Alaska police union files complaint against Palin

Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008 3:11 PM ET
Filed Under:

By Aram Roston and Amna Nawaz, NBC News producers

The GOP candidate for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, may be facing yet another ethics investigation back in her home state of Alaska. An ethics complaint obtained by NBC News was filed Wednesday by the police officers union in Alaska, requesting a probe into possible wrongdoing by the governor or her office. It was brought on behalf of state trooper Mike Wooten, an ex-brother-in-law of Palin who is at the center of the "Troopergate" scandal.

The complaint alleges that the governor or her staff may have have improperly disclosed information from Wooten's personnel records. The complaint alleges "criminal penalties may apply."

John Cyr, director of the union that filed the complaint, told NBC News, "It seems obvious to us somebody has improperly accessed [Wooten's] personnel file."

The McCain/Palin campaign Thursday launched a spirited defense when contacted by NBC News. They say the personnel files were not protected; a campaign source says Wooten himself had previously signed a waiver allowing a divorce lawyer to obtain his personnel records. The campaign then sent a copy of that waiver to NBC News, which reads "I hereby waive any privilege I may have to said information to said attorneys."

The issue concerns disclosures about Wooten's records made by a Palin aide - Frank Bailey - in a February 2008 phone conversation. The police officers' union complaint claims the transcript of that conversation clearly indicates there was improper access to Wooten's records.

The McCain/Palin campaign, in a response to NBC News, provided a family twist to the story, saying the governor's husband - Todd Palin - was the source of that information to Bailey. They say the information came from divorce proceedings, and that Gov. Palin never improperly accessed any records.

Taylor Griffiths, a spokesman for McCain, said "When you're a real reformer like Sarah Palin, who isn't afraid to take on entrenched political interests, scurrilous attacks and empty allegations come with the territory."

Comments

Reporters:  You were bullied into silence when Bush waged war against the wrong country.  You were considered unpatriotic if you dared ask questions.  So you went along, for the most part. (Palin is on video saying that Iraq war was sent from God as a task.) Can our country really survive another round of politicians who wallow in ignorance of environment and economy?  Please ask.  You're the only ones who can shed light.  And hurry.  They are like magicians who direct your attention to one place, so you don't notice their sleight of hand elsewhere.  I'm sure McCain is a decent person, but he lost his fight with Republican powers who decreed that Sarah can incite the religious right into another round of santimonious indignation against whatever they are told to think.  And that's the problem.  They are puppets.  I love my country, but am so disappointed at how underhanded this all is.  

Lynne, Denver CO (Friday, September 05, 2008 12:56 AM)

Palin should be aware of the federal civil rights laws.  It's illegal just to fire someone because you don't like him or her.  She's a scary person to be a V.P. of the USA.

Elton Duvall, McConnellsburg PA (Friday, September 05, 2008 12:59 AM)

At least as quoted here, Wooten's waiver was a very narrow one:  It disclosed the privileged information to the lawyers, not to anyone else.  The waiver probably included the lawyer's client (his ex-wife) but it does NOT seem to have included anyone else!  So, if Palin's information derives from this waiver, it looks like (1) Her sister's lawyer violated a legal/ethical obligation, or (2) The sister violated a legal/ethical obligation.  People shouldn't play fast and loose with privileged information.  Professionals in all walks of life (educators, lawyers, doctors, nurses...) deal with confidential information now.  Handling it properly is part of the job.

Deborah Merritt, Columbus, Ohio (Friday, September 05, 2008 1:01 AM)

Interesting.  Republicans are all about respecting authority, police, men in uniform etc... except of course when they are busy using their political clout to railroad them.  

Stephen Johnson (Friday, September 05, 2008 1:03 AM)

I am so sick of the media always reporting all good stuff on Obama & nothing good on any other candidates. I wasn't going to voe this year but Sarah Palin has changed my thinking on that. I will definately be voting for McCain/Palin. We really love them both!

Sydney Brogdon, La Pine, Oregon (Friday, September 05, 2008 1:03 AM)

If Sarah Palin has nothing to hide, then why is everyone in the Republican party attacking the media for asking legitimate questions? They vetted everyone else in this race to the nth degree. I guess the Republicans thought that they would trot her out 2 months before the election and she would slip beneath the radar. Does she and the Republicans actually  think that the American people don't have the right to know everything about her (especially her actions while in government office!)? We deserve to know everything-the good and the bad in order to really have an idea of her true character beneath the Republican spin and packaging! She is not going to be able to hide her extreme right wing views from anyone!

Rose Black (Friday, September 05, 2008 1:16 AM)

It's very hypocritical that republicans are complaining about the media investigating Gov. Palin, yet there were no cries of foul play when the Conservative Fox News and other Conservative media outlets were all over the world scraping up things about Senator Obama. Give me a flipping break!

Clarence, Diamond Bar (Friday, September 05, 2008 1:18 AM)

The Liberal media is really grasping at straws. If you want to INVESTIGATE something then by all means find out why Obama won't provide his real birth certificate. Or look into his association with the terrorist Ayres, or why there is a picture of Michelle Obama with Farrakhan's wife. What is he hiding?

R Hill, Colonial Heights Va. (Friday, September 05, 2008 1:23 AM)

Don't let the 'one liners' trick the eye...so to speak. Look at the true measure of these people who have for their own personnel reasons decided to try to be our leaders, our voices..for us, "we the people" And in that reason much can be assessed. Don't forget to look past the confetti and posters....Look truly and honestly to who they are.

example: I am a Phoenician. Tonight I saw an add on TV by the McCain campaign. It stated 'emphatically as if clad in some truth" that Obama will 'raise taxes on middle class". This is a blantant lie. Now I know some of you will go, "oh it's politics and they all lie". That's not true. Go through all the adds, speeches, etc and you will not see deliberate lies come from Obama/Biden. They live their lives honestly and they run their campaign honestly. If McCain and his co-horts have no qualms over lies to get elected, do you really believe they are telling you the truth and that they will even make an attempt to keep even one promise. I would be very afraid and I mean "VERY AFRAID" of Sarah Palin's '3 a.m. cal" "her finger on the button"..Can you imagine her surrounding herself with intelligent honest persons for advise or do you see her as someone who would surround herself with "Yes" men?? She's a female Bush..only a little more articulate. Remember how he fired all Generals who disagreed with him, all advisors, he ended up with only "YES" people or they did not stay around.

And the reason I'm more afraid of her than of McCain is he's 72 yrs old, and we've already seen what unscruplous persons can do in the office of the vice-presidency...Be afraid, very afraid of Sarah Palin. I know many of you hear me ...

J. Artis, Phoenix, AZ (Friday, September 05, 2008 1:26 AM)

I'm glad the journalists are doing this unbiased investigative reporting that is expected in our free country. The U.S. citizens deserve to know information about politicians, especially those that will potentially be in high national public positions. The Republican lawyers have delayed the committee hearing on this issue in order to silence it before the national election occurs. Too bad.

T.H., L.A., CA (Friday, September 05, 2008 1:58 AM)

If the trooper was unfit, then she should have stayed out of it and let the proper procedures take place to insure that he received proper treatment.  The fact that these charges weren't leveled against him until 3 years after their occurence or as they coincided with the divorse, it doesn't smell right.  

If he's still a trooper, but she fired his boss for not firing him, then she overstepped her bounds.  She would have needed to have cause...and not the kind where if you don't do what I say, I'll fire you.  

And maybe one the attorneys out there can tell us if access to divorce records by an attorney, makes those records public data to the governor or her aides?  If not, then could the aide also be sued for invasion of privacy?  

KO, NY (Friday, September 05, 2008 2:22 AM)

Reformer or not, the law is the law and no one should be above it including Sarah Palin.  If she did use her position illegally, then she should face prosecution for it.  The problem with people is you want to pick and choose what laws to observe and which to not.  How pathetic that those calling for the media to stop digging are worried about protecting her from the suspicious acts she has committed.  This woman is running for VP and after 8 years of the mess the soon to be previous president and vice president put us in, including their unethical and questionable behaviour, I say leave no stone unturned.

Concerned Citizen for America (Friday, September 05, 2008 2:29 AM)

To those of you who think this "mud" is not relevant, I beg to differ.  These are the issues we are dealing with on a daily basis here in Alaska.  Sarah Palin is NOT universally liked here, as some people believe.  Her take-no-prisoners approach to governing has alienated many Alaskans, including Republicans.  You can call her a reformer or maverick if you like, but she still has to follow the rules.  Most people that you talk to here believe she improperly tried to get Wooten fired, but when the public safety commissioner refused, she fired him because she wanted to take the department "in a new direction."  Excuse me -- new direction?  Just what would that be in a law enforcement agency?

Kathleen, Wasilla Alaska (Friday, September 05, 2008 2:36 AM)

sarah palin could prove to be a miraculous leader or a miraculous nightmare. her politics are shakey and her experience questionable, although undoubtedly intelligent and capable the overwhelming evidence of her practicing exactly the opposite of what she is presenting herself as is very disconcerting for me. her speech last night at the rnc impressed me just as much as the conservative base she was preaching to, however her hotheaded and overly aggressive manner seemed to me to be indicate her future use of political and diplomatic strategies of the same colors, which america does not need in a time when foreign policy opinion plummeted from eight years of bushisms...

and j smith from texas, it's sil-e-nce, not sil-i-nce. and prop-a-ganda, not prop-e-ganda.

barnabuss chump, san diego, california (Friday, September 05, 2008 3:42 AM)

I am a woman who would have voted for Hillary Clinton because of who she is and what she stands for. For John McCain to pick a woman to be Vice President because she can pull the Hillary Clinton Woman voters to his side. Is completely insulting to the women of this Country. What he is really saying is that he believes we the women of this country don’t have the smarts to Vote for someone because of What they Stand for but he really believe that the women of this country are so ignorant that they would Vote for someone because she is a woman and doesn’t have to have any else to really offer. What a Joke and a Slam to all women.
Do we really want this woman running Our Country? Because that could happen because of his age that old fart McCain may not make it a full term. Are people really ready to turn our Country, Security, and faith to a complete stranger just because she is a Hockey mom and a mayor/governor for a Whole 2 years?  LOL...Women I don’t know about you, but I know I for one am highly offended am totally offended that John McCain can think so little of Women today. Sara Palin is a prop... another Sexist move on the Republican side.

Kim. Thief River Falls Minnesota (Friday, September 05, 2008 4:37 AM)

Palin is the common man's candidate and so I don't think this will hurt her.  After all, wouldn't the average American man or woman in that situation use his political power to get the trooper fired after a sister endured a bad divorce?  What's the point of being in office otherwise?  Because 80% of America isn't unlike Palin as regards education, world view, travel, religiosity, etc., I don't think her effort to get a trooper fired because her sister didn't like him is going to put most Americans off.  And besides G.W. already established that if the executive thinks someone is bad, they should be able to hold them in jail for four years without criminal charges being filed.  Here, just because the case was closed doesn't mean justice was served.  Maybe as VP, Palin can declare Wooten an enemy combatant and have him sent to Guantanamo.  Even if the courts decide to free him, he'd be there for four years or so judging from that Padilla guy (who was also a "bad" guy who had been arrested before and was allegedly in a gang!).  You can see how this works, right?

In the mean time, the 80% of average Americans are paying payroll taxes, income taxes and sales taxes and 55% of that money is going to mercenaries and cash bribes to warlords in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to the companies that make the big bucks building bombs.  Some of these mercenary firms bill out mercenaries to the US government at $200,000 a year, but they employ ex-military from El Salvador and Fiji and pay them $10 an hour.  That's the real racket.  But you keep borrowing and keep paying and pay attention to abortion and whether "intelligent design" is taught in school.  After the offshore the last of the well paying jobs here to India where they still teach science, we can all become real estate agents in the United States and sell each other houses.

Sean, San Jose, CA (Friday, September 05, 2008 7:10 AM)

 The union was aware of the call sometime ago and they only take action when there is a political reason.  What kind of union protection is this.  This looks bad for the police of Alaska.  If I were in that union I would complain.

Glenn White, Warminster, PA. (Friday, September 05, 2008 7:13 AM)

I have 3 quotes for everyone.  (1) "If you live in a glass house xxxx" (2) "He who casts the first stone xxxx", and (3) "Walk a mile in my shoes."  If you want to dig long, hard, and deep enough you can find something on everyone no matter which side of the isle they stand on.  Neither party is without shame and until Congress works together and quits the partisan politics, this country will continue to be in a mess.

Steve, Ohio (Friday, September 05, 2008 7:55 AM)

I am sure there are two sides to this issue, however I do believe Sarah Palin should have stayed out of the situation involving her sister's divorce and let the courts decide; because she is the GOVERNOR.

It really smells of, something inappropiate on her part. If she can abuse her power as GOVERNOR, she will be no different than DICK CHENEY as a VP.

There will be "no change" as McCain's retoric claims, not even the same as Bush's administration, but worst.

This is why it's very crutial for the press to remember it's CONSTITUTIONAL duty and follow this story to it's conclusion.

The citizens of this great nation deserves the truth about Palin since, she will be a heart beat from the presidency, if McCain wins.

Wilberta Berry Pittsburgh, PA. (Friday, September 05, 2008 8:22 AM)

Thank God for the free press! Keep researching the truth. The Republicans can't handle the truth. That's why they attack the poor press instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. The press has focused on Obama and his past before (connections to that questionable minister, for example). Has Obama turned on the press and told them they are wrong for asking hard questions? No. He is a true leader. The only one since Kennedy.

Jen Watland, Bristow, VA (Friday, September 05, 2008 8:36 AM)

As a retired police officer myself I saw a lot of things happen during my career that I didn't like.  I saw unions defend men that had no business in law enforcement.  There are a lot of good cops out there.  Unfortunately there are also a lot of them who don't belong in public service but can't be fired because they are protected by the "thin blue line."  Everything I have heard about Wooten indicates that he is probably one of those types.

Veryl Morrell, Mankato, Minnesota (Friday, September 05, 2008 8:44 AM)

The thing I find more interesting is Palins request that the library administrator step down becuase she would not let Palin ban books from the library.  I am glad John McCain picked a book burner for a running mate.  I also like the fact that Sarah Palin and Rudy 911 hate community organizers.  Freak show!

James Wellson, Washington DC (Friday, September 05, 2008 8:46 AM)

It is unreal how people attack when the leftest unamerican media digs up dirt on one side but leaves the other side they want in office alone.Do you have a clue how many people have died who crossed the Clinton's and what about Obama's ties with crime? not much said about that but lets feel sorry for the state trooper who was paid to protect and then hides behind that badge as an abuser. You go lady and maybe we can get rid of a few more in congress on both sides.

Randy Caldwell Idaho (Friday, September 05, 2008 8:54 AM)

It's not mudslinging, it's fact finding. The people need to know what type of person Sarah Palin is. They questioned Obama's background, now it's Palin's turn, after all in her speech she said she has more experience than Obama and Biden. So it's time to find out where her experience lies. Why she went to so many schools is a good question, does she have the integrity that she claims, and did she abuse her power while she was mayor or governor? These are legitimate questions and the people deserve answers. There should be no special privileged standards for Sarah Palin, after all she was the one attacking and ridiculing Obama and Biden fffor their credentials. Where are her  credentials?

Margie Harris, Brocckton, Massachusetts (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:02 AM)

If the man signed a release for the lawyer, he's the only one who should have access to it.  If the case was closed when Palin became govonor any attempt on her part to reopen it and then fire the man for not reopening it sounds like abuse of power to me.

Debbie Williams Winnabow NC (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:14 AM)

can someone tell me why the media is being so nice and not wanting to give the american people what they should on sarah palin , and why is no one talking  about her problems  that she  has had in alaska and why the mccain people donot want her to be interviewed by the  media,please tell me whay is it because she has 5 kids and one with a disability  come on  put every thing aside she is running  for the vp spot in the white house

h.c ks (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:15 AM)

This politician’s story just gets weirder and weirder.  Thanks Patriot John for bringing this to Hogwash’s attention.

Oh what a mistake you made John McCain.  You bought yourself some last minute excitement, only to really let your followers down with your judgment.

   Sarah Palin’s Strange eBay Exaggeration
   Via Radar, the facts are these:

   After going unsold for months, the jet was put into the hands of Turbo North Aviation, an Anchorage aircraft broker, which put an asking price of $2.45 million on the nearly $2.7 million jet. It quickly sold to Alaska businessman Larry Reynolds for $2.1 million ($31,000 of which went to Turbo Aviation). Today the Westwind II jet spends its days ushering wealthy hunters around Alaska and Russia

Hogwash, St. Louis, MO (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:18 AM)

Yes keep investigating.  Sara has put herself out there and must be ready for the scrutiny that will follow.  Who is this woman that could become the top leader of the free world.  Oh my God, please don't let that happen.  
Everyone is saying a star is born.  Why? because she didn't flup her telepromter queues as Bush does.  Did she inspire us as Barack Obama does.  I for one am not duped by this ineffective ticket.  McCain more of the same.  Everything he proposes is the same that Bush has implemented and our country and its economy is failing.  I was Republican (voted for bush twice - was I insane?) and am now proudly voting for Obama and Biden.

Diane, Huntsville, Alabama (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:19 AM)

To me, the GOP spin on Palin is embarrassing - they're trying to push so hard to make her into some miraculous 'reformer,' when her record clearly establishes heavy use of earmarks, support for Ted Stevens, and Cheney-like use of the levers of power (as in this troopergate case). The reformer tag doesn't ring true to me at all - wish the GOP would focus more on issues that matter to ordinary people and less on pushing their talking points.

Tom-

You forgot to mention that once she found out what Stevens was really up to, she lead the charge to have him removed from office.  I love how biased everyone's side is and that you all only use creatively crafted arguments to spin everything to your side.  

Chris Pittsburgh Pa (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:20 AM)

As a citizen totally at the mercy of the media, who knows what we can really believe.  If real life is a gauge, then the truth is somewhere between her answer and his.  If dude-ex brother in law is bad, then he needs to be out of his position.  If Palin used her position in AK for some sort of family vendetta then she needs to go.  The problem is that we will probably never really know the whole truth, because media for the most part isn't capable of telling the truth.  I really want to believe in Palin, I want to beleive in McCain, I want someone in charge that REALLY is as honset as they claim to be, but unfortunetly the only people who get to make a real run for the White House, are politicians, and as far as I'm concerned none of them, on either side can be trusted.

Cindy Hoffman. Casper WY (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:22 AM)

The responses to this is just what I would expect. Sara Palin is a real reformer and so many people dont want that. They want business as usual or to belittle or cast doubt on anyone that threatens the "chosen one". The Republicans have a real winning combination here that has people more fired up than any Republican ticket since Reagan. Finally REAL HOPE FOR CHANGE!!!

Matt Mitchell, Minneapolis, MN (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:25 AM)

Why is the complaint being filed now?  Anyone can file a complaint about anybody or anything, this is America.  Will the media report on how much official police effort went into this, or who is paying the legal fees?  I'm not taking sides, but this appears to be another case of making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Bucky Keene, Seattle WA (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:43 AM)

I see Palin has hit a exposed sore in the media and the Democratic Party Hacks. Why hasn't the numerous wrong doing of Obama been reported. When a person is in the role of leadership there are many front on which to attack them. This much show that she has been a leader and Obama has not. Once again NBC and other media outlet are showing they do not report all the news only the news that supports their bias point of view.

Jeff Flanagan, Houston, TX (Friday, September 05, 2008 9:57 AM)

Wow, good job NBC.  I was kind of getting tired of doing research and sending along to you guys..Way to go...

Barbara Snow Knoxville,TN

bjsnowberger@charter.net (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:00 AM)

About 12 different people (not just in the Governors' office)were privy to the "top secret" information about her ex-brother-in-law.  Employees in small town governments are famous for leaking information that is considered non-public and private. Try proving that she was the one who leaked the info. You are bound to make enemies getting to the top, and more once you get there. Family is no exception.

D. Lang, Lake City, Florida (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:02 AM)

Please DON'T stop digging. I need to know to VOTE!
RG Southern Cal.

R Miller, The Woodlands, TX (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:07 AM)

Great reporting, and keep it coming. It seems like Palin supporters want the same thing as Palin and McBush, let's cover this thing up, don't pay attention at the man and woman behind the curtain, that's nothin'. To claim that "he is a dangerous man" for justifying the abuse of power is outrageous. Her administration did not even try to distance itself from any appearance of impropriety. I guess the use of the word "impropriety" is too big of a word.

B from Brooklyn (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:13 AM)

Sarah Palin = Govenor Dictator. We need a thorough investingation into this troopergate story. Obama got beat up by the media for knowing a guy that was part of a domestic terror organization when he was nothing but a little boy. His got the same treatment for her speech about being proud of America. Palin must explain her actions in the troopergate case, her fund raising days with Pat Buchanan (modern day Nazi), and explain why she stayed married to a guy who advocated Alaska's session from the U.S. and disrepected the U.S. flag. Why did she not leave him to?

For someone who did not obtain a passport until last year only and has for the most part of her life experience small towns only, she talks a big game about being more experience than a globe trotting guy like Biden. She seems to have a very narrow minded view of the world and is too far right. Her views apply to small town with mostly white population (which is no longer representative of America's population mix).

God forbid the Rep. win the white house again and for some reason something happens to McCain leaving Palin to be first in command...Talk about a catastrophe, and scary thought. Actually I should could contact Steven King, this is definitely a scary movie idea we could bounce around the room.

The independent, Denver, CO (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:13 AM)

If this is the only "dirt" MSNBC can spin against Palin, then she really has my vote! Too bad MSNBC was not as aggressive digging into Obama's colorful past associations. The liberal media has gone after this woman with a vicious frenzy, why because they are scared!!

Karen Nelson, Columbia, SC (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:18 AM)

Good day all,
I would real like to read what people from Alaska think about this matter and Palin herself. I been disapointed to her people stating that because she from a remote state she out of touch. Im from Wyoming and I feel this state is in touch and we are far more remote then Alaska. As for the Trooper matter, I would like to hope that personel files are protected by state law. If they are not the union needs to presue that matter as we did here in Wyoming. As a Police Chief I feel that the Gov. has no right to get involved in low ranking trooper issues. Thats what the Patrols Admin is for.

Wyoming (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:19 AM)

It's  all  political.  If another  citizen  was in  place  of  Mrs. Pali,  these smears  would  have  been  enough  to assassinate  his  character.  I  know,  they  did  exactly that  to  me,  in Alaska.  But  I had  no  money  for  lawyers. They usesd several state  lawyers  against me.  Hopefully, Mrs. Palin is wealthy  and powerful  enough  to  escape the  things  that  the  State  of  Alaska  did  to  me for  fighting  abortion!.

bohdansz@hotmail.com (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:19 AM)


Actually, this will be the third time Governor Palin has been accused of using her political position for political gain.

In 1997, she fired Wasilla's town librarian and the town's police chief, who had both supported her opponent in the election of Gov. Palin to her position as mayor.  

This so infuruated the town that they attempted a recall.

The court ruling was that she had the absolute right to fire anyone she wanted.  As the mayor of Wasilla, she does not have to cite cause.

Next there is Walt Monegan,

Now there is the release of Trooper Wooten's records, for which the defense will be that the records were properly released to Gov. Palin's attorney, and therefore become public record.

Charles, Arizona (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:24 AM)

Why is reporting the story "mudslinging propaganda"?  Is anything reported from now on going to be "scurrilious" "mudslinging" "sexist" -- get over it.  And yes, the trooper doesn't sound like he exemplifies what we want in the police ---- but that's not the point.  The point is that the legal channels had closed the file and it was the Palins that used their offfice (because more and more it seems like Mr. Palin has been co-governor, co-mayor, etc.) to reopen it and pressure people.

M, DE (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:41 AM)

The GOP amazes me. One of you commented "he signed the paper." The paper waives his privacy right for the lawyers, not anyone who wants access.

Another brilliant mind commented "You guys are really getting to a new low to stoop to digging this kind of mud up and printing it." This is a CRIME. Reporting on a crime is NOT mud slinging.

greglondon, Pine Bluff Arkansas (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:49 AM)

J Smith. No!Journalists should not stop digging.Keeps the politicians honest. We all have a few skeletons in our closet. Palin has an entire army of them. As your fellow Texan, Leigh, just commented, watching Palin's speech makes it easy to believe how vindictive and unethical she could be. I know people who have been fired for looking up medical records out of curiousity. If she accessed private recoreds, and such a thing can be easily documented in these digital days, she doesn't have the character to be VP. Period.

Diane Gordon (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:52 AM)

Hey, it may be mud slinging, but seriously.  Would you really want to risk having a "Soccer Mom" who throws her authroity around like a mother hen to get her own way in office.  Isn't it a bit odd though that her son in law would be fired for something he was already paying the penalty for at the same time he is fighting for custody of his child?  Conspiracy theorists of the world unite :p .
P.S.> Scott Wahlstrom- Did you mean Governor, instead of givenor?

Alex Pendragon, Sequim, Wa. (Friday, September 05, 2008 10:58 AM)

Interesting how this is coming out already.  I was wondering if this guy (Wooten) was actually deserving of all the respect he got from the supervisor who got fired for him (Monegan).  My thought was that most middle management would not take the fall for just anyone!  If he was really as bad as Gov.Palin and sister portrayedm then why would the chief protect him?

Grace Needed, Albany, NY (Friday, September 05, 2008 11:07 AM)

Putting aside the possible criminal charge, Palin is under investigation already and until the investigation is concluded we must assume she is innocent, right?  It is hard not to judge her on her disrespectful, holier than thou persona and on her record as we have been able to learn of it.   But it is precisely because of my flawed judgement and my instinct to condemn based on a gut feeling that this country protects those accused.  One question is uppermost in my mind, however.  How is it possible to pick a vice presidential candidate, a person who might become the president of the United States of America at any time during a projected McCain administration, how is it possible to pick a person who is CURRENTLY UNDER AN ETHICS INVESTIGATION?  She MIGHT be found guilty after all!!!  Are there no upstanding Republican citizens out there who have the resume and are not under a cloud of possible wrongdoing?  I have never heard of a candidate for any office in government being selected while under investigation!!!   Yes investigations occur while people are in office and yes sometimes they are fueled politically.  But this investigation, whether politically fueled or not was begun before Palin was selected for the number two spot in this country.   What this says about how McCain would manage the presidency is impossible to even formulate. The recklessness of this decision--whether it wins him the election or not (and it might)-- is unspeakable.   Let's just say that "country first" doesn't hit it.

Josie Oppenheim, New York, NY (Friday, September 05, 2008 11:09 AM)

The question isn't the reason for the firing, it's the misuse of POWER to get someone fired.  Whether the trooper deserved it or not, which he didn't get fired, the CHIEF OF POLICE did, for NOT firing the trooper.  Regardless, there are channels, and if this is the kind of administration (mavericks) doing whatever they please (i.e. BUSH administration), then Obama has it correct to say, "we don't want four more years of the same thing...."  A reason why America is suffering for the stupidity of 8 years of bull-headedness, misuse of power, and changing the rules as they see fit (POW interrogations).

Read:  In a phone conversation Friday night, Walt Monegan, who was Alaska's top cop until Palin fired him July 11, told the Daily News that the governor also had e-mailed him two or three times about her ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, though the e-mails didn't mention Wooten by name.

Monegan claims his refusal to fire Wooten was a major reason that Palin dismissed him. Wooten had been suspended for five days previously, based largely on complaints that Palin's family had initiated before Palin was governor."

NOW, you go thru proper channels and find out if she misused her power, and let that system work.  Whether she did or not, it warrants investigation....

T. G. queen creek, az (Friday, September 05, 2008 11:17 AM)

The crying about "liberal media" and "sexism" from the GOP/McCain camp is already starting to grate my nerves and will not hold up long.

Palin  showed up what, 5 minutes ago, is happy to call herself a "pit bull" and slam a man who has been making his case in front of the American people for the last year and a half, and yet cries any time her past is looked into.  And she had the nerve to call Hillary a "whiner"??  Wow

Now the McCain camp won't let her answer questions  or deal with the press.  Yeah that is a qualified VP all right.  She's one tough cookie!!

Meanwhile, Biden will be on Meet the Press, Good Morning America, town halls etc.  

If Sarah is so tough, let her answer questions like the men (Obama just squared off on Bill OReily's show!).  Let her earn her keep and make her case like everyone else.  If she can't do that, she has no business running for a position to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Jeff, IA (Friday, September 05, 2008 11:26 AM)

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Deep Background is NBC News’ investigative blog. It covers national security, terrorism, spies, Iraq, and politics, as well as government waste, fraud and abuse. It is edited by NBC News Senior Investigative Producer Jim Popkin.

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