Posted on 09/15/2008 11:55:56 AM PDT by Zakeet
Walt Monegan Says He Was Called to Gov.'s Office Over a "Private Family Matter"
"She's not telling the truth when she told ABC neither she nor her husband pressured me to fire Trooper Wooten," said Walt Monegan, the Alaskan official whose dismissal by Sarah Palin is the focus of a state investigation known as "Troopergate". "And she's not telling the truth to the media about her reasons for firing me."
In an exclusive interview with ABC News.com, former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan said he resisted pressure by the First Couple to re-open an old case against a state trooper, who was in a hotly contested divorce and custody battle with the Governor's sister Molly.
Alaskan lawmakers are investigating whether Palin and her husband used the power of the Governor's office to conduct a personal vendetta against their former brother-in-law, whose behavior during the 2005 divorce was described by the Palin family as " threatening."
In a 20/20 interview, Palin told ABC's Charles Gibson she dismissed Monegan for poor job performance and that neither she nor her husband pressured Monegan to fire State Trooper Wooten. "We never did. I never pressured him to hire or fire anybody," Palin said.
But Monegan told ABC News.com he was summoned to a meeting with Todd Palin in December 2006, shortly after Sarah Palin became governor.
"I was called to her Anchorage formal Governor's office to talk with Todd Palin about an issue that was a private family matter," recounted Monegan. Todd became "upset," Monegan recalled, when told the allegations had already been investigated and the case would not be re-opened.
"When Sarah later called to tell me the same thing, I thought to myself, 'I may not be long for this job.'"
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
McCain/Palin are running as reformers. How in the heck is any executive, Republican or Democrat, going to follow-through on that commitment if they can't even fire an "At-Will" employee?
“For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff,” Monegan said Friday from Portland. “What they said directly was more along the lines of ‘This isn’t a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.’
WOMEN OF AMERICA DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM THAT SARAH FILED THIS WIFE BEATER, FOR NOT FIRING ANOTHER WIFE BEATER.
When Palin was elected Goveror it seems to me that the security and safety of the Governor and her immediate family takes priority.
Don’t you think that a brother-in-law who had wandered off the reservation (so to speak) would be a problem for the Governor’s family?
So the Governor and her family should have just let the ex-husband run amok?
Well, we now know what the lead on tonight’s ABC World News will be. I read she even offered him another job as director of Alcoholic Beverage control. A disgusting employee and with this Gibson is showing he’s in the tank for Obama, no matter what Brit says about him.
“In fact, there were three separate trips that the Governor and former commissioner Monegan took together including Bethel, Dillingham and twice to New Stuyahok.”
TWICE to New Stuyahok? I thought she was all against these fancy “fact finding” tours. I wonder what lobbyist paid for these trips. ;)
“Fired Official”, what a misleading and propaganda filled headline. He is not an official. How about “Disgruntled Employee”?
” no matter what Brit says about him.”
Surprised to hear Brit sort of defend him, but even friends sometimes take time to see that the reality of the situation.
Will give Brit credit for debunking the 95% tax cut scenario with Juan.
In essence he said you can’t cut taxes on people who don’t pay any. Baracks plan just gives them money.........
Wasn’t this guy’s position an “at-will” position? She didn’t need a reason to let him go. It isn’t even an issue. I suppose that, if dems actually worked for a living, they’d understand the concept of “at will”.
"ABC NEWS: You forgot to add that, Mr Monegan stated in July to the Anchorage Daily News: "For the record, no one, not the governor, nor the first gentleman, nor anyone else on the Governors staff told me to fire Trooper Wooten. Gee, I wonder why you left that out? Check it out, look it up. It took me less than 24 hours to research Troopergate."
Monegan is lying. Palin offered him a different job which he refused. She would not have offered a different job if she was mad at him for not firing the trouper.
Exactly. The trooper stated his son consented to it and it was all done safe-like. Problem:
(1) Child can't consent to an assault from an adult (and this wasn't disciplinary and even if it were likely it would still be an assault given the unauthorized use of this weapon and the nature of it)
(2) The tazer was clearly being used contrary to regulations.
Two points, first Monegan was not told to fire Wooten but instead was asked to reopen the case, especially since the threats against the family took on more importance now that she was governor. Obviously the Palin's hoped that concerns about security in her new job would cause Monegan to take a second look at Wooten. She could also make the case that the trooper, by his past actions and threats, was himself a threat to other citizens who may cross him.
Second, it looks like Monegan lasted for another eighteen months. She gave him a chance to come on board but for whatever reason, he didn't meet expectations and she relieved him of duty but gave him another position in state government which he declined. She certainly went the extra mile in my opinion. I contrast that with King Bill Richardson here in NM. Disagree or displease him or and you're gone, out the door.
This is not the first time Monegan has lost his job. In 2006, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (Democrat) asked him to leave his post as Anchorage police chief early, although Monegan was willing to stay on another year. At the time, Begich had just won re-election and was restructuring department leadership.
Monegan joked that he’s “getting a complex,” but said the kinds of jobs he’s had lately are ones where you serve at the pleasure of your boss.
“They can call me in and say, you know, ‘I don’t like your hair; you’re fired,’ “ Monegan said.
More here...
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/463204.html
Any chance the BIL and other officers had something on this guy that made him want to protect the officers?
You know, in my opinion and based on my experience, most employers try NOT to fire an underperforming employee. They try to work with them to improve performance or refer them to counselors (eg. a state government employee assistance program) to get them help with these issues. They may regret they hired them, but try to help them when they can. Based on what I’m reading, she had as many or more issues with his performance than with his inaction with Wooten.
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