Alaskan Officials Allege Palin Cover-up

from ConsortiumNews
By Jason Leopold
September 26, 2008

An attorney for Alaska’s legislative investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin says John McCain’s presidential campaign is seeking to derail the inquiry because its findings could “cause serious damage to the Republican ticket.”

Attorney Peter Maassen, representing Alaska’s Legislative Council, defended the investigation in a 17-page court filing in response to last week’s lawsuit by five Republican lawmakers trying to stop the probe into whether Palin improperly fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan in July.

Monegan has said he was pressured by Gov. Palin, several of her aides, and her husband, Todd Palin, to fire Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who was embroiled in a bitter divorce and child custody dispute with Palin’s sister. The investigation centers on whether Palin fired Monegan because he refused to fire Wooten.

Palin initially welcomed the investigation, which was approved unanimously in July by the state’s Legislative Council, which has a Republican majority. Former federal prosecutor Steven Branchflower was picked to head the probe under the supervision of Sen. Hollis French, a Democrat who chairs the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee.

However, after McCain picked Palin in late August to be his vice presidential running mate, national and state Republicans began suggesting that the investigation was a partisan witch hunt against Palin.

Palin sought to shift the inquiry to the state personnel board whose members are appointed by the governor. Then, last week, five Republican lawmakers sued Branchflower and French as well as the Alaska Legislative Council and its Democratic chair, Sen. Kim Elton.

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