiction in the investigation. This statute states that a public employee, when faced with what “may” (remember that innocent until guilty bit?) be faced with charges that they violated Alaska’s ethics laws are required to disclose the matter, in writing, to the AG.

And under that same Title section, AS 39.52.310(c), legal jurisdiction for the investigations are mandated to a personnel board to oversee the proceedings. This is, to quote the attorney’s brief, “the only body in Alaska with the legal authority to do so.”

Naturally, this legal mandate is rather inconvenient for Branchwater, and Alaskan Dem legislator in charge of the investigation, Sen. Hollis French.

Branchwater is the independent prosecutor hired by the Alaska legislators (via French), despite his questionably close relationship to the “victim” in the investigation, Walt Monegan.

But legal procedure is legal procedure.

Sen. French vows to proceed anyway… damned be those pesky laws, I guess. Palin’s attorney has said if they do, since they are not following proper procedure, Palin will not be available for deposition.

However leave it to the desperate left, scared out of their undersized willies at the appearance of the dynamic Alaskan governor on the election scene, to spin it as a “dodge” by Palin.

To the contrary, Palin is quite willing to cooperate in legal procedure - using the proper jurisdiction - for the ethics complaint. The current three person board are all appointees by Palin’s predecessor, Murkowski. One, however, Debra English, was re’appointed by Palin.

Per Alaskan law, the personnel board has the choice of the independent counsel retained, acting in place of the AG in the investigation. They may well choose Branchwater… or not. However the legislature has no authority to foist Branchwater onto the board as the counsel.

AND… Palin is on record in her Ethics Disclosure that she has no position on who the personnel board chooses as a prosecutor.

This puts to rest the “refusing to testify” charges. That may be a half-truth for those that aren’t sure what “the meaning of is… is”. But what is factual is Palin will refuse to be deposed in a proceeding with no legal jurisdiction. And who could blame her?

However truth matters not to the leftists scandal-mongers. Their goal is to blanket the internet with lies and half truths. If they can put the question into the minds of the voters hard and fast enough before the truth comes out, the damage will be done.

But the truth is, it is Palin who wants to follow Alaskan law in this investigation, and the legislators and their complainants who want to blaze their own path for the procedures in an all out vendetta.

Now, to the more interesting parts of the “Ethics Disclosure” brief. I’ll summarize, but there is no excuse for those seeking truth to read the 13 page disclosure in it’s entirety at the link above.

The brief starts out with a shocking truth, and repeated elsewhere in the brief:

“For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff….”

former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan
Anchorage Daily News, Aug 30, 2008

To pull the entire Monegan quote from ADN story mentioned in the brief above:

For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff,” Monegan said Friday from Portland. “What they said directly was more along the lines of ‘This isn’t a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.’ “

To express an opinion of a Trooper on a short leash by superiors because of a history of exhibiting “a serious and concentrated pattern of unacceptable, and at times, illegal activity”* is a far cry from “pressure” to fire the trooper. In fact, personal issues aside, Palin has long opposed government corruption, and most especially troopers and legislators who feel they are above the law.

* quoted from Col. Julia Grimes investigation of Mike Wooten, and reproduced in the Ethics Disclosure brief

Ironic that the entire investigation is based on supposedly an abuse of power by applying pressure on Monegan to fire Wooten - and all brought to bear publicly and officially by his personal cheerleader, Andrew Halcro. One would think this statement alone should make the entire endeavor just a waste of time and money. But we have more interesting tidbits under the disclosure subheadings which may explain why they are so willing to waste time and money….


The Palin Administration, Walt Monegan and Mike Wooten

As I mentioned, the man driving the accusations, leading to the investigation, is Andrew Halcro - the former “also ran” gubernatorial candidate against Palin on the Indy party. What is even more interesting is that Halcro revealed to the press that his source of information is none other than Mike Wooten himself. Also, according to the Disclosure, Halcro was less than pleased that he wasn’t offered a position in the Palin administration.

Either way, people are reading. Halcro, who lost to Palin when he ran as an independent in the 2006 election for governor, said visits to andrewhalcro.com exploded starting about a month ago. That’s when he first detailed the feud between the Palin family and an Alaska State Trooper that’s now part of an investigation of the governor and her staff.

“I think it’s fair to say he got the ball rolling, at least on this issue,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Hollis French, D-Anchorage.

~~~

Palin fired former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on July 11.

Less than a week later, Halcro — who had been blogging nonstop at the time about Palin’s gas pipeline legislation — said he got a phone call suggesting he talk to Trooper Mike Wooten, the governor’s ex-brother-in-law.
Halcro and the trooper met at the Sheraton hotel bar for three and a half hours, he said. At 1 a.m. the next morning, Halcro posted a blog item titled “Why Walt Monegan got fired: Palin’s abuse of power” that described Palin and Monegan disagreeing over the public safety budget before detailing a list of complaints the Palin family made against Wooten.

Halcro won’t say who gave him Wooten’s cell phone number.

The motive for vengence grows…. and Halcro has clearly chosen the more questionable moral character for his side of the argument.

And it also comes out that the Palin family did not learn until just recently about the scant discipline Wooten received. Monegan never informed them.


The Bailey Phone Call

Bailey is on record, under oath, that he acted on his own initiative, and did not apply pressure to fire Wooten. Period. Subject closed. My opinion?

Don’t like his testimony under oath? Prove him wrong, and charge him with perjury. Oh, right… not many get charged with perjury anymore. Most especially high level public officials.

And BTW, Palin put him on administrative leave for acting without authority.


No Plausible Allegation that there has been a violation

If Walt Monegan believes there is a violation of Alaska’s ethics laws, he is required to file an Ethics Disclosure, just as Sarah Palin has done. He has not done so.

In fact, again from an Anchorage Daily News article on July 22, 2008, Monegan specifically stated to KUDO that he “was not accusing the governor of anything”. But he was curious as to why he was fired.
The direct quote from the ADN article is:

On the KUDO show, Monegan said: “Am I accusing the governor of anything? … No. I think the biggest thing that keeps me up at night is why.”

Which again brings us to the reasons Palin did fire Monegan, as laid out in her Ethics Disclosure.

Walt Monegan was the former chief of police in Anchorage. He had been terminated from his job by Mayor Mark Begich in 2006.

~~~

When Governor Palin took office later in 2006, she appointed Monegan to be the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.

Over the course of eighteen months, Monegan took actions and positions that contradicted Governor Palin’s beliefs that taxpayers are entitled to efficient and cost-effective government. These were good-faith disagreements about appropriate government policy, and the governor and others in her administration saw it that way.

You can continue reading about her disapproval of Monegan’s performance at the PDF linked above.

MY SUMMARY

This is an investigation based on a complaint by third parties. Monegan - the supposed victim - has not filed a formal complaint in the form of an Ethics Disclosure. He has repeatedly stated no one pressured him to fire Wooten.

This is, in essence, an accusation without a victim… and brought about by those with personal reasons to stir the Governor’s pot. Disgruntled election losers, and Alaskan legislators finding their honey pots of corruption been encroached on by a tough governor who cares nothing about party affiliation.

Wooten - the disgraced trooper - is the source for Halcro, the man driving the charges. The legislature is determined to ignore ethic law procedures, and run a witch hunt that is outside their legal jurisdiction.

This is a non-story. Instead the real story is the mudrackers trying to trash the GOP veep. And why? She presents some serious competition to the DNC ticket.



http://www.floppingaces.net/2008/09/03/update-on-troopergate-desperate-left-falsely-accuses-palin-of-refusing-to-testify/


Joy

[reconeil]

Thanks again for setting so many things straight and/or debunking all the false accusations against Reformer Governor Sarah Palin, that the The Exceptionally Vile, Vicious & Duplicitous Democrat Supremacist Hacks can conjure up.

Still, let's: "Give The DEVIL (re. Democrat Political Machine) its due" since continually proving that; "The Best Defense (even for daily Wartime Underminers) is a Good Offense". Many voters are continually so duped.

Perpetually keeping infinitely or unarguably Much More Honorable & Trustworthy Republican Leadership busy defending themselves against so many absurdly false allegations over the years, is truly quite masterful. Naturally, only in a Machiavellian sense or sort-of-way.

So much time wasted defending against obviously concerted Democrat Lies & Deceits to The Public against any & all & everything Republican, leaves very little time for their delving into and exposing A GOOD HALF-A-LIFETIME of a Presidential Candidate. Besides, whom more so than Barack Hussein Obama Junior's quite unenviable upbringing, background & Devout Muslim Madrassa Schooling warrants SOME TRULY SERIOUS looking into, anyway?

Hell,...even if: "Pitbulls or pigs wear lipstick" (or not),...neither are as important knowing by Americans as what TRULY (NOT politically expediant or BS-wise) make The Obamas tick??? Wouldn't you think?

Neil

P.S. If Obama is TRULY(?) a turncoat from Islam,...how come not on some Fatwah and/or on
some Radical Mullah's quite lethal: "Hit List"? Think that much more important for Americans (Muslims also) knowing, than whom wear: "Lipstick" or whom do not.

Neil

[darrels joy]

You are right. I was thinking the same thing myself.

Just one more and then I'll try harder to go positive.
Joy

[exlrrp]

Originally Posted by SEATJERKER

...

...James,...


...

Well, as youve addressed NO issues in this case, I don't think I'll bother to answer your questions. I don't come here to talk about Obama---the issue in front of us is Palin and her apparently serious breach of ethics and its got nothing to to wwith Obama. Its not about the Democrats, its not about Obama, its about Sara Palin and her campaign to get her brother in law fired. Did she abuse the power of her office to do so? Thats the issue!
And all the evidence visible now sure suggests she did.

We want to get at the truth---if you can't handle the truth about your candidate maybe you should vote your principles and vote for Ron Paul instead.

"...Perhaps it’s “unusual” in that it’s not common to have these ethics investigations...."
Dam right!!! Ethics investigations are undertaken only when there may be a serious breach of ethics.....as appears in this case. This investigation is from a bipartisan commmittee of the Alaska legislature.

We have a quote from Paalin saying "Hold me accountable!" (See above post) We have quotes from Gov Palin saying she'll "cooperate fully " with the investigation. But seven of her aides have refused to be deposed. (Frank Bailey, by the way, has NOT been deposed yet! therefore the line about his "Sworn statement" is a flatout lie, like much else above) Sarah Palin could do justice a favor by demanding that her aides depose for the committee but seeing as how that may screw her big time my money says she won't.

Will Sarah herself cooperate with the committee , be deposed? thats the big question now. Again, my money says she'll stall.

Re Walt Monegan: from Wiki: ( Alaska_Public_Safety_Commissioner_dismissal )
"....On July 18, Monegan suggested that his dismissal might have been related to his reluctance to fire Wooten. He said phone calls and questions from the Palin administration and the governor's husband, Todd Palin, about Wooten started shortly after Monegan was hired and continued until May or June 2008.[26] Monegan said that Palin's acting chief of staff, Mike Nizich, told him on July 11 that he was being removed from his position because Palin wanted to take the Department of Public Safety in a different direction.[27] On July 17, Palin said publicly that "We have [to] start recruiting. We have to start doing more then just talking about it. And taking action also." Monegan responded on July 18 that the two most recent trooper graduating classes had the most recruits in years...."

Also from same source:
"...Palin replaced Monegan with Chuck Kopp, who had been the police chief and, for a time, the acting city manager of Kenai. In Kenai, Kopp had been previously suspended and investigated for sexual harassment of an employee. Palin said she believed, when she named him on July 11, that the investigation had cleared him, and that she learned that Kopp had received a letter of reprimand only when Kopp held a press conference on July 22 to discuss that letter.[54][55] Kopp resigned on July 25.[56] He received a $10,000 severance payment. Monegan had received no severance payment....."

(see also: http://www.adn.com/news/politics/story/475539.html )

PALIN REPLACED MONEGAN WITH A SEXUAL HARASSER!!! That she had to let go later!!!!
Notice that Monegan got NO severance pay at alll for 18 months work while the SEXUAL HARASSER got $10,000 severance pay for TWO WEEKS WORK!!!! Whats up with THAT, repuglicans?? I guess the the Palins like sexual harassers to go along with their emotional child abuse.

Monegan has turned the emails he got from the Palins to the comittee. We'll just see how convincing the evidence is on Oct 10th

And along those lines, here's the latest news on this topic from that "liberal rag" the Wall Street Journal, R Murdoch, owner. oh, yeah, its only the liberal press going after this one.....suuruuuuuure. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1221..._us_whats_news

"...Ethics Adviser Warned Palin
About Trooper Issue
Letter Described
Situation as 'Grave,'
Called for Apology
By JIM CARLTON
September 11, 2008; Page A8

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- An informal adviser who has counseled Gov. Sarah Palin on ethics issues urged her in July to apologize for her handling of the dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner and warned that the matter could snowball into a bigger scandal.

He also said, in a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, that she should fire any aides who had raised concerns with the chief over a state trooper who was involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's sister.

In the letter, written before Sen. John McCain picked the Alaska governor as his running mate, former U.S. Attorney Wevley Shea warned Gov. Palin that "the situation is now grave" and recommended that she and her husband, Todd Palin, apologize for "overreaching or perceived overreaching" for using her position to try to get Trooper Mike Wooten fired from the force........"

Gee, her own ethics advisor told her to apologize and that this could snowball into a bigger scandal. Think she told McCain that? And Frank Bailey, who made the recorded incriminating phone call is still working for hher, but is now on "paid leave."

I think this is going to get a lot more exciting and real fun to watch, seeing as how its all about how repuglicans like to mistreat each other and other people! I'm popping the popcorn right now

[SEATJERKER]

...

..."Last edited by exlrrp; 09-11-2008 at 10:10 AM. Reason: spite"

...


...I think the last word in your post says it all,... SPITE

...I'm not about spite, I'm about looking forward in our Nation,...

... I'm aware, as we all are, with the mis steps, tripping, falling down on both sides of the political fence. In many aspects of the life in politics both sides have reapeatly fumbled, however my goal would be to move forward, and try to get a grip on the "real problems" facing this Nation, and the World before we, and my children don't have one...

...