McCain Campaign: Monegan Fired for Being Pro-Victim of Sexual Assault

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Monday September 15, 2008 · 9:22 PM PDT

2008/09/15 · 21:22

I had thought I'd hit a dead end in my investigations of the Wasilla rape kit billing controversy. Then this comes out:

The McCain campaign says it can prove Monegan was fired in July because of insubordination on budget issues
...
The "last straw," the campaign said, was a trip Monegan planned to Washington in July to seek federal money for investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases.

In a July 7 e-mail, John Katz, the governor's special counsel, noted two problems with the trip: the governor hadn't agreed the money should be sought, and the request "is out of sequence with our other appropriations requests and could put a strain on the evolving relationship between the Governor and Sen. Stevens."

That's right: they claim Chief Monegan was fired for trying to get money to investigate and prosecute rapists, because Palin didn't want to do so.

This puts the lie to her spokeswoman's denial of her support for the Wasilla policy of billing the victim for testing:

Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella said in an e-mail that the governor "does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test."

"Gov. Palin's position could not be more clear," she said. "To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice."

Here's why:

Police Chief A (Irl Stambaugh) runs a pro-victim police department. Palin fires him for "lack of loyalty"

Police Chief B (Charles Fannon) charges rape victims for the cost of forensic tests to avoid "burdening the taxpayer." He remains in office even after defending the policy to the local paper. Palin later calls hiring Charles Fannon the best decision she ever made

Police Chief C (Walt Monegan) seeks funds to investigate and prosecute rapists. Palin admits to firing him because he sought those funds.

That's not a commitment to supporting victims. That's not a commitment to bringing criminals to justice. That's giving a free hand to rapists who stick to non-wealthy victims.

When I first found out about the firing of Irl Stambaugh through a Lexis-Nexis search immediately after the McCain campaign announced her as VP, I wrote this:

So for Sarah Palin, security does not come first. Like George Bush, it takes a backseat to personal loyalty and cronyism.

Truer than I could have possibly imagined.

Update: I am not necessarily buying the campaign's claim that the Wooten affair was not the proximate cause of Walt Monegan getting firing. I am merely pointing out how sickening it is if they are in fact telling the truth.

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