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Palin Dragging Feet on Probe
Since the announcement in late July that a bipartisan committee of the Alaska Legislature has hired an independent investigator to look into Trooper-Gate, Sarah Palin's office has consistently pledged to cooperate fully with the probe.
At first, that cooperation appeared to be forthcoming. Legislators announced in mid-August that they didn't expect to have to issue subpoenas, because the governor's office was being so amenable.
But it looks like all the happy talk is no longer operative. Judging from a report in The Anchorage Daily News today, Palin now appears to be pursuing a strategy of slow-rolling the probe.
Her lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, argued in a letter to the independent investigator Steve Branchflower that the case should not be even be handled by the legislature, but rather by the state personnel board -- whose members are appointed by the governor -- since it is "statutorily mandated" to handle ethics complaints. He also asked for all witness statements, documents and other materials collected in the course of the investigation. Perhaps most ominously, Van Flein wrote that the investigation is "bad timing", thanks to Palin's selection as John McCain's running mate, and that he couldn't guarantee that she'd be free to sit down for her deposition this month.
In a written response to Van Flein, Sen. Hollis French, the Democrat who heads the committee overseeing the probe, asserted that the legislature has its own power of investigation, and said that he has instructed Branchflower not to provide the requested documents. And French warned that if witnesses were not made available, he would issue subpoenas.
Van Flein and French escalated their war of words in the ADN.
"Our concern is that Hollis French turns into Ken Starr and uses public money to pursue a political vendetta rather than truly pursue an honest inquiry into an alleged ethics issue," Van Flein told the paper.
In response, French asked: "How does he explain the unanimous vote (to pursue the investigation) by the Republican-dominated Legislative Council?"
Later, French added, "It's too bad the governor has stooped to hiring a name-calling lawyer. That doesn't seem very open and transparent does it?"
The investigation is focused on Palin's alleged involvement in an effort to fire a state trooper who had had been embroiled in a bitter dispute with Palin's family. The state's former public safety commissioner has asserted that he was fired for failing to fire the trooper.
Josh
Zachary
The GOP Machine is calling the shots now, and they're going to make this out to be a partisan witch hunt by the time the election rolls around. Sen. Hollis French has a [D] after his name is all that will matter.
The folks in Alaska will not know what hit them.
September 2, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Our concern is that Hollis French turns into Ken Starr and uses public money to pursue a political vendetta rather than truly pursue an honest inquiry into an alleged ethics issue," Van Flein told the paper.
So, the Republicans are now acknowledging that Ken Starr was a hack, and his investigation of Clinton was totally illegitimate? Cool.
September 2, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing. So they use the guy as a bludgeon against Clinton and shield for Palin. Whatever. We're in HST territory: When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
September 2, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you want your toast light brown, gold brown, dark or burnt? Whatever way you cut it, we're still talking toast.
September 2, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
If she is toast, so is McShame.
September 2, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
My instinct says that the Alaskan legislature, while it might have been suspicious enough of a stall from Palin if it were merely a local matter, will step up to the plate now that the stakes are the presidential election. At the very least, if they can't move forward they'll make a national issue of the attempt to stop them. No?
September 2, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do they really imagine this stonewalling will help politically? They can't be THAT stupid.
September 2, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
September 2, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
My favorite thing about the steady barrage of Sarah Palin oddities is that if you wanted to, you could make up something completely ridiculous about her or her family and if you told people they'd probably believe you.
September 2, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
More than that. It would turn out to be true.
This is wicked fun, but everyone should remember they still have to actually go to the polls and vite in a couple of weeks.
September 2, 2008 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
My thoughts exactly! It was nice to get that cleared up because it's been bothering me for a while.
But can we clear one more thing up? I'd like to get John McCain's opinion on this.
Given that he voted to convict President Clinton on the obstruction charge, and all. I wonder if Maverick has now flip-flopped on that too?
September 2, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope that the AK Dems are less wussiffied than their DC counterparts. I know they hold the lower 48 in contempt. (I lived there for two years.)
September 2, 2008 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think most of you all are so locked into your political bubble that you are delusional. The average voter isn't paying any attention to the actual political record of Palin. They are focused on her hair and her teen baby. I don't believe McCain will dump her. He will lose the evangelicals if he does and he's too stubborn. She may be the reason for Obama moving to 50% but I can't believe that the Republican spin machine won't be just as effective as ever. And so far, the Dems haven't provided a united, effective attack on her at all. Now maybe it's better to wait a while. But if they don't start derailing the Scarborough spin soon, all those vote-like-my-pastor says voters (and god knows there are a hell of a lot of them judging by 8 years of Bush) are going to sail into polls on November and make it another 2004 race. It was always going to be a tight race, but with the evangelicals galvanized it's going to be really tough. Convince me I'm wrong.
September 2, 2008 8:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yawn. Concern trolls are the only thing in the universe even more boring than Fred Thompson.
September 2, 2008 9:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're wrong to say this now, at least. The GOP are in their convention, and they are being dogged by the press about Palin. The Dems should sit back and watch.
Palin is a hot issue still. One wrong move and the Dems get hit with the gender card. As it is, the McCain camp has already accused the Obama camp for being sexist because they criticized her qualifications. I don't think that will stick, but still. And now, the GOP is rallying to paint her as small town America and a true working class girl with problems we all recognize. Yeah, right.
So I think the Dems and the Obama campaign will lay low while the media and blogosphere digs. Then, on the other side of all that and the RNC, they will take the high ground and remind us of her actual (lack of) qualifications. And while the pastor voters will not likely be swayed, the independent voters likely will be.
September 2, 2008 11:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
This past Sunday GOP pollster Frank Luntz led a focus group of 25 'undecided voters' in Minnesota. Of the questions he asked them was:
"What's more important to you: experience or accountability?" Overwhelmingly, the group picked 'accountability' as the most important issue. Of course, he was talking about the presidential race. Bush has wrecked things so much for this country, and the GOP, with his reckless leadership style and his clear 'lack' of accountability on many counts that voters are very wary of leaders who may show a lack of accountability in their offices. This stonewalling by Palin, if she does it as her attorney threatens, will not be well-regarded by voters, here or in Alaska. And now that the Press has been rejuvenated with 24/7 stories that Palin is providing they won't likely let this slip past.
September 2, 2008 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually I'm a huge Obama supporter, not a troll. I'm just not a political blogger enthusiast. Mostly I find political blogs self-absorbed and echo chambers. But I work with a lot of fundamentalist, right wing nutters and they are EXCITED. I hope the moderate Republicans are appalled, and I am wrong. Dem bloggers crowing over Bristol Palin gets real boring for me. But the press does seem to be turning on Palin and McCain so maybe I'm wrong. I hope so. Dems have a history of assuming everything is going to go well until it doesn't. And they after 8 years of supporting Bush, many Americans don't seem to have much of a record of concern for accountability.
September 3, 2008 1:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
And I don't think Obama campaign should do anything but what they are doing. It's the surrogates who seem to be all over the place.
September 3, 2008 1:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
It looks like Palin is already practicing to be VP. She's practicing the same old Bush/Cheney "executive privilege" style, make-me-if-you-can stonewalling.
September 3, 2008 8:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
How Bush43ian of her . . . Will a village in Alaska soon be missing its idiot?
Do not count out Palin and McInsane . . . There are shit-loads of folk that think this BS is all mavericky.
September 3, 2008 8:40 AM | Reply | Permalink