This is just too rich to pass up, from The Alaska Daily News
Governor Sarah Palin, hubris (and panic) oozing from every pore, now wants to cooperate in the investigation of her Troopergate scandal.
Sort of.
Using her 3-member State Personnal Board appointees (who serve at her whim) to offset what is likely to be a scathing report by legislative investigator Branchflower, Sarah Palin is on a mission.
Hint: It's not a mission to conduct a Vulcan Mind Meld with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai for all of his crucial VP debate information.
No, this mission is different. Everyone knows she's gotta testify at some point -- preferably after the election if she and her SWAT team in Alaska have anything to do with it. But with the Branchflower report coming out in early October -- without the testimony by Palin, her husband, and lots of other ususal suspects -- she has a real problem.
Voters.
In the Branchflower Report, the people of this country are going to read and hear about a petty, vindictive governor obviously trying to cover up, among other things, an impeachable offense: She personally requested (read demanded) the disallowance of her sister's ex-husband's disability claims, based on illegal use of his confidential personnel file.
How Christian of her. I'm sure it's something like Jesus would have done to Judas had he the means, motive, and opportunity.
It was a revenge thing, according to
another ADN report.
People in the know up there are quoting Sarah's own statement that any information regarding personnel records came from the trooper himself.
But Wooten’s personnel file was released to his ex-wife’s attorney during divorce court proceedings. Sarah, however, seems to be claiming her office then had the right to access the files. And when they got them, they were used against the trooper. However, the legal eagles up there said they were meant for use only during the divorce, with a sunset provision of May 1.
Kinda tricky to argue that one, Sarah.
Her solution to this and other abuses of power?
Less than a week after balking at the Legislature's investigation into her alleged abuse of power, Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday indicated she will cooperate with a separate probe run by a state agency..
Cooperation is such a relative thing, huh.
An attorney for the GOP vice presidential nominee met with an investigator for the state Personnel Board to discuss sharing documents and schedule witness interviews, McCain spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said. Neither she nor McCain spokesman Ed O'Callaghan had further details about the meeting and said they did not know if the governor or her husband would be interviewed.
That would be testimony from people refusing to honor a valid Alaska State Senate subpoena.
Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein said in an e-mail that information on who will be interviewed and when will be known on Tuesday. He said additional coordination meetings with the investigator, Anchorage attorney Timothy Petumenos, are likely.
This guy Petumenos is obviously all about a real investigation.
After that, however, Petumenos wants to keep the progress of the investigation confidential and the campaign will not have any further comment, McCain spokesman Taylor Griffin said.
Okay, she wants to cooperate and testify, but only to her investigator and a personnel board made up by her appointees. The only possible reason for her "cooperation" would seem to be to deflect whatever damage comes from the Branchflower report. But she would have to get her own whitewashed story out before that to blunt the Branchflower Report.
I can see it now, splattered across every newspaper across the country (and in Afghanistan, too): "Palin Cleared of All Charges!" America is relieved the nightmare is now over.
Well, sort of.