Troopergate: Report Results B4 Election

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Registered: 09-08-2008
Troopergate: Report Results B4 Election
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Mon, 09-22-2008 - 1:13am

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/20/uselections2008.sarahpalin

Troopergate: Alaskan senators promise Palin report before election

Ewen MacAskill in Washington The Guardian, Saturday September 20 2008

Alaskan senators conducting an inquiry into Sarah Palin's alleged abuse of power promised yesterday their report will be completed before the election on November 4 in spite of attempts by John McCain's campaign team to delay it.

The promise to publish on October 10 came despite the failure of 13 people, including Palin's husband Todd, to turn up for an Alaskan senate hearing yesterday.

Before becoming McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin had said she and her family would enthusiastically cooperate with the investigation. But yesterday Todd Palin and the other 12 ignored subpoenas calling on them to testify.

With the hearing sabotaged, the Democratic chairman of the senate judiciary committee, Hollis French, abandoned proceedings after only a few minutes. But he delivered a short, defiant statement insisting the probe will continue and the report published as planned.

The Troopergate investigation is potentially damaging for the McCain presidential bid. Palin, who is still governor of Alaska, is under investigation over allegations that she improperly fired the state's public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan, in July after he refused to sack a state trooper, Michael Wooten, involved in an acrimonious divorce from her sister, Molly.

Sarah Palin argues that Monegan left because he did not share her enthusiasm for diverting resources to rural drink problems rather than because of her alleged vendetta against Wooten.

A lawyer for Palin sent investigators a letter indicating he would not attend the hearing. Flein described the subpoena as "unduly burdensome" because he would be on the campaign trail with his wife until election day.

Although some polls this week suggested the Palin phenomenon was beginning to fade as a result of Troopergate and other revelations about her record as governor of Alaska, one of the most respected polling organisations in the US, the Pew Research Centre, published a survey yesterday suggesting that the Republican party brand has regained some of its lustre for the first time in three years and that this can be attributed mainly to Palin.

The centre found that independent voters, who will decide the election, have an equally favourable view, 50% to 49%, with the Republicans having the edge. Normally vice-presidential picks have little impact on elections. Stan Greenberg, the Democratic pollster, said that this remained the case, with people voting on the basis of the presidential candidate rather than the vice-presidential one.

But he acknowledged that Palin, with her claims to be a reformer and not part of the Washington elite, "makes McCain look plausible as an agent for change".

The Democratic party has been reluctant to openly criticise her. Joe Biden, Obama's running mate who has had a relatively low profile, is due to debate with her in St Louis on October 2 on primetime television. The Democratic vice-presidential candidate, who has extensive foreign affairs experience in contrast with Palin, told CBS last night he was having a tough time working out how to approach the debate. "It's hard to prepare, because I don't know what she thinks," he said.

Palin has been briefed extensively by McCain's team on foreign affairs over the last few weeks, and is to spend next week in New York being introduced by McCain to some world leaders attending the UN general assembly. But her plan to attend a rally against the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who usually attends the assembly, has had to be scrapped.

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Registered: 09-08-2008
Mon, 09-22-2008 - 10:42pm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-7818596,00.html

Palin lawyer meets with investigator in probe

Tuesday September 23, 2008 2:01 AM

ContentType:Spot Development; ContentElement:FullStory; Breaking:True;

By MATT VOLZ

Associated Press Writer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Less than a week after balking at the Alaska Legislature's investigation into her alleged abuse of power, Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday indicated she will cooperate with a separate probe run by people she can fire.

An attorney for the GOP vice presidential nominee met with an investigator for the state Personnel Board to discuss sharing documents and schedule witness interviews, McCain spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said. Neither she nor McCain spokesman Ed O'Callaghan had further details about the meeting and said they did not know if the governor or her husband would be interviewed.

Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages.

Both the Legislature and the personnel board have hired investigators in separate inquiries of whether Palin abused her power when she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan this summer. Monegan refused to dismiss a state trooper who went through a bitter divorce with her sister before Palin's became governor.

Palin has refused to participate in the Legislature's investigation since becoming Sen. John McCain's running mate.

The other investigation is overseen by the state Personnel Board, a three-member panel that serves at the governor's will. Two members are holdovers from the previous governor and Palin reappointed the third.

Separately, two Alaska Democrats said they may bring witness tampering allegations against the McCain-Palin campaign. The two state lawmakers, Rep. Les Gara and Sen. Bill Wielechowski, said they are evaluating Alaska's criminal code to see if it applies in what's become known as the Troopergate probe.

McCain campaign spokesman Taylor Griffin said the campaign has not advised any witnesses on how to respond to subpoenas.

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Registered: 09-08-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 12:53am


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008193194_tedstevens21m0.html

Palin's stardom gives Stevens boost

Despite facing an upcoming criminal trial, 84-year-old Sen. Ted Stevens is gaining ground in his effort to win re-election to a sixth term in the U.S. Senate.

By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter

Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, 84, faces a trial on charges that he failed to report free labor and gifts from a former oil executive.

Gov. Sarah Palin has not endorsed Sen. Ted Stevens.
Related

Archive: Ted Stevens indicted
The 84-year-old Sen. Ted Stevens is a charter member in the good-old-boy network of Alaska politics. That might appear a liability in this campaign season, when Gov. Sarah Palin has rocketed to stardom as a Republican vice-presidential candidate who bucked the state's chummy political establishment.

In his four decades in the U.S. Senate, Stevens forged friendships with much of the state's business and political elite. This week, one of those friendships will be the focus of Stevens' criminal trial, where federal prosecutors will seek a seven-count conviction on charges that the senator failed to report more than $250,000 in free labor and gifts from a former oil executive who once ranked as one of Alaska's most formidable power brokers.

Yet Stevens, who denies the charges, still wields significant political clout, trouncing six opponents in an August Republican primary. Since then, even as his trial approaches, several polls indicate Stevens has gained substantial ground on his Democratic opponent, 46-year-old Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, and the two men now appear to be in a tight race.

Political observers in Alaska say that Stevens has received a significant boost from an unexpected source — Palin — whose presence on the national ticket appears to be energizing the state's conservative base for a strong showing at the polls in November.

Though Stevens' relationship with Palin has often been strained, the senator in recent weeks has endorsed the governor's vice-presidential bid, even as she has shied away from a reciprocal endorsement.

Alaska pollster Ivan Moore said he doubts that Stevens will prevail in November if he's found guilty. Other political observers believe Stevens, even if convicted on all seven felony counts, could be pulled along by Palin, and still be re-elected.

"It's one of the fabulous ironies of all this," said Donald Mitchell, an Anchorage attorney and author of two historical books on Alaska. "With Palin on the ticket, I think it will bring out every Republican and every right-of-center independent voter. It's going to be close, but I'm now betting on Ted."

The Begich campaign concurs that Palin's presence on the ticket is a wild card in the race.

"We would agree that she has energized the campaign in Alaska as she has everywhere else," said Judy Hasquet, a spokeswoman for the Begich campaign. "But if you see her as the anti-corruption candidate, then you've also got to vote for Begich because they both represent a new generation of Alaska politicians."

If Stevens is convicted, then re-elected, the Senate will decide his fate. The chamber has no constitutional prohibition against a felon serving out a term, and probably would allow Stevens to pursue appeals before deciding whether to take a fitness-to-serve vote, according to Donald Ritchie, associate historian at the U.S. Senate.

As the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, Stevens has had a big impact in Washington state, authoring federal fishery legislation that triggered a boom in Seattle fishing fleets, championing Boeing and supporting an oil industry that has many ties to Puget Sound.

In his home state, he has helped craft Native land claims and other legislation that has played a big role in defining modern Alaska. He also has secured billions of dollars in federal aid to develop the state.

"I think people see Stevens is being much larger than the good ol' boy network," said David Dittman, an Alaska pollster working for the Stevens campaign. "Of course, he knows those people because they are the ones that make Alaska run."

For Alaska, though, this is a political season without precedent. Stevens' campaign must deal with the headlines about his upcoming trial.

Some of his work — such as his efforts to secure federal funding for a $223 million bridge connecting Ketchikan to an island airport, the so-called Bridge to Nowhere — is under assault within his party.

At the Republican National Convention, Palin derided the bridge as an abuse of the earmark process as she touted the merits of McCain, a longtime Stevens rival.

Stevens skipped the convention to spend the first week in September stumping for votes in Alaska. In Anchorage, he checked into his campaign headquarters in a midtown strip mall, where supporters have posted a huge black-and-white photo of a youthful Stevens, clad in a No. 12 jersey and kneeling in a football stance.

"Will you join the fight for Alaska's future?" Stevens asks in his campaign handout.

First, Stevens must focus on his courtroom battle. The trial is expected to delve into the senator's relationship with felon Bill Allen, former chairman of oil-field supply company VECO (now owned by CH2M Hill). Allen — in a 2007 plea agreement — admitted bribing several state legislators in exchange for votes favoring the oil industry.

Allen once was a major GOP fundraiser and a friend of the senator's. The two men shared ownership in a racehorse. And Allen also sometimes used the senator's house in Girdwood, a town nestled in mountains south of Anchorage, as an occasional getaway, according to Clem Tillion, a former state legislator and longtime Stevens friend.

Federal prosecutors allege that VECO provided more than $250,000 in free remodeling to the Girdwood house, a figure disputed by Stevens' attorneys.

The government alleges that the remodeling work was part of a broader pattern of gift-giving that included a car swap that gave Stevens' family a cut-rate deal on a new Land Rover, a massage chair and a stained-glass window, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.

Stevens is charged with seven counts of failing to report Allen's gifts on annual Senate disclosure forms during a seven-year period. In a statement released this summer, Stevens said, "I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. Senator."

Allen is expected to be the star witness for the prosecution, and Stevens' attorneys, in court filings, have indicated they will try to discredit him.

Stevens' attorneys have requested that the federal government hand over records of Anchorage police investigations of Allen. Police in the past year have launched two separate investigations into allegations that Allen abused underage women, the department told AlaskaDispatch.com, a news Web site. An attorney for Allen says those allegations are false.

The trial is expected to take about a month, ending weeks before the Nov. 4 election. Stevens will be stuck in court on weekdays, but is expected to shuttle home several times in October in search of votes.

Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com

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Registered: 09-21-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 12:54am
McCain '08
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Registered: 09-08-2008
Fri, 09-26-2008 - 3:45am

http://www.propublica.org/scandal/troopergate/

Palin ‘Troopergate’

Updated Sept. 17

Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska and John McCain's vice presidential running mate, has been embroiled in a controversy -- dubbed ‘Troopergate' -- over the ouster of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan.

Sarah Palin (Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)The kernel of the controversy: Gov. Palin, her family and aides allegedly pressured Monegan to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, who went through a rancorous divorce and child-custody battle with Palin's younger sister in 2005. Monegan refused and was abruptly fired on July 11.

Six days later, Andrew Halco, a former state representative who lost to Palin in the gubernatorial election, was the first to allege that Monegan was fired in retaliation for refusing to fire Wooten. That same day, Palin called those allegations "outrageous."

The next day, Monegan told the press that he was indeed pressured by the Palin administration to fire Wooten, but he did not go so far as to say that it was the reason why he was fired. Monegan has since said that both Palin and her husband personally pushed the Wooten issue with him.

Palin initially denied that she or anyone on her staff pressured Monegan about Wooten, but she was forced to change her story after evidence emerged from an investigation by the attorney general that she requested in early August.

On August 13, she held a press conference announcing that the investigation had uncovered a tape (MP3) of one of her aides pressuring a state trooper on Wooten. On the tape, a Palin aide asked the trooper, "Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, 'Why on earth hasn't this, why is this guy still representing the department?'"

At the press conference, Palin admitted that members of her staff had contacted public safety officials two dozen times about the issue, but she maintains that many of these inquiries were entirely appropriate and denied all involvement. She said Monegan was fired because he wasn't doing enough to fill state trooper vacancies and control alcohol abuse. She later said that Monegan was insubordinate.

A bipartisan panel in Alaska's legislature voted to hire an independent investigator, Steve Branchflower, to probe the matter on July 28. His findings are expected to be released on October 10, but the investigation has faced an onslaught of opposition from the McCain and Palin camps.

Palin's private lawyer has challenged the investigation's authority, suggested that Palin will not cooperate with it (she earlier indicated that she would cooperate), and asked that the investigation be moved to a three-person personnel board that she appointed. He also began his own investigation into Branchflower.

Seven key witnesses refused to testify, prompting the legislature to vote to subpoena members of Palin's staff, and her husband, on September 12. But a few days later the Alaska attorney general, appointed by Palin, said that state employees won't honor the subpoenas. Two employees had already agreed to testify.

And a group of five GOP state lawmakers have filed a suit to halt the "McCarthyistic investigation."

Essential Reading:

Check out the Anchorage Daily News' coverage of the scandal for the latest updates and most thorough background stories.
TPMmuckraker has compiled an in-depth overview of the scandal and positioned itself as an around-the-clock clearinghouse on the story.
The Washington Post also has a good overview of Troopergate and the interview with Monegan.

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Registered: 09-08-2008
Sat, 09-27-2008 - 5:22am

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/25/palin.probe/index.html#cnnSTCText

updated 11:11 p.m. EDT, Thu September 25, 2008


Alaska lawmakers: McCain campaign interfering in Palin probe

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Lawmakers investigating Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner accused the McCain-Palin campaign on Thursday of stonewalling the probe by helping witnesses refuse to comply with subpoenas.

Investigators want to know if Gov. Sarah Palin fired a state employee for improper reasons.

A state Senate committee subpoenaed Palin's husband, several top aides and other advisers earlier this month, but none of those served with demands for testimony appeared before the panel when it met last week.

The panel is scheduled to meet again Friday. A member of the committee said Thursday that he expects more no-shows.

In court filings, lawyers for Hollis French, the Democratic state senator overseeing the probe, and Stephen Branchflower, the attorney hired to conduct it, say Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has moved "on many fronts" to kill the investigation since Palin became the Republican vice presidential nominee.

"Indeed, recent events demonstrate that witnesses or participants who want to stonewall Mr. Branchflower's fact-finding inquiry can count on plenty of assistance from lawyers and McCain campaign operatives," the filings state.

The filings came in response to lawsuits that Palin's allies filed last week seeking to stop the probe. The suits name as defendants the Alaska Legislative Council, the Republican-dominated committee that authorized the investigation in July, and its chairman, Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton.

The response calls the suits "clearly meritless" and "political, not legal" documents.

The McCain campaign has said that Palin will cooperate with a state Personnel Board investigation instead of the legislative probe, which the campaign has described as being "tainted" with partisan politics.

"Since Gov. Palin was named the Republican presidential nominee, it comes as little surprise that the Obama supporters leading the legislative investigation would attempt to use the proceedings to the political advantage of their candidate," said Taylor Griffin, a McCain-Palin campaign spokesman.

"All Gov. Palin is asking for is a fair and impartial review of the facts outside of the taint of partisan politics," Griffin said. "That's why she's cooperating with the Personnel Board."

Earlier this week, Democratic state Rep. Les Gara asked the state police to investigate whether state laws against witness tampering have been violated. Gara did not level allegations against a specific person, but said Republican operatives had been sent to Alaska to undermine the legislative probe.

"I think probably the McCain folks think this was just politics," Gara said Thursday. But he added, "All we know is they want to stop the investigation and suddenly the witnesses aren't talking. That's indisputable."

Ex-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan says he was sacked in July after he refused to fire the governor's ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper who was involved in an acrimonious divorce from Palin's sister.

Palin has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that Monegan was fired for insubordination after he continued to press for funding for projects the governor opposed.

Palin initially agreed to cooperate with the legislative probe and have her staff testify. But since she became McCain's running mate, she and her advisers have argued that the state Personnel Board is the proper agency to investigate.

Campaign aides have repeatedly attacked French for a September 2 interview in which he said the investigation could lead to an "October surprise" for the GOP ticket. The aides have called the probe "a politicized kangaroo court."

French's committee issued the subpoenas September 12. State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said none of the seven people ordered to testify since last week have filed requests to quash the subpoenas with a state court -- but he did not expect them to show for Friday's hearing.

"They should all be there, or they're breaking the law," Wielechowski, a Democrat, said.

The full Senate would have to vote on any sanctions against witnesses who refuse to appear. It does not convene again until January.

Palin's husband, Todd, was among the people who refused to appear last week. The couple's attorney, Thomas Van Flein, filed papers arguing the Legislature had no authority to investigate Monegan's firing, and that state law prevents ethics investigations of candidates for state office. The vice presidency is a federal office, however.

The legislative inquiry is scheduled to be completed by October 10. There is no deadline for the investigator hired by the Personnel Board to look into Monegan's firing.

On Tuesday, a Palin spokeswoman said the Personnel Board's investigator has requested confidentiality. The spokeswoman indicated the campaign would no longer answer questions about the probe.

Monegan has vehemently denied charges of insubordination and has told CNN he was a "team player" who never did anything without approval.