An investigation by the Alaska Legislature, released this evening, concluded that Sarah Palin abused the powers of the office of Governor of Alaska by pressuring subordinates with the goal of getting her ex-brother-in-law State Trooper Michael Wooton fired. The 236-page report, at the center of "Troopergate," also found that she was within her powers when she dismissed the public safety commissioner, who was the boss of the ex-brother-in-law.
The report, which could now have national implications, holds that Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act when she exerted pressure, and when she allowed her husband to do so, too. It states:
Such impermissible and repeated contacts create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior’s displeasure and the possible consequences of that displeasure.
The legal and political implications of the report are uncertain. The Alaska legislature could censure Palin, and US voters may question the McCain campaign's characterization of Palin as a reformer.
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Good! It frightens me that there is a possibility that such an ignorant and close-minded woman could one day be our president (if McCain is elected and then dies or has to step down)!
1That's interesting news...
2What a Maverick!
3This post has the potential to get ugly fast so I think I will just sit and observe on this one.
4At this point I just think she's in over her head. But, if she's going to question the "real" Barack Obama, then it's only fair for people to question the "real" Sarah Palin. Good thing she has huger flag pins to wear.
5kas, I agree that's why I tried to make a neutral comment. I hope it won't be twisted the wrong way.
6I'm with kastarte, this one is going to become nasty fast! I genuinely have to ask why it is that supposedly intelligent people can't have civil conversations on this board.
7
8that's some mighty fine judgment once again by...wait for it...
Ma!verick!
I can't wait til that little biracial baby pops out...
9....so
who is the real Sarah Palin?
who is the real Todd Palin?
Americans have a right to know!
She has been misleading and secretive.
hahaha...how the tables turn
Seriously though, this makes all her points to the angry mobs completely hypocritical.
I can not comprehend how people could support the McCain ticket with her as VP!
10Well they are already trying to play the "partisan politics" card but there were both republicans and democrats serving on the committee
11mesayme if it is biracial though i highly highly doubt it,then you can bet that baby will never see the light of day, but generally the family is swarthy so they could get away with it. anyway may the real sarah palin plaese stand up. Is she a pitbull in a lipstick who wants to get o the top without pulling the gender card or the is he a terrorist card or is she a lying, cheating, power abusing, unprepared woman? Hillary would have had her for breakfast.
12The guy tasered a flipping 10 year old...I'm glad someone did something about it.
13Mesayme, what biracial baby? I'm so lost.
14What she did was Mavericky! You Betcha. *wink*wink*
15californiagirl some loser is claiming the baby is his and that he was run out of town by the family yada yada, he is an aspiring rapper so he is probably lying to get his 5 seconds of fame.
16NurseDeAnna, wasn't the 10 year old his stepson? CLEARLY the man was not fit to be in a position where he held power over others.
17nyarad, are you talking about the father of Bristol's baby?
18"Hillary would have had her for breakfast." Yes nya...she absolutely would have.
19Okay...what is the deal with all the blythe dolls??
20I don't know...I saw them pop up as avatars for lots of people on here and I saw that they made a group about it. I asked them if I could "copy" their idea and I found a cute Alice in Wonderland Blyhe doll so I used that one
I'd never heard of Blythe dolls until a
couple days ago...
21Why am I not surprised by this.
Tip of the iceberg I think.
22yes california, apparently bristol had an affair with this boy and blah blah blah.
23I'm not exactly surprised.
24Interesting to see if they will use this to get rid of her now. It could be very convenient for the Republicans.
25I spent most of my thoughts on the other thread but just for kicks here we go:
1) The council had both Dems and Pubs thats true, but the head of the Council is a Dem who was quoted as saying before the investigation was completed that it would be an October surprise and even threw around the word impeachment. Hardly impartial.
2) The trooper was a BAD DUDE. Tasering his kid, drinking on the job, making death threats... and thats just the stuff they can PROVE! He should not have been allowed to have a badge and a gun. I would THINK that Dems who are so fiercly into gun control would understand that and would want the public to be safe from that guy.
3) The report says it was within her rights as govenor to fire the comissioner hell bent on looking the other way on this trooper. They only said she should have pressured subordinates to get rid of the crazy trooper... ya know, I don't know that I agree. Because if I had someone that messed up carrying a gun in the name of the state of Alaska and I knew that he could lose it at any time and put the public at right, I'd say Not on my watch! And I'd do all I could to can the guy.
26shouldn't have**
right = risk
27but i wouldn't have had my husband fight part of my battle, so that i def. disagree with.
28Haus, I do think the involvement of Todd is the most sketchy part of all. I understand her involvement, but not Todd. It is very unprofessional to have you husband fight your battles for you at work. Never mind the fact that he had no authority what so ever to put pressure on a state employee about the firing of another state employee.
Oy! Where did I put my drink?
29even though a dem headed up the council, if the republicans (on the council) had any issues with the conclusion they would've no doubt spoken up. they had to have known this verdict was going to affect the chances of their party winning.
30it scares me that she might be president. I like her but the winks and you betcha's aren't gonna get me a job after college. lol
31Wooten is no great catch.. but he was investigated and punished for the following:
An incident of drinking while on duty (though he wasn't caught doing it or given a BAC.. it was reported)
And was investigated for going out with his wife hunting when only she had a permit and shooting a moose.
And tasering his 11 year old stepson after he had come home off duty from the taser class and the stepson asked to be tasered (ala Jackass). He set it on test, removed the barbs, attached the clips, and tased him for 1 second.. the stepson liked it so much he went and got Bristol to witness him do it again. Bristol testified to what she saw and the stepson's willingness to participate. The mother did not approve. A spokesperson for the taser copmany said if the boy was tasered as the boy, Bristol and Wooten described then it would feel like your funny bone was hit but the quick jolt wouldn't knock you over or seriously injure you .
And he made a threat about her father in law during a heated argument when the wife told him she was leaving him where he said "I'm gonna F'n kill your dad if he gets an attorney to help you,"
And while she fired Monegan(who was well liked in Wasilla and people thought had done an excellent job).. Wooten is still an active trooper in Alaska.
And Todd did have a meeting with Monegan's replacement Chuck Knopp (according to an interview with Knopp and went over Wooten's employee file with him letting him know his concerns (what was Todd doing having a meeting in an official capacity with the new top cop ad why did he have access to a state employees personal file?
This is a messy messy mess.
Did Wooten deserve to be fired? IMO yes.. but its Not your call or mine or Palin's.. it was up to the police administration to investigate. They did, they suspended him for 5 weeks and said if he got into trouble again he would be fired. He is still an active trooper.
32IMA - I think they suspended him for 5 days, not weeks. Which, to me, is more evidence that commisioner should have been canned. And lets not forget that he wasn't canned exactly, he was reassigned, so he still HAD a job and it paid the same.
Kas - I agree with you, but do we have evidence to suggest that she told Todd to fight her battles? He could have just done it without her knowledge. And if he did and she found out later, how is she supposed to fix it?
Overall though, IMA, I agree, its a big ole mess. To me, she wasn't taking money from a terrorist or lobbyists that swayed her judgement, she doesn't have a history of ethics violations, in fact she was on the board of ethics for the state that brought down a bunch of republicans (so no doubt there are many republicans in alaska that aren't fans of hers).
So what I'm saying is, if this were part of a pattern of behavior it would worry me more, but since it isn't, I still think its bad, but not as bad as it could be. If that makes sense!
33This woman is garbage. I think a lot less of John McCain (who I never agreed with, but was beginning to respect in 2000) for choosing this POS for his running mate.
It just shows that he has completely lost touch with the John McCain from 2000 and is now just pandering to the republican sensibility which apparently thrives stupidity in its candidates.
34But it does seem to be a part of a pattern with her in the respect that it has to be her way or else watch your ass. Monegan said the first thing he thought was "wow its because I didn't fire Wooten".
And then add all the people who she fired and then made reapply to the position declaring loyalty to Palin. All the people she used to get into a political office position with a smile and a thanks for the help and now I am running against you and will claim you are unethical.
IMO it is a pattern of her my way or the highway combined with blind ambition combines with I am right whether I am right or wrong attitude. And then she attempts to gloss it over with the folksy you betcha wink wink pow pow crap.
35And she wants to extend the reach and power of the VP position. YIKES!
36the fact that this was released on a friday - slowest news day of the week - is suspicious to me. why is it that just the claim of obama being a terrorist (a completely UNFOUNDED claim, i might add) was all over the news all week, but this - the results of an actual investigation, pops up late on a friday? must be that gosh darn liberal media bias - oh wait, never mind!
37>Well they are already trying to play the "partisan politics" card but there were both republicans and democrats serving on the committee
And there were more pubs than dems on the committee.
>The guy tasered a flipping 10 year old...I'm glad someone did something about it.
But that guy still has a job. She fired his boss.
>The council had both Dems and Pubs thats true, but the head of the Council is a Dem who was quoted as saying before the investigation was completed that it would be an October surprise and even threw around the word impeachment. Hardly impartial.
That's not the guy who is actually conducting any of the investigation, though.
38and actually, if her husband did anything for her, with or without her knowledge, then it would be fair game if we played by her own rules... considering all of the ayers, jeremiah wright, and now rezko stuff that obama is having to deal with (all over again!)... these people did things without obama's knowledge and yet mccain-palin have tried to connect obama to them at every turn. basically, they have run such a dirty, baseless campaign that they have no legs to stand on when it comes to stuff like this.
i do wish we'd continue talking about the real issues though - like the fact that our entire planet is in an economic meltdown because of shady business practices that were allowed to happen thanks to the deregulation that john mccain supported - and still does (though he'd never mention it now). he wants to deregulate insurance companies even more - just read his healthcare plan!
39YY - this date was set by the council, it was supposed to be released on Oct 31st. the date was set weeks ago when the investigation started, so i don't think there are any conspiracies here.
IMA - Maybe Monegan said he thought that, but his actions show differently since he wrote a letter saying he understood that he could be let go at anytime and was not under a contract.
"And then add all the people who she fired and then made reapply to the position declaring loyalty to Palin"
I've never heard about any of that. Where did that come from?
40TS - no but he's in change of the council that makes the final decision.
41yy - the roots of the financial crisis are up for debate. there is clear cause on either side. you say he favored deregulation, yet in 2005 he said we needed more oversight and a bunch of Dems went on record saying we didn't.
42i meant to say "is NOT clear cause"
43But haus, as I understand it, it would be like him being the principal of a school where a kid got detention. Yes, he's in charge of the school, but the teacher's the one handing out detentions.
44i'll def give you that this looks pretty bad esp. after the rhetoric of this week, but ultimately i think if you like her, you still will and if you don't, you still won't.
as for the undecideds, well, i hope the read the facts or the report itself (if its made public) and don't just rely on bloggers (not you Citizen) and pundits who convienantly leave out some key facts.
45my principal always handed out the detentions! what kind of school did you go to???
i see what you're saying, but using that analogy, are we going to say the principal has no pull with the teacher? are we going to say that if the principal didn't like the kid he wouldn't try to lean on the teacher to get the kid whenever they could?
46Ultimately she didn't break the law, and the report itself said that this wasn't the sole reason this guy got reassigned. And its one mark on a pretty good record. I think if we went back into everyones past and started bringing up ethics violations we'd see some ugly things we'd rather not.
47Sigh. Details of my analogy aside, my point is that the guy actually conducting the investigation and doing most of the work was a Republican, n'est-ce pas?
48hausfrau..
http://www.mceades.com/graphics/palin_article1.jpg
49Well, the public will get their chance to read the transcripts through various new sources. What they'll find out won't be very good for Sarah. Yes Wooten was a POS...but he's only the sideshow in this drama. She abused her power to fire his boss.
What she, her husband and her staff did is not only wrong, but just plain stupid. And the sad part is, the POS Trooper still has a job! The guys probably a model employee now since this scandal erupted and he's doing whatever he can to keep his nose clean and his job.
McCain asks us to look at the candidates records. Well Senator, I see your "poor judgement" in your affliation with Keating. The same words used by the Sentate Ethics Committee that questioned you during the S&L scandal. And now I look at your running mates record as well. The 236 page transcript detailing how she abused her power. Reformers? Mavericks? NOPE. Just More of the Same!
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