Palin Never Interviewed Monegan’s ReplacementHere’s some evidence from the Trooper-Gate report about just how eager Sarah Palin was to get rid of Walt Monegan as public safety commissioner.
Steve Branchflower found that Palin never interviewed Monegan’s replacement, the appropriately named Chuck Kopp, for the job of top law enforcement officer in the state. Rather, she left the task to deputies, who conducted just one 30-minute interview.
Writes Branchflower: “Governor Palin did not speak to Mr. Kopp before he was appointed to his new job.”
And as we already knew, Kopp served just two weeks in the job, before resigning after news reports surfaced showing that he had been reprimanded in connection with a past sexual harassment complaint.
Of course, the report found that Palin was within her rights to fire Monegan, since, as a legal matter, the governor can fire state officials for any reason, or none at all.
But that doesn’t mean that, as a question of governance, it wasn’t a rash, poorly thought-out move, done for reasons of personal pique rather than a concern for the public interest.