I found this on wikipedia. It is a scandal involving the new Republican Party VP nominee.
Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search As of August 29, 2008, Alaska Governor and presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee for the 2008 United States presidential election Sarah Palin is being investigated by an independent investigator hired by the Alaska Legislature[1] to determine whether she abused her power when she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan. [2][3] On July 11, 2008, Palin dismissed Monegan, claiming poor work performance. Monegan, however, alleged that his dismissal may have been tied to his reluctance to fire Palin's former brother-in law Mike Wooten. In late July, an independent investigator was hired to investigate Palin and her staff for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal. The Palin administration has been cooperating in the investigation and thus subpoenas have been unnecessary. [edit] Background In 2006, before Palin was governor, Alaska State Trooper Wooten was suspended for ten days after being accused by his ex-wife Molly McCann (Sarah Palin's sister) of threatening to kill McCann's and Palin's father, tasering his 11-year-old stepson, drinking beer in his squad car, and violating game laws.[4] Following an investigation, Wooten was suspended for illegally shooting a moose and using a Taser on his stepson, while most of the charges were dismissed.[5] After a union protest, the suspension was reduced to five days, and Wooten was warned by Col. Julia Grimes, head of the Alaska State Troopers, that he would be fired if he messed up again.[4] On July 11, 2008, Palin dismissed Monegan and offered him a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he turned down.[6][7] Her power to fire him is not in dispute, however Monegan alleged that his dismissal may have been tied to his reluctance to fire Wooten, who had been involved in a divorce and child custody battle with McCann..[8] Palin said that her dismissal of Monegan was unrelated to the fact that he had not fired Wooten, and said that Monegan was instead dismissed for not adequately filling state trooper vacancies, and because he "did not turn out to be a team player on budgeting issues."[9] Monegan claims that the two most recent trooper graduating classes had the most recruits in years, and that Palin stated the audit Monegan provided made the administration look like it did not support the troopers.[10] Palin acknowledged that there were a number of calls from her office regarding Wooten, and that a member of her administration, Frank Bailey, mentioned "a family tie with the Governor there" and said "we don't know why this guy is still working." Monegan told the Anchorage Daily News that Todd Palin had "showed him some of the findings of a private detective the family had hired to investigate Mr. Wooten and accused him of a variety of transgressions, including drunken driving and child abuse."[11] Ms. Palin acknowledged that there were more than two dozen inquiries to the public safety department from members of her staff about Wooten, but she said she had played no role in the inquiries.[12] Both Palin and Bailey say that happened without her knowledge and was unrelated to her dismissal of Monegan,[9] and Bailey was put on leave for two months for acting outside the scope of his authority as the Director of Boards and Commissions. Commissioner Monegan received no severance pay, though at the same time another dismissed Commissioner, Charles Kopp (who served only 11 days) received $10,000.[13] Palin replaced Monegan with Chuck Kopp. Kopp had been previously suspended and investigated for sexual harassment of an employee. At the time, Palin said she believed that the investigation had cleared him, but a letter of reprimand later emerged.[14][15] [edit] Recent developments In late July 2008, a bipartisan committee of the Alaska Legislature voted 12-0 to hire an independent investigator to investigate Palin and her staff for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal. [1] A retired state prosecutor, Steve Branchflower, was chosen. [16] Democratic State Senator Hollis French, who is overseeing the investigation, says that the Palin administration has been cooperating and that subpoenas are unnecessary.[17] The Alaskan Attorney General and the Department of Law are conducting their own inquiry, at the request of the Governor. [18] The Palin administration itself was the first to release an audiotape from February of inquiries being made by Bailey about the status of the Wooten investigation.[9][19] Palin later admitted that members of her staff had made about two dozen contacts with public safety officials about the trooper, including at least one conversation that could appear to be an attempt to pressure the commissioner. She said that her staff's contacts with the commission were not directed by her and she had little knowledge of them.[20] The aide who made the call, Frank Bailey, was placed on paid leave by Palin pending the outcome of the investigation.[21] [edit] References ^ a b Loy, Wesley (2008-07-29). "Hired help will probe Monegan dismissal", Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Quinn, Steven (2008-08-13). "Palin says staffer pressed trooper firing", Associated Press. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ James, Frank (2008-07-31). "McCain-Palin ticket hits Alaska iceberg", The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ a b Demer, Lisa. Is Wooten a good trooper?, Anchorage Daily News (2008-07-27). ^ Luo, Michael (2008-08-29). "Investigators Are Looking at Governor About Firing", New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Resources from Anchorage Daily News regarding the Monegan affair. ^ Hopkins, Kyle (2008-07-12). "Governor offered Monegan a different job", Anchorage Daily News, The McClatchy Company. Retrieved on 2008-08-21. ^ Hollan, Megan (2008-07-19). "Monegan says he was pressured to fire cop", Anchorage Daily News, The McClatchy Company. Retrieved on 2008-07-22. : "Monegan said he still isn't sure why he was fired but thought that Wooten could be part of it." ^ a b c Cockerham, Sean. “Palin staff pushed to have trooper fired”, Anchorage Daily News (2008-08-14). Retrieved 2008-08-24. ^ Simon, Matthew (2008-07-19). "Monegan says Palin administration and first gentleman used governor's office to pressure firing first family's former brother-in-law", CBS 11. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Luo, Michael (2008-08-29). "Investigators Are Looking at Governor About Firing", New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Luo, Michael (2008-08-29). "Investigators Are Looking at Governor About Firing", New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Corey Allen-Young (2008-08-14). "Bombshell in commissioner controversy". KTVA. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Moore, Jason (2008-07-21). "Complainant details Kopp's harassing behavior", KTUU. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Moore, Jason (2008-07-24). "Palin spokeswoman: Kopp never told governor about reprimand (Updated with comments from lawmakers)", Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Holland, Megan (2008-08-02). "Branchflower will investigate Monegan case", Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2008-08-30. ^ “Subpoenas uncalled for in Wooten matter”, Anchorage Daily News (2008-08-16). Retrieved 2008-08-24. ^ Cockerham, Sean (2008-08-13). "Palin launches Monegan inquiry ahead of special investigation", Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2008-08-30. ^ Palin press release with audio of Bailey call ^ Sean Cockerham (2008-08-14). "Alaska's governor admits her staff tried to have trooper fired". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. ^ Hopkins, Kyle (2008-08-20). "Palin aide put on leave in firing flap", Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved on 2008-08-30. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Alaska_Public_Safety_Commissioner_dismissal" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. 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