Alaska probe finds Palin 'abused her power'

Faults her for pressuring underlings

Al Grillo/Associated PressJean Kallander (left) shouted her support for Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska with others yesterday outside a legislative building in Anchorage. (Al Grillo/Associated Press)

WASHINGTON - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin "abused her power" as Alaska's governor in seeking to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper, a state legislative investigative report said last night.

While the report found that Palin violated the state's ethics law that bans public officials from using their offices for personal gain, it did not say whether Palin should be censured by the Legislature or whether the matter should be referred for criminal investigation. The legislative panel that authorized the investigation, after meeting in private for more than six hours, released the report, but did not immediately vote whether to endorse its findings.

Still, the report thrusts a new issue into the presidential campaign at a time when the GOP ticket is trying to catch up in national polls, and when Palin's reputation as a reform-minded candidate is being subjected to scrutiny.

The investigation into the "Troopergate" case found that while public safety commissioner Walter Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was "not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor." Wooten had been in a messy divorce with Palin's sister.

The report faulted the governor, saying she "knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: To get Trooper Michael Wooten fired." It also said that Palin "knowingly" let her husband, Todd, use the resources of the governor's office "to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired."

Sarah Palin refused to testify before the committee, much to its displeasure. The report said that while Palin could fire Monegan "for almost any reason, or no reason at all," it was "impermissible" to put pressure on Monegan to fire Wooten. Such efforts "create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior's displeasure and the possible consequences of such displeasure," the report said.

Sarah Palin and her running mate, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, have denied that she acted improperly in the firing of Monegan. "Today's report shows that the Governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan," their campaign said in a statement last night. "The report also illustrates what we've known all along: this was a partisan-led inquiry run by Obama supporters and the Palins were completely justified in their concern regarding Trooper Wooten given his violent and rogue behavior."

In its own report issued Thursday night, McCain's campaign asserted that the firing was over a legitimate policy dispute. "Walt Monegan's dismissal was a result of his insubordination and budgetary clashes with Governor Palin and her administration," campaign officials wrote. "Trooper Wooten is a separate issue."

Monegan told the committee that he believed he was fired because he refused to dismiss Wooten, who remains on the force. "I feel vindicated," Monegan told the Associated Press last night. "It sounds like they've validated my belief and opinions."

The finding comes at a time when Sarah Palin's presence on the ticket has been a mixed blessing for McCain. While the initial enthusiasm over her selection continues among the Republican Party base, she has been criticized by some for her lack of experience and her halting answers in recent television interviews. This week's Newsweek cover story said she was spouting "mindless populism" and a columnist at the conservative National Review magazine said she should be removed from the ticket.

The McCain campaign has pushed back against such attacks, saying she is a uniquely qualified outsider who can help reform Washington.

McCain was aware of the Troopergate investigation when he picked Palin. His campaign said at the time that it was convinced by Sarah Palin that the matter was a politically motivated investigation with no merit. The legislative inquiry into the matter was approved by a bipartisan vote, but the McCain campaign characterized it as a partisan witch hunt.

The report issued yesterday said that Todd Palin had extraordinary access to the governor's office and her top aides. He has acknowledged calling and meeting over the course of many months with numerous senior government officials about Wooten, whom he described as a dangerous and unstable man who had threatened his family.

The matter stemmed from a contentious divorce and custody fight between Sarah Palin's younger sister, Molly McCann, and Wooten. McCann told authorities that her then-husband had threatened to shoot her father and "take down" Sarah Palin. McCann alleged that her then-husband used a Taser device against his 10-year-old stepson, shot a moose without a license, and was seen taking a beer to his patrol car.

Wooten served a five-day suspension, but was allowed to remain on the force. Sarah Palin, who was elected governor in November 2006, then allegedly began making inquiries about whether the investigation into Wooten was done properly.

The report includes an e-mail from Palin to Monegan in which she complained about Wooten's continued presence on the force, while making clear that her interest stemmed from personal concerns. She wrote that Wooten disparaged native Alaskans, was caught driving under the influence, threatened to kill one of her parents, and "continues to harass and intimidate his ex."

"This is the same trooper who's out there telling people the new administration is going to destroy the trooper organization, and that he'd never work for the [expletive] Palin," Palin wrote to Monegan. She added that she knew her husband "expressed to you a lot of concern about our family's safety after this trooper threatened to kill a family member - so you need to know that if I am a supporter of whatever we can do to put trust back" into the Department of Public Safety.

The report noted that Sarah Palin said she and her family feared Wooten, but it said "the evidence presented has been inconsistent with such claims of fear."