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New Complaint Against Palin on Trooper-Gate
Sarah Palin could be facing another investigation in relation to Trooper-Gate.
NBC News reports that the police officer's union of Alaska has filed an ethics complaint on behalf of Mike Wooten, the trooper who was embroiled in a dispute with the Palin family, and who the governor is alleged to have attempted to have fired.
According to NBC News:
The complaint alleges that the governor or her staff may have have improperly disclosed information from Wooten's personnel records. The complaint alleges "criminal penalties may apply."
The union argues that recordings of a phone conversation involving Palin-aide Frank Bailey -- released last month as part of the Attorney General's own Trooper-Gate probe -- suggested that Wooten's records were accessed improperly.
In response, the McCain-Palin campaign told NBC News that the files were not protected, and that Wooten himself had signed a waiver allowing a divorce lawyer to gain access to his personnel records. They added that Todd Palin, the governor's husband, was the source of information for Bailey, and that the information came from Wooten's divorce proceedings.
In other words, the McCain campaign is saying that Todd Palin gathered damaging information on Mike Wooten by looking through his divorce proceedings, then passed it on to an aide to the governor, who later used it to try to have Wooten fired. That may or may not be legal, but it doesn't exactly sound like the kind of ethical, reformist approach to government that Governor Palin claims to stand for.
Josh
Zachary
Dear concerned citizens of America and mass media of the U.S.A.
As a concerned disabled American Veteran and American citizen, I consider it my duty and responsibility to address the following critical issues facing the voters of our Greatgrand nation, the United States of America [USA].
The citizens of the United States of America [USA] have the ultimate power and responsibility to elect the Right Ticket with the right joint "temperament, judgment, and statesmanship" to lead our nation as well as change our nation's present and future moral, political, economic, educational, health care, energy, military, and foundational soul.
In my firm professional, personal, and political opinion, the media should help the common voter to explore and discuss the following attributes of the present Republican and Democratic presidential slates:
1. Does the joint ticket have a calm, cool, and collected " temper and impulse" [Presidential Temperament]?
2. Does each ticket have sound and sustained "Judgment and Caliber"?
3. Does each ticket have a "presidential depth and degree" in regard to their purpose, policies, and positions?
4. Does each ticket have adequate, "understanding and knowledge" of workings around Washington"?
5. Does each ticket have enough "vigor, wisdom and Vision" for the future of our beloved Great-grand Nation?
6. Does each ticket possess enough joint foreign policy experience and ex-poser based on "American Values, Virtues, Vastness, and strong soul"?
7. Are their campaign talk, slogans, ads, plans, and programs based on facts and are they free of fear, fiction, frivolous labels, unfair attacks, negativity, and impulsivity?
If your answer to a majority of the above questions is yes, I suggest you vote for that ticket. As a Independent registered voter I have decided to vote for Obama-Biden ticket. I am sure they will protect our national security, Strong's, stamina and strong soul. Rebuild our nation from bottom up in all areas of need, OBAMA-BIDEN ticket will once again restore and rebuild our global standing with the use of maximum international humane diplomacy and minimal force if and when indicated.
Yours sincerely,
COL. A.M. Khajawall [Ret] MD., Forensic psychiatrist, Colonel, US-AR / MC Combat Stress Control[Ret], Disabled American Veteran and Iraq Freedom team.
PS: This nation will not buy into kitchen sink approah. We are getting deeper into internal and external holes thru these attack and world is laughing on us and enjoying our kitchen sink gimmics. I am sure GOP.RNC, FOX, RUSH, And McCains his surrogates will fail to dupe, decieve, and deprive USA its deserved leadership.
MCCAIN-PALIN PITT BULL STRATEGY.
September 4, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a forensic psychologist, do you have any opinion of McCain's fitness to serve as President, particularly in view of his having been imprisoned and tortured and the fact that he is at an age where many people are becoming less capable mentally?
September 4, 2008 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Question for McDotard: How did you deal with the PTSD associated with your POW experience?
September 5, 2008 2:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
I find it incredibly hard to believe that there was no protective order in place to prevent the Palins from using the records in his personnel file outside of divorce proceedings. The guy might have been a total jackass, but this looks and sounds pretty dirty.
It's about time to kiss the "reformer" image goodbye. Imagine if Sarah Palin wasn't the governor, but instead the CEO of a publicly traded company, and she used the divorce process to get her brother in law's files from HR. Shareholders would be furious that the CEO was abusing company information for personal ends.
September 4, 2008 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I recall no exception for jackasses in the Constitution. The whole point of the neocon rule is to cut through laws when they get in the way, and at all times present a hostile front to the law. What can we get away with? What sand can we throw into the air?
As opposed to, who can we help?
Enough Empire, thanks.
September 4, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point.
That's actually pretty darn close to what Carly Fiorina did... and now she's shilling for McCain!
September 4, 2008 8:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
But they weren't pressuring anyone to fire Wooten. Just politely passing along information...
September 4, 2008 6:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess Sarah Palin wasn't gov of Alaska long enough to get warrentless wiretapping approved.
September 4, 2008 6:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know the difference between Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney?... Lipstick
September 4, 2008 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good one!!
Do you mind if I use that line myself?
-- ARG
September 4, 2008 10:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
My question: What is the trooper accused of doing? Before I am willing to condemn Palin (or anyone else) about possibly misusing information or pressuring an administrator to fire someone I want to know more about the underlying facts. Maybe the trooper should have been fired, and maybe the administrator was not doing his job. We don't know the facts at all, and I don't hear anyone asking the right questions.
Maybe the cop is completely innocent and a bunch of made up stuff was alleged in a divorce proceeding (it happens), and maybe the administrator in question throughly investigated the claims and found nothing wrong. Maybe Palin and her family or staff misused information and improperly pressured the administrator to fire the cop. All that could be true, but all of that could be false. What if, for example, it comes out that the cop beat his wife, and the administrator, while obviously aware of the claims, did little or nothing to investigate, or worse ignored evidence that the cop did do something wrong but took no action? What then?
The first questions to ask are:
1. What was the problem with the trooper?
2. What did the administrator do to investigate the problem and what was his conclusion?
The thing that really makes me a bit concerned here is that even in a messy divorce, the ex-wife usually wants the ex-husband to keep his job and benefits. That allows for a bigger property settlement, continuing benefits, more alimony and more child support.
We need to know alot more about what really went on to give rise to the complaints.
September 4, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you joking? This is the United States of America.
By that logic, if I shot your mother your first question would be "Well, let's not rush to judgement--what did Mom do to deserve getting shot?"
Look, abuse of power is abuse of power. There is no justification for it. The president cannot send the Secret Service to kill someone who rapes his daughter. Yeah, maybe the guy deserved it. That's not the point. Executive officers are not the law. This isn't a monarchy. We don't have martial law. And we don't want it, thanks.
September 4, 2008 7:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Anchorage Daily News has a good summary here:
http://www.adn.com/politics/story/476430.html
Of 17 charges, these were what finally stuck:
• Wooten used a Taser on his stepson. (at the stepson's request)
• He illegally shot a moose.
• He drank beer in his patrol car on one occasion.
• He told others his father-in-law would "eat a f'ing lead bullet" if he helped his daughter get an attorney for the divorce.
From this article and others, it appears that Wooten is a real a*****e, however, that does not excuse Palin's abuse of power.
September 4, 2008 7:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Open the pod-bay doors, Hal.
September 5, 2008 2:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Whatever the trooper did or did not do there is a process that should be followed.
The problem here (it seems) is that Palin used her office to exert pressure. Whether the trooper deserved prosecution or not is not the issue. Even the biggest scumbag deserves the process: investigate, charge and then trial.
What I have read so far leads me to believe pressure was exerted then an attempt to cover-up the pressure. But there is not enough information. However I bet they will not reach a conclusion before the election. It will drag on.
Not at squeaky clean as she purports to be, the slander of community organizers supports that.
September 4, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is a custody battle, which the judge ordered revisited. Ruining his reputation and his livlihood would put him at a disadvantage in gaining or keeping custody. There is reference, for example, of suggesting that the Highway Patrol offer him a transfer to a remote rural post, which he refused.
BTW, the waiver of confidentiality that he signed for access to his confidential employment files was specifically granted for the custody proceedings and "to said attorneys."
Todd Palin has no right to access or use information in the files, and the governor is responsible in any case because Todd turned the info over to her Chief of Staff, and he used it to harm Wooten.
Ask Hillary Clinton if the actions of and roles played by spouses are exempt from public scrutiny.
That the McCain campaign would use Todd Palin as a defense, while also invoking executive privilege and now refusing to allow her Chief of Staff to testify, shows how vulnerable they consider Gov. Palin to be. And they are the ones who actually know what role she played.
September 4, 2008 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
A little more digging comes up with the apparently proven claims (other claims alleged and investigated, but apparently not proven to the point where disciplinary action was taken).
1. tasered his 11 year old stepson (sorry -- no excuse. He's done as a cop on that one alone for me. Other's might be more in favor of using a taser on kids though.)
2. told his ex-father-in-law that he would "eat a fxxxing lead bullet" if he helped his daughter hire a divorce lawyer. (Need to know more about circumstances of statement. Made during a heated argument where both are making threats -- not great but not a hanging offense either. On the other hand, I am sure we can all also imagine circumstances where we all would say -- he's done as a cop and maybe needs to be prosecuted.)
3. Drank beer while driving a patrol car on one occasion although alleged to be others but no eyewitness. (Again -- major, major issue for a cop, and let's be honest here -- do we really think it was only one time?).
4. Poached a moose -- shot while out with then wife and a friend. Wife had a permit but refused to shoot so he did. I'm not a hunter, but apparently this is a serious offense in Alaska -- big fine, confiscation of vehicle, gun, no license allowed. Probably a cop would (and should) get max. penalty since they are supposed to enforce.
Penalty for all of the above -- 10 day suspension reduced to 5.
I don't know if you have ever made a complaint against a cop before. It is not uncommon for cops to protect cops. It can be a very frustrating experience for a victim. So let's ask this question: Is a 5 day suspension sufficient for these offenses or is this cops protecting cops?
September 4, 2008 7:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Certainly you may ask that question, but it is an irrelevant question. Even if Wooten slaughtered the entire population of Wasilla with his bare hands, raping and stealing as he went, it would still be an abuse of power--and just downright un-American--for the governor to act as judge, jury and executioner.
And please let's not forget that Wooten is not running to be in charge of this country. He was never in and will never be in a position to start wars and send thousands of people off to their deaths. When you have someone in that position is is CRITICAL that they not ever, no not ever, ever, ever, NEVER for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER, abuse that office to settle a vendetta.
September 4, 2008 8:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
And just for the record, yes, I have actually had a police officer--in DeRidder, Louisiana--threaten to beat me half to death with a piece of PVC pipe as I was handcuffed spread-eagled between an iron ring and a door handle.
I complained to the local police, the state police and the FBI, all to no avail. I contacted the ACLU--they weren't interested because I was a white guy.
Extremely frustrating, yes.
But did it make me want to live under martial law?
Um, no.
September 4, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wrong, it all depends on the circumstances.
There are all kinds of tasers and all kinds of ways to use, or mis-use them. Older hand-held tasers can produce something as minor as a sharp pinch. Newer ballistic tasers produce much more serious harm, and are even suspected of sometimes delivering life-threatening jolts. Comparing one to the other is like comparing a bb gun to a rifle.
Cops often have tasers that fire prongs into the skin of assailants. These are the kind you see on Cops. These are the tasers that have been accused of killing people There's no way in hell he used one of those on an 11 year old.
The other form of taser is the hand-held zapper that only works when held to the skin. Those sort of tasers can be fairly harmless. If touched to the skin for an instant, they only produce a sharp pinch of pain. I've done it, most of my friends have done it, YouTube is filled with videos of people testing these sort tasers on themselves and friends. No harm, no mark, no scar, the pain is entirely gone in a few seconds.
Also know that the power of these hand held tasers are all over the map. The older weaker models are a lot more harmless than the newer high-power models.
If he just touched an older hand-held taser to the kid's arm for a 10th of a second, at the kid's request!, no it doesn't automatically make this guy an evil bastard.
September 4, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
1. The 11 year-old son is now 16 or 17, incident was over 5 years ago and family apparently didn't report it until in the middle of a custody dispute. Also, taser was reportedly used on minimum power setting after son asked to know what it felt like. Shows poor judgement, probably against regulations, does not by itself qualify as child abuse.
2. I am not going to excuse this but but we haven't been given any details about circumstances, when it happened or whether there is anything in his record that might make it credible that he would act on the threat. If there was a legitimate concern, criminal charges or a restraining order would seem more appropriate than going to his bosses. If either were upheld, that would probably take care of him being a trooper.
3. All the reports I have seen characterized this as "drinking in his squad car". This could represent anything from a single beer while parked to driving all over town drunk as a skunk. Illegal either way, but very different levels of seriousness, particularly when he obviously wasn't arrested and prosecuted at the time and we don't know how many years ago it happened.
4. Give me a break. Once again, we have no idea when this happened. If you have more than uninformed speculation that this is a serious offense, please provide a link. According to http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/ AK residents don't even need a permit to take a moose currently, though the PDF files with regulations for specific game management units would not open for me.
Now, I really don't know enough to judge what kind of person Wooten is. He may be a real scumbag. But I am very unhappy to see everyone taking it for granted that he is when the information is so sketchy and appears to have mostly originated with Palin's family and associates.
And as other have said, no matter what kind of person Wooten is, trying to use the influence of the governors office to get him fired while he is in the middle of a custody fight with the governor's sister is a conflict of interest at best and an abuse of power at worst. And firing Monegan, lying about trying to get Wooten fired and lying about why Monegan was fired are not the actions I want to see in the VP who is going to replace Cheney.
September 5, 2008 2:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
"not the actions I want to see in the VP who is going to replace Cheney"
should read
"not the actions I want to see in a VP candidate, especially one who would follow Cheney if elected."
September 5, 2008 2:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Unfortunately, this type of behavior makes her sound like a PERFECT REPLACEMENT for Cheney. ;)
September 5, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
On behalf of the Alaskan Grammar Police's Union, that should be "whom the governor is alleged."
September 4, 2008 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I were McCain I would watch my back. This chick (Palin)wants to be president and I don't put anything past her. She has no problem pushing someone out of the way to get what she wants. Switching his pain medication with something deadly that can't be traced is a move I could see her making. The Republicans are showing so much desperation it turns my stomach. Couldn't they find a maverick who at least has some redeeming qualities?
September 4, 2008 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I were McCain I would watch my back. This chick (Palin)wants to be president and I don't put anything past her. She has no problem pushing someone out of the way to get what she wants. Switching his pain medication with something deadly that can't be traced is a move I could see her making. The Republicans are showing so much desperation it turns my stomach. Couldn't they find a maverick who at least has some redeeming qualities?
September 4, 2008 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Troopergate seems to me like a redneck vs. redneck barfight, in which the best outcome is for both of the damn fools to lose. But why do I really not care about any of it? Maybe she twisted elbows for Damn Fool #1 to get fired. So what? Let's not get distracted by a sideshow. Let's look at her record as governor, and the policies that a McCain-Palin administration are advocating. That's scandal enough, and that's what is really important.
September 4, 2008 8:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Apparently Alaska's First Dude has access to a lot of things....including all of the emails that Sarah Palin refused to turn over in a FOIA request citing executive privilege. According to the privilige log, Todd Palin was cc'd on most of them. Todd is neither in the executive's administration nor is he a government employee with clearance. He is just part of the general public.
It could very well be that the proof could be in those privileged emails.
Todd Palin is like Dick Cheney of Sarah Palin's administration. There is just so much this guy has his hands in. Check this out from Alaskan political journalist Andrew Halcro:
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/shadow_governor
September 4, 2008 8:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
So let me get this straight: Sarah Palin and her family are afraid of the brother-in-law because he might be a danger to society (or at least a danger to the Palin family). Fair enough.
But in Gov. Palin's judgment, the solution is to push his boss to have the guy fired. That should help - not. Being fired would have made him a million times angrier.
Many sad tragedies over the years have been committed by disgruntled ex-employees of various companies, the USPS, etc., taking out their revenge after they felt there were unfairly dismissed.
How on earth did Sarah Palin believe that having the trooper fired was going to help matters? Is this the sort of decisions this woman makes on a daily basis?
Just thinking it through, since she obviously didn't.
September 4, 2008 8:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
On its face, to me, it looks like a family who did follow the proper procedures and then were upset that the internal police investigating of the family's claims resulted in a very light penalty. Maybe that was fair, but I suspect that the state police now very much wish they had taken tougher action.
For example, I am sure the Alaskian wildlife folks are excited to know that from now on as long as an animal has a tag it's okay even if the actual hunter never had the proper permit -- just slap someone else's tag on it and it's no longer poaching. Likewise, it is going to be tough to ever again write a ticket for open intoxicants since it is apparently okay for a trooper to drink and drive in the patrol car. And, of course, the next time someone carrying a gun tells someone they are going to kill them -- it's no longer an assault. I am sure lots of prosecutors and victims will be thrilled with that bit of news.
PaddyMac -- I agree with you, but there are also many tragedies over the years committed by police officers who felt that because they wore a badge they could get away with things that a normal citizen could not. We should always encourage folks to report and demand action on citizen complaints against police so we can weed out the few bad apples.
September 5, 2008 12:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
It sounds like you're suggesting that two wrongs make a right.
Surely that's not what you're suggesting is it?
September 5, 2008 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
We shouldn't forget that most of the accusations against Wooten...
A. Only came to light after the divorce proceedings had started.
B. Further, most of the alleged behavior had occured years prior to the incidents being reported.
All appearances suggest the Palins decided to dig up (or make up) whatever old dirt they had in an attempt to help her sister in the divorce / custody battle.
Trying to get someone in trouble for minor offenses that happened 5 or 10 years ago is nearly impossible. It's hard to prove and next to impossible to convict, especially in a divorce setting. It's a big he said - she said, with the accusing party having massive motivation to lie.
We don't even know if the allegations are true, let alone how many of them are true.
Unless the Palins can prove these allegations, they sure seem to be talking their way into a defamation action.
September 5, 2008 1:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Palin is a red neck:
http://thebruceblog.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/letter-by-alaskan-man-who-has-known-sarah-palin-since-1972/
September 5, 2008 3:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
John Smith? Really?
No offense to the thousands (or however many there are) of real John Smiths there are out there, but color me credulous on that one.
September 5, 2008 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
What the heck is wrong with this woman's demeanors? Why does she keep sticking her tongue out? Is she a 3 year old? It embarrasses me as a woman.
September 5, 2008 6:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Andrew Halcro needs to be mentioned again because he really is keeping on top of all this information extremely well:
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/
For example, one interesting tidbit about Monegan's firing that I haven't seen elsewhere is that his replacement Chuck Kopp, who resigned after only two weeks when a prior sexual harassment complaint came to light, ended up getting $10,000 severance pay.
Monegan, who had been on the job a year and a half, had gotten nothing.
September 5, 2008 8:35 AM | Reply | Permalink