Palin Investigation: Hired help will probe Monegan dismissal?

Question

JUNEAU -- Alaska legislators on Monday voted to spend up to $100,000 to investigate Gov. Sarah Palin's controversial firing of former state Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.

The decision came from the Legislative Council, a bipartisan panel of state senators and representatives.

The committee itself will not conduct the probe. Rather, it will hire an independent investigator to explore whether Palin, her family or members of her administration pressured Monegan to fire an Alaska state trooper involved in a rough divorce from Palin's sister.

Monegan contends he did feel such pressure, and the question for the investigator will be whether Monegan might have lost his job for failing to dismiss trooper Mike Wooten.

Palin abruptly fired Monegan on July 11 and later explained she wanted to take the Department of Public Safety in a different, more energetic direction. She replaced him with Chuck Kopp, the former Kenai police chief. But Kopp resigned Friday over questions about a reprimand he received after a sexual harassment complaint lodged against him in Kenai.

The Legislative Council is a panel of lawmakers who tend to legislative business when lawmakers are not meeting in regular session.

On Monday, the council voted 12-0 to spend up to $100,000 "to investigate the circumstances and events surrounding the termination of former Public Safety Commissioner Monegan, and potential abuses of power and/or improper actions by members of the executive branch."

Although absent from the council meeting Monday, Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage, took part in the hearing via teleconference; he did not cast a vote. Cowdery, who is under federal indictment on bribery and conspiracy charges, formerly was chairman of the Legislative Council but resigned last week, citing health problems.

Supporters as well as detractors of the Republican governor generally agreed the legislative investigation is needed into the circumstances leading up to Monegan's dismissal.

"There's a big question about what happened. The public wants to know what happened," said Fairbanks Democratic Rep. David Guttenberg, a Legislative Council member. "There's something that doesn't quite smell right. The governor's not going to appoint a special prosecutor to look at whether she's abused power."

Senate President Lyda Green, a Wasilla Republican and member of the Legislative Council, said the investigation is "absolutely" needed.

Answer 1

Palin has denied the commissioner’s dismissal had anything to do with her former brother-in-law. She denied orchestrating the dozens of telephone calls made by her husband and members of her administration to Wooten’s bosses.

Palin said she welcomes the investigation: “Hold me accountable.”

Answer 2

Did that State Trooper get fired? If so, what was the reason for his firing? Was he doing something illegal?

These are questions that need to be asked.

However, if you weigh that against plagerism of Biden.....

Answer 3

its clear that palin believes she is innocent of any ethics violation.  Have you ever heard of an investigation that had no subpoena's?

Answer 4

Attorney General Colberg said his office's review began after State Senator Hollis French was quoted in The Wall Street Journal about two weeks ago saying the governor could be impeached as a result of the probe. That raised questions about how impartial the Legislature's investigation was going to be, according to the governor's office. Colberg told KTUU it isn't witness tampering. The only problem is that if the worst case scenario happens, it will appear as if a potential defendant, the Palin Administration, was prepping potential witnesses.