Palin’s Troopergate Troubles Expand

Posted by admin on September 2, 2008 under Crime, Election 08, Politics | Comments are off for this article

McCain’s pick for vice president, Sarah Palin, is being represented by an attorney to defend her in a scandal known in Alaska as Troopergate.

According to reports, Palin, the governor of Alaska, insisted that a state trooper named Mike Wooten be fired. Wooten had divorced Palin’s sister. The man who had the power to fire Trooper Wooten, Walt Monegan, wouldn’t do it, and Palin ended up firing Monegan. (Source)

The Alaskan state legislature is investigating Palin to see if she abused her powers in this incident which seems likely based on the reporting of James Grimaldi of the Washington Post, excerpted below:

Monegan, 57, a respected former chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said on Friday that the governor (Palin) repeatedly brought up the topic of her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, after Monegan became the state’s commissioner of public safety in December 2006. Palin’s husband, Todd, met with Monegan and presented a dossier of information about Wooten, who was going through a bitter custody battle with Palin’s sister, Molly.

Monegan also said Sarah Palin sent him e-mails on the subject, but Monegan declined to disclose them, saying he planned to give them to a legislative investigator looking into the matter. (Source)

In what is probably damage control, McCain has dispatched a team of 12 public relations professionals to Alaska (Source) to try to minimize any more scandals from his VP pick, Palin, or find out what other skeletons may be lurking in her closet.