John McCain

Two NRA Lobbyists Working for McCain; Do They Violate Campaign Rules?

Kate Klonick | September 25, 2008, 12:46PM

Looks like Rick Davis isn't the only lobbyist problem the McCain camp is dealing with these days.

Mother Jones reports that two actively-registered lobbyists are currently working on John McCain's campaign for president.

Wayne Berman, co-chairs McCain's national finance committee. James Jay Baker co-steers McCain's National Steering Committee of Sportsmen for McCain. Both work for the lobbying firm, Ogilvy Government Relations as managing directors.

This month, the NRA -- a client of Baker and Berman's -- launched attack ads against Barack Obama. MoJo points out that besides conflicting with McCain's claims for running a straight-shooting, non-lobbyist campaign, Berman and Baker's presence also could come into conflict with the actual campaign rules that banned active lobbyists from working full time for the campaign, or participating in 527s or groups that "oppose any presidential candidate."

From Mother Jones:

Asked whether he might be in violation of the campaign's conflict rules, Berman told Mother Jones, "Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that." He said he was currently lobbying for the NRA but not involved in the group's campaign activities. "I'm in full compliance with campaign policy," he maintained. "I will check over there....I will continue to be in compliance. If that requires me to make changes, I'll make them." He added, "You've done me a favor" by raising this issue.

Bailout

Davis Still an Officer at Lobbying Firm, Docs Show

Zachary Roth | September 25, 2008, 11:15AM

We knew we hadn't seen the last news report on McCain campaign manager Rick Davis' ongoing ties to the lobby firm he founded, Davis Manafort.

Newsweek has taken a look at annual filings made by the company to the Virginia state government. Those filings, the most recent of which is from April of this year, list Davis as one of two officers and directors of the firm.

As the magazine notes, that information suggests that in recent days, the campaign "appear[s] to have overstated the extent to which Davis had severed his relationship with his lobbying firm." A statement posted on the McCain campaign website by a spokesman Wednesday morning -- in response to reports that Davis's firm was being paid by the home-loan giant Freddie Mac as recently as this month -- asserted that Davis "separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006." And a campaign spokeswoman wrote in an email to Newsweek Tuesday that Davis "left" the firm that year.

Of course, the fact that someone is listed as an officer on a corporate filing doesn't prove that he was involved in the day-to-day running of the company during the period in question. But Newsweek's find will certainly keep the heat on Davis, who yesterday skipped lunch with reporters, at a time when McCain would prefer the focus to be on his own efforts, belated and vainglorious as they may be, to help avoid a financial meltdown.

Nancy Pelosi

House Dems' Bailout Plan

Zachary Roth | September 24, 2008, 5:21PM

A source just sent us a copy of the working draft of the bailout plan circulating, as of about two hours ago, in the House.*

Based on our quick look, it includes a strong provision for congressional oversight, limits executive pay, and would allow bankruptcy judges to adjust mortgages in order to help homeowners, among other items. In other words, the major Democratic priorities.

Things have been changing so quickly on the Hill -- even before McCain's dramatic announcement -- that there's no telling what's occurred in the intervening period.

The source, who's a well-connected Democratic lobbyist, added in an email to TPMmuckraker that "the deal on the "bail out" is 98 percent done. Treasury has capitulated on almost every point. A draft is circulating on the Hill now. No one needs McCain to help do the remaining 2 percent."

Late Update: As we should have mentioned earlier, the draft plan also contains a provision designed to "maximiz[e] taxpayer benefits" by requiring that the Treasury "obtain warrants" (i.e. stock futures) if it makes a direct purchase of a company. That's intended to ensure that taxpayers get a share of any future profits, and it's another element Democrats have been insisting on.

*Ed. Note: A well-placed Hill source subsequently tells us that this version has actually been circulating for a couple of days, and that while it's still mostly operative, it is not the latest iteration of the alternative to the Bush plan.

John McCain

Questions Linger on McCain Campaign Manager Tied To Freddie Mac

Zachary Roth | September 24, 2008, 5:10PM

Last night, The New York Times -- followed by a slew of other outlets -- reported that the lobbying firm of Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, has been collecting $15,000 from mortgage giant Freddie Mac. On Monday, The Times had reported that Davis had been paid to run Freddie Mac's advocacy group, the Homeowner's Alliance, until 2005.

But there's a set of questions that still remain unanswered.

The McCain campaign told the Times that Davis had stopped taking a salary from the firm, Davis-Manafort, by the end of 2006. (Davis took a leave of absence from the firm to work on the campaign.) But the Times points out that, as an equity holder, Davis continues to benefit from his firm's income.

But it's unclear exactly what the Times means by that.

Let's stipulate, first of all, that since Davis is an equity holder, he has a long-term interest in Davis-Manafort's success. The McCain camp hasn't disputed that.

But could Davis be benefiting in a more direct sense?

For instance, could Davis' agreement with Davis-Manafort allow for his share of profits to simply be deferred until he rejoins the firm? Nothing that the McCain camp has said on the subject -- including this lengthy response to the Times story from the campaign's in-house blogger -- has ruled that possibility out.

We also know that in 2007, the McCain campaign did not have Davis on the payroll, and was paying Davis Manafort for "consulting" services. Did none of that money make its way back to Davis?

It's also worth noting that the McCain camp hasn't offered any backing for its claim that Davis did indeed stop getting paid by his firm in 2006. The campaign declined a request from TPMmuckraker to provide such backing.

The bottom line is that none of the reports have fully fleshed out Davis' relationship worth Davis Manafort, and how his compensation agreement actually works.

Seems like that might be worth looking into.

John McCain

McCain Camp Won't Talk About Ersatz Trooper-Gate Probe

Zachary Roth | September 24, 2008, 1:16PM

The McCain-Palin campaign is now refusing to answer questions about the one Trooper-Gate investigation they're cooperating with.

That's the investigation, of course, that's being conducted by the state personnel board, whose members are appointed by the governor.

Referring to the state's investigator, Timothy Petumenos, campaign spokeswoman Meg Stapleton told reporters Tuesday: "He has asked to keep things confidential, so we will respect those wishes."

The McCain-Palin camp's tight-lipped approach stands in contrast to its willingness to talk freely about the state legislature's independent investigation, which the campaign has refused to cooperate with.

In recent weeks, the campaign has sent a team of lawyers and PR pros to Alaska to badmouth the probe as politically motivated -- despite a bipartisan 12-0 vote to launch the investigation. McCain aides, including Stapleton, have publicly questioned the impartiality of Hollis French and Kim Elton, the Democratic legislators overseeing the investigation, as well independent investigator Steve Branchflower. They have disparaged the record of Walt Monegan, the veteran and widely respected former public safety commissioner whose firing is at the heart of the case. And they have argued that the legislature lacks jurisdiction to pursue the matter -- an argument that appears to have little legal standing.

It's also worth noting that CNN has been taken in a bit by the McCain camp's spin. The headline and lead two paragraphs of the CNN story fail to make clear that the investigation in question is the state probe -- which likely won't be completed until after the election, and is being overseen by state employees ultimately answerable to the governor -- rather than the independent investigation being conducted by the legislature. A CNN story from Monday fell into a similar trap.

Alaska

AK Lawmakers Fire Back on GOP Bid To Shut Down Trooper-Gate Probe

Zachary Roth | September 23, 2008, 4:52PM

The Alaska lawmakers overseeing the Sarah Palin Trooper-Gate investigation have hit back at the GOP-led effort to shut down the probe.

Last week, Republican legislators filed suit to halt the investigation, arguing that it had been inappropriately politicized by Democratic senators Hollis French and Kim Elton. This afternoon, Peter Maassen, an attorney representing French and Elton, as well as independent investigator Steven Branchflower, announced in a press release that he will be asking a judge to throw out that lawsuit.

The press release points out that the investigation was launched in July after a 12-0 bipartisan vote of the legislative council. And it asserts that the original GOP complaints "suggest that Alaska legislators with open political views should be prohibited from participating in any legislative function that might -- might -- reflect badly on Governor Palin."

The release refers to "powerful and increasingly heavy-handed national interests" as being opposed to the investigation's continuance.

And in a bid to fight back against Republican efforts to remove French from his position overseeing the probe, the release adds: "The legislature is allowed to decide for itself what it will investigate, who it will employ as investigator, and which of its members will oversee the investigation."

Maassen is with the Anchorage-based firm Ingaldson, Maassen & Fitzgerald.

It appears all but certain that the investigaiton will go forward, and that Branchflower will release a report on or aorund October 11th, as scheduled. However, it's unclear how comprehensive the report will be, thanks to efforts by the McCain-Palin campaign to ensure that Branchflower won't be hearing directly from several key witnesses, including Sarah and Todd Palin.

Alaska

Trooper-Gate: For Now, GOP Mission Accomplished

Zachary Roth | September 22, 2008, 11:22AM

As the flurry of news breaks over the Trooper-Gate investigation slows, at least for the time being, it's worth making a point that may have gotten lost in the shuffle:

The McCain-Palin camp appears to have been successful in its all-out effort to stifle the probe at any cost.

By preventing Steve Branchflower, the independent investigator in the case, from speaking with many of the key witnesses -- including Sarah and Todd Palin, and several of the governor's top aides -- the McCain campaign has severely limited the amount of information the investigation will have access to.

In the view of the Associated Press: "Although the Legislature's investigator still plans to issue a report in October, the probe is effectively killed until January, when Sarah Palin will either be vice president or return to the governor's mansion in Juneau."

That assessment may turn out to go too far. Branchflower has succeeded in questioning several of the witnesses, including Walt Monegan, the former public safety commissioner whose firing is at the center of the case, and John Bitney, formerly a top Palin aide. Branchflower also has access to the cell phone records of Frank Bailey, the Palin aide who earlier this year was recorded pressuring a trooper official about Mike Wooten. So it's possible that his report, even lacking input from crucial players, may yet prove damaging.

Palin may also pay a political price for her abrupt shift from pledging co-operation to out-and-out stonewalling. Over the weekend, the LA Times reported that Palin's "political capital at home is eroding," as a result of the hardball tactics used to stop the probe -- a subject we got into on Friday. If nothing else, her stonewalling -- along with the slew of reports about Palin's checkered record on seeking federal earmarks -- has significantly complicated the McCain-Palin campaign's effort to present her as a reformer who will help bring a more accountable form of government to Washington.

Still, it's hard not to conclude, at least for now, that the McCain camp has used its muscle to significantly limit the damage that Trooper-Gate could do to Palin. Which doesn't exactly bode well when it comes to the approach a McCain White House might take on issues of openness and transparency.

John McCain

Palin Under Fire At Home For Trooper-Gate Stonewalling

Zachary Roth | September 19, 2008, 5:08PM

Over the last eight years, the Bush administration's approach to governing has been characterized by a reflexive penchant for secrecy, a willingness to stonewall legitimate investigations, and an aggressive media relations strategy, which sees the press as just another interest group, rather than as playing an important public function.

In recent days, the McCain-Palin campaign has doubled down on that same governing style in shutting down the Trooper-Gate investigation.

When Trooper-Gate first broke, Palin pledged full cooperation. But in the last week, the McCain-Palin campaign has brought in a high-powered ex-federal prosecutor and a team of communications experts to all but shut down the probe.

Essentially co-opting the office of state Attorney General, and working closely with Palin's own lawyer, the GOP operatives -- led by Ed O'Callaghan, a former terrorism prosecutor with the US Attorney's office in New York, and Megan Stapleton, a GOP operative who had worked on Palin's 2006 campaign for governor -- have ensured that many of the key witnesses subpoened in the case, including the Palins themselves, have refused to testify. (No witnesses showed up to a committee hearing today.) At daily press conferences, they've disparaged a respected former public employee, Walt Monegan, offering an entirely new line on why Palin fired him. They've made flatly false statements designed to paint the Democratic legislator overseeing the probe, Hollis French, as having overstepped his authority and as running a partisan witch-hunt. And they've aggressively challenged reporting that they've perceived as unfavorable -- in one case, as we reported yesterday, by phoning a reporter at home to complain about an accurate story.

There's little question that despite -- or perhaps because of -- these efforts, the tone of the Trooper-Gate coverage has grown noticeably more negative in the last few days. And Alaska-based commentators and bloggers have reacted with fury in recent days to the McCain-Palin camp's tactics.

In an unusually pointed editorial published yesterday, the state's most prominent newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News concluded: "Palin and McCain are trying to ignite a partisan firestorm that wipes out the Troopergate investigation until after the election."

And in an opinion piece published Tuesday in the same paper, conservative radio host Dan Fagan -- a frequent Palin critic -- referred to Palin's "transparent delay tactics," and argued that "Americans deserve to know what Palin is trying to hide before we vote her a heartbeat away from the leader of the free world."

Bloggers have been even more critical. One at Alaska Report, a liberal site that has tracked corruption in Alaska state government, wrote yesterday: "National political assassins have invaded Alaska. They were visible and in full force at the McCain-Palin press conference yesterday. Alaskans don't roll that way."

And another at Mudflats -- tagline: "Tiptoeing through the muck of Alaskan politics" -- added: "The damage that this stonewalling has had on Sarah Palin's 'image,' that the out-of-state lawyers and the McCain campaign were trying so fervently to craft, has yet to be measured."

There may be signs that the angry reaction to the GOP tactics has spread beyond opinion writers. Matt Zensey, the ADN's editorial page editor, told TPMmuckraker that letters to the editor had been running at somewhere between 60 and 66 percent anti-Palin in recent days.

"We are not alone among those who are taken aback" by Palin's abrupt transformation from a being an advocate of openness and accountability to stone-walling the investigation at every turn, said Zensey. "People are noticing the disconnect."

Zensey said that the take-no-prisoners tactics of the McCain-Palin PR team are not in keeping with Alaska's tradition of civil political discourse. "The 11-minute tirade that Megan Stapleton launched against Walt Monegan is something that was unfamiliar to a lot of Alaskans."

Zensey added: "The politics of personal destruction have come to Alaska."

Still, what ultimately matters is whether the dissatisfaction with Palin's about-face on Trooper-Gate filters into the broader narrative of the presidential campaign. Already, though, Democrats may being taking comfort in the fact that, in recent days, her national approval ratings appear to have slipped noticeably.

House Judiciary

Conyers Calls on McCain to Halt GOP Voter Suppression Efforts

Kate Klonick | September 19, 2008, 2:56PM

In reaction to recent claims that the GOP is attempting to block voters in Michigan whose homes have been foreclosed on, one of the state's representatives is speaking out and demanding action from Republicans.

Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called on Sen. John McCain to "step forward now and halt the Republican Party's efforts to profit politically from the economic misery of others."

"The Republican Party has had a long record of blocking eligible voters from voting," Conyers wrote. "In the past two Presidential elections, the country witnessed appalling efforts to limit voter participation in Ohio, Florida and throughout the country. It is beyond disgraceful that the Republican Party now seems to be targeting those who are suffering the most. . . It should surprise no one that the people who gave us the worst economy since the Great Depression would now want to prevent those victimized by this economy from voting in the coming elections."

Separately, Conyers and 22 of his Democratic colleagues in the House, also joined Senate Democrats, who earlier this week demanded an investigation from the DOJ into what has become known as the "lose your house, lose your vote," after the title of the article in the Michigan Messenger which sparked awareness of the GOPs plan to challenge voters registered at addresses on foreclosure lists.

John McCain

McCain Press Aide Calls Alaska Reporter At Home To Complain About Unfavorable Coverage

Zachary Roth | September 18, 2008, 6:03PM

Here's a little more evidence that the McCain-Palin campaign is playing the hardest of hardball on Trooper-Gate -- especially in regard to press relations.

Jason Moore, a reporter with Anchorage-based KTUU-TV, just confirmed to TPMmuckraker that Megan Stapleton, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign in Alaska, called his home to complain about one of Moore's news reports, and accused Moore of calling Stapleton and another McCain staffer liars.

Moore's report looked at the McCain-Palin campaign's "Truth Squad," an aggressive Alaska-based public relations campaign that's being led by Stapleton and former federal prosecutor Ed O'Callaghan and is designed to help thwart the Trooper-Gate investigation.

Moore reported that the Truth Squad was not always entirely truthful itself. He noted that Stapleton had said in a Friday press conference that it was Hollis French, the Democrat overseeing the investigation, who had pulled one name, that of former Palin chief of staff Mike Tibbles, off the list of witnesses to receive subpoenas. Stapleton had pointed to this as an inappropriate political maneuver by French.

But in fact, Moore reported, it was GOP Rep. Jay Ramras, a McCain supporter, who took Tibbles' name off the list. Moore quoted Ramras saying so.

Stapleton and O'Callaghan have another "Truth Squad" press conference scheduled for 7pm EST tonight.

Moore told TPMmuckraker that he and Stapleton -- who was a press aide to Palin before eventually moving over to the McCain campaign -- used to work together as co-anchors on KTUU. "We're friends," he said.

When Stapleton called his home, said Moore, she reached Moore's wife, and immediately told her: "Your husband just called two Hoyas liars." Stapleton, O'Callaghan, and Moore's wife all attended Georgetown University, whose mascot is the Hoyas.

Moore added that Stapleton had also called the news director of KTUU to complain.

Asked whether he and Stapleton really remained friends, Moore allowed: "It hasn't been too friendly this week."

Sarah Palin

AK Lawmaker on Trooper-Gate: "I Don't Think This Is Gonna End Quietly."

Zachary Roth | September 18, 2008, 12:05PM

The no-holds-barred effort by the McCain campaign and its Alaska Republican allies to bury the Trooper-Gate investigation at all costs may be bearing fruit.

Republicans have in recent days been calling on Democratic senator Kim Elton to reconvene the bipartisan legislative council with ultimate responsibility for the probe. And yesterday Elton told the Associated Press that he may do so, allowing for a vote on whether to delay the investigation or replace Democratic senator Hollis French as its manager.

The council, which contains 10 Republicans and four Democrats, had voted unanimously in July to launch the investigation. But many observers believe that, now that the probe could play a role in the presidential race, the committee's GOP members will vote to shut it down if given a chance.

Other recent developments confirm that the GOP is pulling out all the stops.

• Talis Colberg -- the Palin-appointed Attorney General who was directly involved in efforts to pressure the former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan over Trooper Mike Wooten -- said Tuesday that ten state employees would not honor subpoenas to testify in the case. Palin, of course, had originally pledged her office's full cooperation in the probe.

• A group of five GOP legislators filed suit -- with the help of a right-wing Texas-based legal foundation -- to stop the investigation in its tracks.

• The McCain campaign officially took charge of the effort, trotting out a hard-charging former federal prosecutor, Ed O'Callaghan, as its point-man on the issue.

• And the ADN reported today that Palin's lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, is no longer being paid for by the state of Alaska, but could not say whether the McCain camp was helping to pay his bills.

But the GOP's hardball tactics could end up doing more harm than good, by adding to the suspicion that Palin has something to hide.

In an editorial published this morning, the ADN accused Palin and McCain of "trying to ignite a partisan firestorm that wipes out the Troopergate investigation until after the election."

And the liberal journalist David Corn observed last night on MSNBC: "In the last few days the Republicans are treating this like its another Watergate and they better shut it down right way."

So: Where do things go from here?

Van Flein told the ADN that he'd likely decide today whether Todd Palin, who also been subponaed but is not a state employee, will testify, which would occur at a session of the Judiciary Committee tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the band of lawmakers struggling to maintain control of the investigation -- French, Elton, and their supporters in the legislature -- certainly aren't backing down.

Despite saying he might agree to GOP calls to reconvene the legislative council, Elton sent a letter yesterday to Colberg, the Attorney General, accusing him of going back on an agreement to allow the ten state employees testify. "Bluntly, I feel like Charlie Brown after Lucy moved the football," Elton wrote to Colberg.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, a Democrat and French ally, told TPMmuckraker: "Hollis French has no intention of buckling under," and said that the same holds true of Elton.

The operation, Wielechowski continued, is "clearly politically driven by the McCain campaign."

"I've never seen an effort like this in this state to kill something," he added. "I don't think this is gonna end quietly."

Sarah Palin

Palin Won't Testify in Trooper-Gate

Zachary Roth | September 16, 2008, 8:48AM

Sarah Palin is unlikely to testify in the Trooper-Gate investigation, according to a spokesman for the McCain campaign.

Speaking at a press conference in Alaska last night, spokesman Ed O'Callaghan argued that the probe had become "tainted." Palin's lawyer, and Alaska GOP legislators, have pointed to public statements made by Sen. Hollis French, the Democrat overseeing the investigation -- including that it could provide an "October surprise" -- as inappropriately politicizing the probe.

Palin had initially pledged her cooperation with the probe. After lawmakers voted unanimously to investigate her firing of former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan, she said: "We have absolutely nothing to hide, and so certainly we would never prohibit or be less than enthusiastic about any kind of investigation. Let's deal with the facts and you do that via an investigation."

But in recent weeks, that cooperation has ground virtually to a halt. In early September, her lawyer asserted that Palin would not testify unless the investigation were transferred to the state personnel board, whose members are appointed by the governor.

French and Steve Branchflower, the indepedendent investigator, have ruled out subpoenaing Palin, but had still expressed the hope that she would testify voluntarily.

Todd Palin was subponaed Friday. O'Callaghan said he did not know whether Todd would challenge that subpoena, though in a letter sent last Thursday, the state attorney general's office appeared to lay the groundwork for such a challenge.

The McCain campaign -- now clearly running the show on Trooper-Gate damage control -- also trotted out a new line to explain Monegan's firing. It released emails suggesting that Monegan alienated the governor's office by seeking federal money to go after sexual assault cases, even though the governor hadn't agreed that the money should be sought.

John McCain

A Bridge Too Far: McCain Falsely Claimed Palin Vetoed Earmarks

Kate Klonick and Zachary Roth | September 15, 2008, 6:49PM

Looks like the level of earmark bamboozlement coming from John McCain is even deeper than we'd known.

Speaking to reporters today, McCain defended his running mate, Sarah Palin, for lying about her opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere with the following claim, as reported by the Associated Press:

"The important thing is she's vetoed a half a billion dollars in earmark projects -- far, far in excess of her predecessor and she's given money back to the taxpayers and she's cut their taxes, so I'm happy with her record."

McCain had said a similar thing on ABC's The View Friday morning: "Earmark spending; which she vetoed half a billion dollars worth in the state of Alaska."

The notion that Palin "vetoed earmarks" has become a fully-fledged GOP talking point in recent weeks. Here, for instance, is Republican congressman Jeb Hensarling repeating the claim at a news conference 12 days ago.

But governors don't "veto" federal earmarks. As Palin's own gubernatorial spokesman, Bill McAllister, told TPMmuckraker: "She can choose not to submit the request, but once Congress makes them, they're there."

The provenance of McCain's half a billion figure appears to be related to this claim, which Palin made this morning during a speech in Colorado:

"Nearly half a billion of excessive spending in our state budget, that's what vetoes are for."

It's true, as the Boston Globe reported over the weekend, that as governor, Palin vetoed over $500 million in state legislative spending requests over two fiscal years.

But generic spending requests, which Palin rejected through the use of her line-item veto power as governor, aren't remotely the same thing as earmarks. As McAllister told us: "It's called line-items, generally. [Earmarks],that's not common parlance." And the money that Palin cut didn't come from the federal government, which is the starting point for the whole earmarks debate. So that $500 million figure has nothing to do with earmarks.

In other words, McCain has taken a statistic from one issue, and applied it to defend Palin's record on a different one -- under the assumption that the press won't look closely enough at the details to call him on it.

Ironically, an ad released almost two weeks ago by the RNC makes the necessary distinction between cutting spending through line-item vetoes, and cutting earmarks. It asserts that Palin "vetoed nearly half a billion dollars in wasteful spending and cut earmark requests by hundreds of millions of dollars." That latter claim refers to requests for pork made by the state to its congressional delegation, which did go down under Palin as compared to her predecessor as governor, Republican Frank Murkowski. But note that the half a billion dollar figure clearly refers not to the reduction in earmark requests, but rather to the cuts in spending.

And yesterday, Palin seemed to suggest that she was aware of that same distinction, remaining technically truthful, if misleading, by telling a crowd in Nevada: "We reformed the abuses of earmarks in our state. I vetoed nearly half a billion dollars of wasteful spending in looking at it as an executive responsibility."

But McCain hasn't been as scrupulous, either on The View or in talking to reporters today.

CBS News has already noted McCain's dissembling, after his appearance on The View. Will anyone else?

The McCain campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sarah Palin

Trooper-Gate: Everything You Need To Know

Zachary Roth | September 11, 2008, 12:14PM

The Sarah Palin Trooper-Gate saga has taken so many twists and turns lately that we decided it was worth taking a step back, to consider what we've learned to date, and what it might all amount to.

As regular readers of TPMmuckraker know, Trooper-Gate centers on allegations that Sarah Palin fired the former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner for his refusal to axe a state trooper who had undergone an ugly divorce from Palin's sister, and who was embroiled in a bitter feud with the Palin family. But as is so often the case when powerful figures are accused of wrongdoing, the effort to conceal what happened by Palin and Alaska Republicans, apparently with the aid of the McCain campaign, may be just as revealing as the original event.

The whole sordid tale started on July 13th, when the Anchorage Daily News -- which has been all over Trooper-Gate since the start -- reported that Walt Monegan, the state's respected public safety commissioner, had been fired without a clear explanation.

Read more »

Sarah Palin

McCain Ad Cites Discredited Claim That Dems Sent Team to Dig Up Palin Dirt

Zachary Roth | September 10, 2008, 12:37PM

Yesterday, John Fund of the Wall Street Journal reported that "Democrats have airdropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers into Anchorage, the state capital Juneau and Mrs. Palin's hometown of Wasilla to dig into her record and background."

The story was quickly seized on by Republicans eager to portray a Democratic vendetta against Palin. Sean Hannity repeated it on Fox last night. And now the McCain campaign has released an ad that cites Fund's report, and depicts the Democratic investigators as wolves on the prowl.

There's only one problem: It appears not to be true. Within hours, the DNC's research director, Mark Gehrke, had issued a blanket denial, to The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, who reported: "'Not a single person from DC or Chicago has traveled to Alaska to do research,' [Gehrke] writes. Not a single Obama staffer, not a DNC staffer, not a hired gun, he says." Gehrke repeated that denial to TPM's Election Central just now.

And today, a DNC spokesman sent the following statement to TPMmuckraker: "Like most of what the McCain has been based on lately - this is another lie. A dishonorable and dishonest campaign spreading another lie."

The Obama campaign referred TPMmuckraker to Gehrke's denial. In addition, the chair of the Alaska Democratic party, Mike Coumbe, who has been in close touch with the national party since Palin was named to the GOP ticket, told TPMmuckraker that he has received no information from the national party or the Obama campaign that would support Fund's claim. That was echoed by another top Alaska Democratic Party official, Kay Brown, as well as other leading Democrats in the state.

Fund did not immediately respond to a call and email from TPMmuckraker requesting comment.

Late update: Fund tells TPMmuckraker that he stands by his story -- though he could not be specific about which Democrats he was referring to -- and will have additional information later today.

Sarah Palin

City of Wasilla Document Dump Muckraking Thread

Kate Klonick | September 8, 2008, 10:40PM

If you think you're hearing a lot about Sarah Palin, just imagine the poor folks over at the Wasilla City Hall, which must be why they set up a one-stop-shop for documents relating to their former mayor on their webpage.

We're looking through them now, but we'd love your help in raking. We've set up this thread for you to post to for items you find interesting. There are over a dozen documents, so in order to keep them straight we've devised a simple shorthand. To let us know which document you're referring to or quoting from, use the capital letters of the title of the document and the year (if there is one), and then the page number.

So a quote from page 6 of the "Certified Annual Financial Report -- FY2000" would be : CAFR2000:6.

The documents are here, good luck raking!

Sarah Palin

Palin As Reformer? Not Quite...

Kate Klonick and Zachary Roth | September 3, 2008, 8:53PM

As we get ready for the big Sarah Palin speech tonight, it's worth taking a moment to step back from the charges of negligent vetting and media sexism, to focus on what really should be the heart of the issue.

The McCain campaign has presented Palin as a squeaky-clean reformer, who took on corruption in Alaska, and will help to bring a new brand of politics to Washington. But a flurry of reports over the last few days significantly undercut that image.

To be sure, Palin's claims to be a reformer aren't toally without merit. Before becoming governor, she went after the state GOP chair, Randy Ruedrich, for doing work for the party on public time and working closely with a company he was supposed to be regulating. She also filed a formal complaint against Attorney General Gregg Renkes for having investments in an energy company that stood to benefit from a state trade deal. Both Ruedrich and Renkes ultimately resigned their posts, and Ruedrich paid a $12,000 fine.

But let's look at the other side of the ledger. Both as mayor of Wasilla and as governor, Palin has aggressively sought federal earmarks, and has a friendlier relationship with indicted GOP senator Ted Stevens than one would expect for a good-government crusader. She has fired employees who she sees as disloyal. And, in a move reminiscent of the Bush-Cheney White House, she has stonewalled legitimate efforts by the legislature to uncover the truth in the Trooper-Gate affair.

Here's a sampling of reports that complicate Palin's reformist credentials:

• Last year, Palin requested more earmarks per person than any other state -- including some that were criticized by McCain himself.

• Even as mayor of Wasilla, Palin's pursuit of earmarks was aggressive. She oversaw the hiring of a Washington lobbyist -- who, as we reported yesterday, had ties to Jack Abramoff -- to go after federal pork.

• And though Palin touted her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere" just last week in her debut speech, she initially supported the project during her run for governor. It was only after the bridge became notorious as an example of pork barrel spending that she changed her position.
• In her run for governor, Palin was endorsed by now-indicted Sen. Ted Stevens. Video of the endorsement has been removed from her government website, but the two appeared together just two months ago at a press conference on energy. The friendly relationship between the embattled senator, who is accused of lying about gifts he recieved from an oil contractor, and the supposedly maverick governor is at odds with Palin's claim to dismantling the "old boys club" of Alaska government.

• As Wasilla mayor, Palin reportedly fired the police chief and attempted to fire the librarian, because she did not feel that she had their "full support in [her] efforts to govern the city of Wasilla." Former city officials allege that the attempts to remove the librarian were a result of her her refusal to censor books at Palin's request.
• Palin has been at the center of the Trooper-Gate scandal that alleges misuse of her gubernatorial power. The affair erupted in July when Palin fired the Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. Monegan later claimed his firing was a result of his refusal to fire Palin's former brother-in-law and trooper Mike Wooten. Palin denied that she, her husband or her staff ever pressured Monegan, a statement she later had to retract when recorded phone calls revealed one of her aides, Frank Bailey, had called a troopers office pushing for Wooten's removal.
• Tonight, the Washington Post published emails from Palin to Monegan in which she appeared to complain that Wooten was still employed, apparently undercutting her claim that she discussed Wooten with Monegan only in the context of the security of her family.
• As a result of the Trooper-Gate allegations, an independent investigator has been appointed by the state legislature. In recent days, Palin has appeared to stonewall the probe. Her lawyer argued in a complaint filed last night that she wold not be made available for her deposition unless the probe were handed over to the state personnel board, whose members are appointed by the governor. Bailey, who had been suspended by Palin with pay for his actions, today backed out of his deposition.
• In a separate civil suit related to Wooten, Palin has claimed executive privilege on over a thousand emails between her and her staff, including Bailey.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (46) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (38)
Topics: Alaska, Bridge To Nowhere, John McCain, Palin's Hiring, Palin's Press, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin, Ted Stevens, Trooper-Gate

Alaska

AIP: We Were Wrong, Sarah Was Never a Member. . . But Todd Was

Kate Klonick | September 2, 2008, 8:00PM

Retracting past statements, the chair of the secessionist Alaska Independence Party told TPMmuckraker that they were mistaken in stating that Sarah Palin was once a member of their party -- but that her husband Todd, was.

"We searched for it everywhere, but we couldn't find anything to back up what we had been told by our source," Lynette Clark, chairman of the fringe third-party AIP told TPMmuckraker. "We made a mistake, but Todd definitely was a member of the party. We know that for sure."

Earlier today, TPMmuckraker posted that Todd was a member of the AIP party from 1995 to 2002.

Alaska

Todd Palin Was Registered Member of Alaska Independence Party Until 2002

Kate Klonick | September 2, 2008, 3:25PM

The McCain camp today disputed rumors that presumptive vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was ever registered with the secessionist Alaska Independence Party by releasing years of voter registration history . . . but it looks like that doesn't apply to her husband.

This afternoon, the director of Division of Elections in Alaska, Gail Fenumiai, told TPMmuckraker that Todd Palin registered in October 1995 to the Alaska Independence Party, a radical group that advocates for Alaskan secession from the United States.

Besides a short period of a few months in 2000 when he changed his registration to undeclared, Todd Palin remained a registered member of AIP until July 2002 when he registered again as an undeclared voter.