Late yesterday, a panel of Alaska Legislature released a report finding that Governor Palin had abused her power in seeking to fire a state official:
An Alaska state legislative investigator found yesterday that Gov. Sarah Palin abused executive power when she and her husband engaged in a campaign to oust her former brother-in-law from the state police force.
The 263-page report released in Anchorage also found that while Palin was well within her right to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, his dismissal came in part because he refused to remove her sister’s ex-husband from the Alaska State Troopers.
Investigator Stephen Branchflower found evidence that Palin actively joined her husband, Todd, in pursuing a personal vendetta against the trooper and that she used state employees to try to settle a score in a bitter family feud.
“Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: To get Trooper Michael Wooten fired,” said the report released by a bipartisan legislative committee.
Defenders of Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, called the report’s release, coming less than four weeks before Election Day, a politically motivated attempt to damage the ticket of Sen. John McCain and Palin. In a statement, McCain spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said the Palins “were completely justified in their concern regarding Trooper Wooten given his violent and rogue behavior.”
The report, which makes no specific recommendation for further action, will go to the Republican-dominated state legislature.
Branchflower said that Alaska’s ethics code discourages state employees from “acting upon personal interests in the performance of their public responsibilities and to avoid conflicts of interest in the performance of duty.” He identified 18 events to substantiate an effort over an extended period of time to get Wooten fired.
“She had the authority and power to require Mr. Palin to cease contacting subordinates, but she failed to act,” the report said.
Palin had been accused of dismissing Monegan, a career law enforcement official, after he rebuffed attempts by her, her husband and cabinet officials to reopen an investigation of Wooten’s conduct. Wooten was involved in a divorce and custody dispute with Palin’s sister, Molly.
The report also found that the Palins’ primary defense in the case, that Trooper Wooten was threatening members of the family, was without merit:
Branchflower also dismissed the Palins’ assertions that they were afraid of Wooten because of threats they said he made. “Such claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palins’ real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons,” he wrote. Palin said Wooten made death threats against her father.
Here’s a link to the full report and here’s a summary of the findings:
Finding Number One
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.Finding Number Two
I find that, although Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin’s firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.Finding Number Three
Harbor Adjustment Service of Anchorage, and its owner Ms. Murleen Wilkes, handled Trooper Michael Wooten’s workers’ compensation claim property and in the normal course of business like any other claim processed by Harbor Adjustment Service and Ms. Wilkes. Further, Trooper Wooten received all the workers’ compensation benefits to which he was entitled.Finding Number Four
The Attorney General’s office has failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 written request to Governor Sarah Palin for information about the case in the form of emails.
So, basically, the panel found that Palin was within her power as Governor to fire the Public Safety Commissioner, but that she abused her power and acted unethically in doing so, and specifically in connection with efforts to get him to fire Trooper Wooten.
So, what political consequences will flow from this report ? I think we can expect the national media to follow up on the panel’s findings and, to the extent that she ever makes herself available, ask Palin questions about it. In the meantime, the left will hold it up as yet another reason that Palin is unqualified, the right will ignore it or dismiss it, falsely, as a partisan attack.
But I doubt that it will have that much of an impact on the race itself. Shaun Mullen is right when he calls the scandal “small beer.” It’s just not a big enough story to make a difference in the race one way or another, even though the implications of the story itself are startlingly clear:
Before even winning the election, say nothing of moving to Washington, the potential Vice President is under a cloud of ethics questions and has the phrase “abuse of power” permanently attached to her name. The timing of all this would appear suspicious had the investigation not begun long before John McCain selected her as his running mate. The fact that Palin initially claimed to “welcome” the investigation, but later went into Silent Running mode won’t sell very well either.
And if this election were actually a contest at this point, then Troopergate, and this report, would be a big deal. As it is, it seems to me that it’s nothing more than another hole in sinking ship.
