By Jim Popkin, NBC News
Years before "Troopergate" and accusations that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin tried to kick her former brother-in-law out of the state police force, she was praising him as "a fine example" of "high-caliber personnel." In a letter dated July 8, 1999, Sarah Palin commended her future brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, for his hard work at Wasilla's July 4th parade.
"SRA Wooten worked hard to locate and deliver appropriate supplies to use in our parade," the then-mayor of Wasilla wrote to Wooten's Air Force commander. "I believe Mike is a fine example of the high-caliber personnel we are blessed to have in the United States Air Force. He was extremely helpful to our community and I thank you for allowing his assistance," Palin wrote.
The unsigned letter is one of hundreds of documents released today to NBC News by the Wasilla city government, dating back to Palin's six-year term as mayor.
The documents also substantiate Palin's sustained use of federal earmarks to fund local projects (she now opposes earmarks on the campaign trail), her personnel moves as mayor and her opposition to environmentalists' efforts to protect Alaska's Steller sea lions. The sea-lion protection plan, Palin wrote to then-Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta, "will result in adverse conditions being placed on the livelihoods of Alaskans who rely on the fishing industry..."
Troopergate
The 1999 letter praising Wooten was written before he became a state trooper, and before he married Palin's sister, Molly.
In January 2000, as previously reported by Newsweek, Palin wrote a similar letter commending Wooten and calling him a "fine role model." That recommendation letter helped him land a job as a state trooper in Alaska, the magazine said.
The following year, Wooten married Palin's sister. But the couple broke up in 2005 and fought a bitter custody battle, with ugly accusations.
Gov. Palin is now under state investigation, along with her husband, Todd, to determine if they made improper or possibly illegal efforts to get Wooten disciplined, and even fired, as a state trooper. Palin has said that Wooten's actions and behavior were troubling, but she and Todd Palin have said they are innocent of any wrongdoing.
