Trooper-Gate Probe Could Carry Weight, After AllIt looked a couple weeks ago as if the McCain campaign’s effort to shut down Trooper-Gate had largely succeeded.
But not so fast. Steve Branchflower, the independent investigator on the case, will release his report Friday, and, as the Anchorage Daily News notes, he will have heard from almost every key witness — with the important exception of Governor Palin herself. As a result, says the paper, Branchflower “appears to have the makings of a fairly complete account.”
Over the weekend, a judge ruled that seven witnesses, all government employees, must comply with subpoenas to testify. Those witnesses have made plans to answer Branchflower’s questions this week, under oath. And it was announced Monday night that Todd Palin will, through his lawyer, provide written answers to questions.
Walt Monegan, the former public safety commissioner whose firing by Governor Palin is at the center of the inquiry, told the ADN that he spent nearly a day answering Branchflower’s questions, and also handed over some documents.
A legislative panel will meet at 1pm EST Friday, to receive Branchflower’s report. But the GOP effort to resist the probe has one more lifeline. Lawyers for a group of Republican legislators will try at 7pm EST today to convince the state Supreme Court to halt the probe, after a lower court rejected their suit last week. Stay tuned…