One thing we all forget around here is that we know what's going on. We are strange and exotic birds in the flock of voters. Every time I bring something up, a friend will say "How did you know that? Why hasn't it been in the news?" Well, it has. And there's one story out there that the McCain campaign wants people to miss.
I have an aggressive e-mail campaign of my own. I send e-mails almost every day to my circle of friends with notes about important stories. It gives them something to send on to their family and friends. I have a very specific reason: I want Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States. And, I believe that more people would want that too if they were working with facts. So, I serve up facts. Every day.
I really thought I was covering my bases. Until yesterday. I was chatting with a friend who is on this list. I said, "Wait 'til the news hits tomorrow about Todd Palin getting a subpoena." Ever heard a blank stare on the phone? Well, that's what I got. She had no knowledge of Troopergate. Didn't know Palin was under investigation.
Now, to us this seems impossible. No one else pays attention like we do. So, here's your Troopergate summary. Share it with your friends. Get it moving through the chain. We CAN make a difference. Here goes.
Sarah Palin is under investigation in Alaska for abuse of power. Here's the background.
Sarah Palin's sister went through a nasty divorce from a man named Mike Wooten, an Alaska state trooper. During the divorce, before Palin was governor, Sarah waged a campaign of her own to get Wooten fired. She was warned about her interference. This from Newsweek:
... during the course of divorce hearings three years ago, Judge John Suddock heard testimony from an official of the Alaska State Troopers' union about how Sarah Palin—then a private citizen—and members of her family, including her father and daughter, lodged up to a dozen complaints against Wooten with the state police. The union official told the judge that he had never before been asked to appear as a divorce-case witness, that the union believed family complaints against Wooten were "not job-related," and that Wooten was being "harassed" by Palin and other family members.
Court documents show that Judge Suddock was disturbed by the alleged attacks by Palin and her family members on Wooten's behavior and character. "Disparaging will not be tolerated—it is a form of child abuse," the judge told a settlement hearing in October 2005, according to typed notes of the proceedings. The judge added: "Relatives cannot disparage either. If occurs [sic] the parent needs to set boundaries for their relatives."
The divorce proceeded ahead and Palin proceeded ahead with her successful campaign to become Alaska's governor.
Once Palin was in the governor's office, she continued to complain about Wooten. Only, now she was complaining directly to the State Public Safety Commissioner, Walter Monegan, the official who had responsibility for the state police. Both Sarah and Todd Palin complained. Sarah's staff complained. He refused to open a new investigation on Mike Wooten -- or to fire him. So, Sarah Palin fired Walter Monegan.
The firing came to light, and the Alaska state legislature voted unanimously to hire former prosecutor Steve Branchflower to investigate the connection between Palins complaints about Wooten, Monegan's refusal to discipline or fire Wooten and Monegan's firing. At the heart of the investigation is this important conversation, again from Newsweek:
Last February, a top Palin gubernatorial aide named Frank Bailey criticized Wooten in detail in a conversation with another senior state-police official. Bailey repeated previous charges made by the Palins against the trooper—including allegations that he had Tasered his stepson; driven a cop car while holding a beer; and shot a moose without a permit (charges which resulted in his suspension for five days without pay as a trooper). But Bailey also made a new allegation: that Wooten might have submitted a questionable workers' compensation claim. The state police recorded Bailey's conversation, and Palin later released it after Monegan's sacking.
The plot thickens. Palin's staff is recorded disclosing confidential information. And Palin herself released the tape.
Governor Palin agreed to openly cooperate with the investigation. That is, until the day she accepted the offer from McCain to be his running mate. Everything changed. Republican lawyers flocked to Alaska to shut the investigation down. It hasn't been working according to their plan.
Fast forward to Friday, September 12, 2008, and this lead in the Anchorage Daily News:
The abuse of power investigation against Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, took a potentially ominous turn for her party today when state lawmakers voted to subpoena her husband.
Why is Palin's husband even involved? Again from Anchorage Daily News:
Despite holding no government position, he attends official meetings and is copied on e-mails concerning state business.
Who has been authorized to receive a subpoena
With a hat tip to Mudflats (perhaps the most important blog for all Alaskan political news), this is who has been authorized to receive a subpoena:
Frank Bailey - Director of Boards & Commissions. His call to troopers pressuring about Wooten was taped.
Diane Kiesel - Palin’s Personnel Director
Annette Kreitzer - Administration Commissioner
Nicki Neal - State Personnel & Labor Relations Director
Brad Thompson - State Risk Management Director
Mike Nizich - Former Deputy Chief of Staff, now Chief of Staff as of 8/28/08
Don Bitney - You tell me…. Could this be John Bitney, Palin aide that got sacked for having an affair with Palin’s married friend?
Ivy Frye - Special assistant to Sarah Palin
Kris Perry - Palin confidante who managed her gubernatorial campaign and now manages the Anchorage office
Janice Mason - Palin’s scheduler
Todd Palin - First dude, and private citizen
Randy Ruaro - Former special assistant to the governor, now Deputy Chief of Staff, promoted 9/1/08
Murlene Wilkes - Insurance adjuster handling a worker’s comp claim filed by Trooper Mike Wooten
Here's the briefest summary:
- Sarah Palin and her husband tried to have state trooper Mike Wooten fired after a nasty divorce from her sister.
- After becoming governor, she continued to try to get him fired, appealing directly to the commissioner responsible for state police through her own direct communication and that of her staff. Her husband was CCed on these e-mails, raising a question of why a citizen would need to be informed of official state business.
- In a recorded call, Frank Baily, a member of Palin's staff as Director of Boards & Commissions, was recorded while disclosing confidential information that could only have been known by accessing his personnel record. There is a question as to how confidential information from Wooten's personnel file made its way to the governor, her husband and her staff.
- Sarah Palin is NOT on the list of people to receive a subpoena however, the investigator Stephen Branchflower wants to interview her.
- Todd Palin has been a central figure in the Palin administration, serving as some kind of enforcer. It makes one question why he would need to be included on official correspondence.
- Todd Palin is now included on the list of people who are to receive a subpoena. Again from Mudflats ... "Special investigator Stephen Branchflower said that Todd Palin is “such a central figure” in the investigation that he should be issued a subpoena."
This is the point that has to be made: John McCain has selected a running mate who is currently under investigation for abuse of power. From all indications, Sarah Palin and her husband carried personal vendettas into the governor's office and used her power to punish people who do not agree with them. When voters in the state of Alaska voted Sarah Palin into office, they were voting Sarah and Todd Palin into office. Beware.