Report Clears Palin in Troopergate
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Alaska, Palin
Probably a little too late to help McCain/Palin, but this is good news for the Republicans:
A report has cleared Gov. Sarah Palin of ethics violations in the firing of her public safety commissioner. The report, released Monday, said: “There is no probable cause to believe that the governor, or any other state official, violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with these matters.” It was prepared by Timothy Petumenos, an independent counsel for the Alaska Personnel Board.
I never thought there was much wrongdoing here, although I wasn’t going to blindly defend the Governor on the matter. Not that I think the report will change the minds of those who think Palin is corrupt. She’s become an easy target for the left.
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November 3rd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Wasn’t this the investigation by people that report to her?
Are you discounting the first bi-partisan report that indicated she did abuse her power?
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
This was the official report in which she and her husband testified. The other report was a legislative action. From my understanding, this one holds the real weight. It’s not that there’s nothing to it, just that it’s not as clear-cut or as significant as Palin’s harsher critics would like us to believe.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Yes, this is great news for Palin, and I’m actually glad to see that she has finally caught a break. She’s been through the wringer already.
However, I’m still a bit disappointed that she tried to lie her way through the aftermath of the other report, which clearly showed she violated ethics laws.
In the end, this latest report will help her maintain her governorship in Alaska. Had this one found her guilty too, I really think she would have been vulnerable.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Rob, the lead investigator of this report is a Democrat.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:39 pm
There’s ethics laws in Alaska? Who knew…..
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 pm
But I was wrong when I said that. I completely misunderestimated the ability of bloggers and media to make something out of absolutely nothing. Mission accomplished. Damage done.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:04 pm
It’s the report that she and her husband testified at because they refused to testify in the legislative report. The fact that she at first said that she would cooperate with the legislative body and then rescinded is a bit sketchy. I’m not quite sure why a Republican governor would have issue with a committee with 8 (out of 12) Republican legislators.
Reading chunks of the Petumenos report, I find myself convinced that Palin did not violate any laws. Petumenos makes a decent case as to why this new report should be more influential than the Branchflower report. But it seems that the reason Palin isn’t guilty is because as governor, she had the power to do whatever she damn well pleased. No reason was required in her reassignment of Monegan. It was also not an ethics violation to not stop others’ actions.
But in reading Palin’s e-mails in the Petumenos report, it seems pretty clear that Palin did not care about ethics as much as she should. Todd Palin was shown to pretty much be stalking Wooten. And the report still leaves open the fact that Palin’s administration (much like the White House) has e-mail issues.
November 4th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I know she is allowed to fire Monegan, with or without reason. I thought the ethics violation was trying to get Monegan to fire XXX, I don’t remember his name.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Come on. It’s not Troopergate that stands as Palin’s downfall, it’s her resort to the sort of divisive cultural warfare tactics that have characterized the worst of the GOP. Conservatives with a conscience need to admit this and stop apologizing for her. Any moderate or reasonable conservative who countenances a campaign based on proposals of *real* America, and a pro- versus anti-America polemic, needs to do a little (make that a lot of) soul-searching. This. Is. A. Big. Deal. You need to expect better of yourselves and of your party. Nobody else is going to.
November 5th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
The story is easy to check up now on Wikipedia. I did it the hard way by reading the Anchorage Daily News, Monegan’s interview, the Branchflower report and the Petumenos report.
I must remind people that lawyers must represent their clients interest; thus Branchflower represented the interests of the legislature, BOTH Republican and Democratic, whereas Petumenos represented his client the executive branch, ie Palin. Because of the different obligations it is not surprising the reports differ.
In a nutshell, Petumenos has determined based on sworn testimony by the Palins and staff the Monegan had lied repeatedly under oath about converations that Monegan alleged to have taken place.
Basically Petumenos claims Monegan fabricated out of whole cloth an enormous amount of testimony. Multiple counts of perjury, just so Monegan could maintain his reputation?
Branchflower felt Monegan was credible and obtained independent testimony that the conversations had likely taken place. Petumenos did not and could not ask such questions if he represented the executive branch. A lawyer does not throw his clients under the bus.
So who do you find credible? A police chief with a 35 year record, or a governor and staff of 2 years? Should or could Monegan be prosecuted for perjury by the Alaskan attorney general?
November 10th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
if you lie under oath: that’s perjury. If person A says something occured, and person B says it didn’t, then one of them is lying under oath. Somebody needs to be prosecuted for perjury based on the Petumenos report: Sarah Palin or Walt Monegan. Somebody has perjured themselves, but I sincerely doubt that the Alaskan attorney general will touch this one with a 10 foot pole. I’m sure that he can see Wasilla from his house …