Talking Points Memo has obtained and posted a tape of a phone call made by Frank Bailey, Sarah Palin's Director of Boards and Commissions, to Lt. Rodney Dowell (note: those names and spelling were my understanding of the tape). The tape of the call is available here.
Since the tape is over 24 minutes long, I'll summarize a bit. I would call the tape "quietly shocking." There is no screaming and no overt threats. But the repeated questions about Trooper Mike Wooten, Gov. Palin's former brother-in-law, and about why he's still with the department make it clear that Bailey, acting on the Governor's behalf, wants Wooten fired. This despite the fact that the Governor shouldn't be intervening to go after a regular state trooper, especially one in a case like this where the family split makes it so clear that the real motivation is anger and revenge, not any sort of fear that this individual trooper is not living up to the Department's standards.
Right off the bat, Bailey describes his question as "awkward to ask" and acknowledges that it may make Dowell feel a bit uncomfortable. Lt. Dowell does clearly feel uncomfortable at moments throughout the call, although this may be partially due to his awareness that they're being recorded.
After some preliminary issues regarding budget issues, Bailey gets to the meat of the call: the Palins (note: the plural is almost always used, and Todd Palin is also mentioned several times) don't understand why Trooper Wooten is still with the department. Although Bailey does refer to the family splitup, he insists throughout the call that his concern is "recruiting." Apparently, Trooper Wooten is deeply undermining the efforts of the Alaska police to recruit simply by being on the force.
Bailey throws out accusations against Wooten throughout the call: that he's abusive, that he drinks on duty, that he shot a moose, tasered a son, and had "business" with a workers' compensation.
A more interesting moment comes when Bailey alleges that Wooten lied on his job application [Wooten joined the Alaska Police in 2001 after leaving the Air Force].
Dowell, who at this point had been somewhat passive and nervous, suddenly has his voice take on a bit of a harsh edge as he comments,
"Frank, where'd you get that information from? I used to be a recruiter, and I know that information is extremely confidential."
Bailey describes himself as "reluctant to say" but claims that it was related to an investigation that was done of Wooten while he was a trooper.
Bailey specifically says "the Palins can't figure out why nothing is going on." Later, he commments,
"Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, why on earth is this guy still representing the department, he's a horrible recruiting tool. From their perspective, everyone is protecting him."
Later, Bailey again says "they can't figure out why he's still working there." He keeps saying the same stuff, over and over. Bailey acknowledges that the Palins have been repeatedly told "stay away, there's nothing we can do." "But" Bailey says, "that's very frustrating, because, uh, this guy is the ultimate poor recruiting model." Ha!
Bailey also says that if there is something going on---ie, if the department is investigating Wooten with the possibility of firing him---Todd and the Governor are not aware of it, and the Governor's sister "has continued to go through difficult times." Why a former spouse struggling with the aftermath of a divorce is relevant to the continued employment of a police officer is a mystery to me.
Dowell also attempts to suggest that perhaps Bailey should be approaching "Walt" with these concerns. "Walt" is Walt Monegan, the former Public Safety Commissioner. But Bailey complains that Walt has been "reluctant to take any action." In other words, he's looking for Dowell to at least serve as a conduit of information to the Governor's office, and possibly apply pressure himself to get rid of Wooten.
The other thing that Dowell says which is sort of interesting is that he met Sarah Palin back she was mayor of Wasilla, and that he became aware at that time that there was an issue between Palin and Wooten due to this family fracture. In other words, this appears to be a years-long vendetta.
But that may not even be the most damning part. Toward the end of the call, Bailey says,
"you know, she [Palin] really likes Walt a lot...but she just doesn't know why, on this issue, there's been no progress for a year. Its very, very troubling for her and the family."
Palin had claimed that Wooten's non-termination had nothing to do with Monegan's termination. But here, her attack dog is proclaiming that other than this issue, Palin is very happy with Walt.
So to sum up:
- Palin and her Administration knew it was unethical, inappropriate, and possibly illegal to intervene in Wooten's status with the Alaska Police (as Bailey acknowledges when he says the Palins have been told to "stay away" by a lot of people). But they are seeking to intervene anyway.
- Palin had claimed that neither she nor her Administration had ever pressured Monegan to fire anyone when the scandal broke. In fact, as the tape makes clear, the pressure on Monegan went back AT LEAST a year, and when he fought it the pressure started getting applied in other places to put additional pressure on Monegan. Palin was later forced to change her story on this due to the tape, acknowledging that there was some pressure even if she didn't place it directly. And Palin's story of her termination of Monegan is contradicted by this phone call as well.
- The motivation to fire Wooten is clearly tied to the breakup of the marriage between Palin's sister and Wooten. Bailey brings up the sister a number of times, and Dowell's mention of the fact that this "issue" goes all the way back to Wasilla demonstrates that the motivation to fire him wasn't about "recruiting." The Mayor of Wasilla would not want a state trooper fired because she was worried he was hurting the state's ability to recruit other police officers.
- In the pursuit of Wooten, it appears the Governor's office may have committed other ethical violations or broken other laws as well. The part at which Bailey claims that he knows Wooten lied on his job application is a very dramatic moment, as it is the only time that Dowell flashes any sort of anger---he's clearly agitated that Bailey knows something he has no business knowing.
- The aftermath to this call is that Monegan was fired, and was replaced by Chuck Kopp, who lasted a grand total of two weeks before being fired for previous complaints and reprimands for sexual harassment. Palin said she knew about the complaints but not the reprimand. Looks like McCain isn't the only part of that team who doesn't vet.
- Wooten himself should not be made into any sort of a martyr, as a union investigation agreed with at least some of the allegations Bailey makes during the call. Specifically, that he tasered his son, who's about 12 years old, which if true is obviously deeply reprehensible. While its possible that politics played a role in the investigation's conclusions, we should be careful to avoid lionizing someone simply because they have become an opponent of our opponents. Looking back, we clearly made a mistake lionizing Larry Johnson, who turned out to be a conspiracy theorist, but appear to have learned our lesson with our skepticism toward Scott McClellan.
- Despite this scandal, I still think the problem is less Palin than McCain. When seeking a VP, Barack Obama chose one of the most qualified people he could find. McCain, by contrast, after repeating attacking Obama for lack of experience, chose one of the most unqualified people he could find, someone with far, far less experience with Obama (less than 2 years in state government vs. Obama's 7.5+, no national experience at all vs. Obama's 3.5 years in the Senate). Obama showed careful deliberation and put country ahead of politics. McCain showed rashness and put politics ahead of country. He didn't even bother to vet Sarah Palin, as his team frantically flying to Alaska today demonstrates.
The VP pick is the most important decision John McCain has made to this point in his time as presumptive Republican nominee. If he's willing to be this reckless on this issue, how can America trust his judgment on anything else?