Sarah Palin: A Scandal We Can Believe In!
By Michael Lang on Aug 30, 2008 in KEEPING THEM HONEST
John McCain’s VP candidate, Gov. , is embroiled in her own trooper-gate scandal up in Alaska. In short, she’s accused of using her pull as governor to get her ex-brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. The brother-in-law is embroiled in an ugly divorce and custody with Palin’s sister. And after his boss wouldn’t fire the brother-in-law, she fired the boss. Palin originally insisted there was nothing to the story. More recently, she was forced to admit the one of her top deputies had pushed to get the guy fired.
In a press conference on August 13th, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) conceded that someone inside her administration pressured the state’s Department of Public Safety to fire State Trooper Mike Wooten, Palin’s former brother-in-law, who is now embroiled in a bitter custody battle with Palin’s sister.
Palin’s statement is the latest in what has come to be known around Alaska as "Wooten-gate." The scandal began on July 11, when Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan was fired from his post with little explanation, a move that quickly raised questions in Alaska.
A few days later, Monegan came forward, stating that he had been pressured by those around Palin to fire Wooten — but had refused to do so — a choice that he believes led to his sudden dismissal. Palin denied Monegan’s accusations, and a Legislative Council has appointed a special commission to probe the matter.
In the press conference, Palin said that state troopers had taped a phone call from Frank Bailey, Palin’s director of boards and commissions whom she appointed last August, in which Bailey inquired about having Wooten fired.
At the press conference today, Palin distanced herself from Bailey’s actions claiming that he acted alone, but the recordings suggest that he was acting at her instigation.
"The Palins can’t figure out why nothing’s going on," Bailey said in the recorded phone call. "So Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads saying ‘Why is this guy representing the department, he’s a horrible recruiting tool.’ You know? So from their perspective everybody’s protecting him. . . Audi probably disagrees with me, Walt [Monegan] does and I understand it’s really touchy, but I just want you to understand that cops that use excessive force or go out of the lines, they just have no tolerance, because they’ve seen the facts personally."
Bailey has yet to comment. Calls to his phone went directly to voice mail.
Late update: Audio of Frank Bailey’s recorded phone conversation has been released on the governor’s state website, you can listen to it here.
AROUND the BLOGOSPHERE:
A Tick-Tock of The Big Palin Scandal - Newly selected GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Alaska’s first female governor, has been dogged by controversy since July 11, when she fired Public Safety Commissoner Walter Monegan. At the time, a spokesperson for Palin said …
Current Sarah Palin Scandal - Governor Palin is currently under investigation by an independent investigator hired by a legislative panel to determine if she abused her power when firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. [44] [45] On July 11, 2008, …
World Record Time Reported For First Palin Scandal - The Democrats say that Palin had a State Trooper fired, he was married to her sister, who was involved in a lengthy custody battle. The call was made from Palins Office, and the investigation was opened on July 10th, the staffer who …
Gov Palin’s Abuse of Power Scandal - Sarah Palin, John McCain’s surprise vice-presidential pick, is the subject of a legislative probe into claims that she abused her office by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper. …
Tags: alaska,john mccain,mike wooten,Sarah Palin,wooten-gateTags:
1 Comment(s)
By Roschelle on Aug 31, 2008 | Reply
rumors have been circulating for the past 12 hours (maybe more) as to whether Gov. Palin is Trig’s mother and grandmother. Read this article and watch the video and decide for yourself.