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WORLD> America
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Report: Palin sent e-mails complaining of trooper
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-04 15:55 The content of the e-mails surfaced as an aide to Palin refused to give a deposition to a legislative investigator reviewing Palin's firing of Monegan. An attorney for Palin aide Frank Bailey questions whether the Legislature has jurisdiction to investigate Monegan's dismissal. The position taken by attorney Greg Grebe on Bailey's behalf echoes the argument by a lawyer hired by the state to defend Palin and her office in the investigation. When the investigation was launched, Palin said she and her staff would cooperate fully with the investigation. On Wednesday, Palin's lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, released a letter sent the previous day, asking the state to suspend the investigation until the question of jurisdiction is resolved. If granted, it could delay announcing whether the investigator found that Palin abused her power in dismissing the commissioner. The results were expected Oct. 31, a week before the November election. Van Flein on Tuesday also asked the state's personnel board to investigate the firing, trying to pre-empt the legislative investigation. In 2005, before Palin ran for office, the Palin family accused trooper Mike Wooten of drinking beer in his patrol car, illegally shooting a moose and firing a Taser at his 11-year-old stepson. Palin and her husband, Todd, also claimed Wooten threatened to kill Sarah Palin's father. Wooten, who hasn't returned numerous phone calls left by The Associated Press this week, was suspended over the allegations for five days in 2006 but still has his job. Palin was elected governor in 2006. In July, the legislature launched a $100,000 investigation into whether Palin abused her power in firing Monegan. Monegan has said no one told him directly to fire Wooten, but has said he felt pressure from Palin's family members, including her husband Todd, and administration to do so. At the time Palin fired him, the governor said she wanted the department to move in a new direction. But later, after Monegan said he felt pressured to fire Wooten, Palin at a news conference said Monegan wasn't a team player, didn't do enough to fill trooper vacancies and battle alcohol abuse issues in rural Alaska. Grebe said he expects Palin's attorney to file a court challenge to determine which agency has jurisdiction, perhaps as early as Thursday. When he learned this, Grebe said he told Bailey not to keep his Tuesday evening appointment until jurisdiction could be determined by a judge or agreed upon by Van Flein and the Legislature's investigator, Stephen Branchflower. "I can't choose one side or the other," Grebe said. "That's not our place to decide that. Normally courts decide disputes like that, so I'll wait to hear from them first." Neither Van Flein nor Bailey, the director of boards and commissioners who is on paid administrative leave, could be reached Wednesday for comment. Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat overseeing the investigation, said Bailey is the first person who refused to testify. "It slows down the work that Mr. Branchflower is doing," French said. "Steve went through a lot of trouble to set up this date. "It's still premature to say the governor is not cooperating because Bailey has his own lawyer doing this." Bailey was caught on tape questioning an Alaska State Trooper official why an officer who went through a bitter divorce with Palin's sister was still employed. In the recorded conversation, Bailey said: "Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, why on earth hasn't, why is this guy still representing the department? He's a horrible recruiting tool. ... You know, I mean from their perspective, everyone's protecting him." Palin called the conversation "most disturbing" and "problematic." At the time Bailey, a mid-level administrator, told The Associated Press that he was worried for the governor's safety and acted on his own without telling Palin or her family. Grebe said Bailey plans to maintain his stance on what happened, but won't do so until a judge has ruled on the jurisdiction. "He's going to say the same thing all along, that he overstepped his bounds and the mistake was made by him," Grebe said. "I'm hoping for one shot at this but only when somebody can show me they have jurisdiction for what they are doing."
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