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Sarah Palin has been cleared of abusing her office in the "Troopergate" case by a state personnel board, which over-turned the findings of an earlier probe by the state legislator. The investigation into the dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner found that the Alaskan governor had not abused the power of her office by firing Walt Monegan. It also cleared her from ethics violations in respect to her dealings regarding Michael Wooten, the state trooper involved in a contentious divorce and custody battle with her sister. The report, released the day before the US presidential elections, concluded there was...

Today, 02:33 PM Sandy in PA Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 5,450 Poster Rank: #7 (10/12/08) "Top Investigator In Palin Troopergate Smear Campaign Is Phony Soldier" (Gateway Pundit) Obama Supporter Hollis Lied & Claimed He was a Marine Quote: Democratic state Senator Hollis French, the lead investigator in the smear campaign against Governor Palin, promised his party that the results of the Troopergate probe would be an "October surprise" that would "likely be damaging to the administration." French is one of the 20%'ers in Alaska who does not approve of Governor Sarah Palin. He also is a staunch Obama...

"Troopergate" Report: "A Proper and Lawful Exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority"by Mark Rhoads If you are surprised that a committee of partisan Democrats and anti-Palin Republicans from the good-old Alaska legislature would release a report critical of Gov. Palin, then you must have been astonished that the sun came up this morning. If this is the worst that they have on Palin, it is not going to sway many voters one way or another. There are four findings. Two are inconsequential and one of those deals with a workman's compensation case for Trooper Wooten, Gov. Palin's ex-brother-in-law. The...

STATEMENT FROM MCCAIN-PALIN SPOKESWOMAN MEG STAPLETON Friday, October 10, 2008 ARLINGTON, VA — McCain-Palin 2008 spokeswoman Meg Stapleton issued the following statement on today’s release of Stephen Branchflower’s report: “Today’s report shows that the Governor acted within her proper and lawful authority in the reassignment of Walt Monegan. 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. Lacking evidence to support the original Monegan allegation, the Legislative Council seriously overreached, making a...

We've all seen the headlines. According to the MSM Obamedia, Sarah Palin has been found to have abused her power as Governor by reassigning one of her appointees to another job. Mysteriously missing from this claim is the fact that as Governor she has the legal right to do so to any appointee at any time, regardless of what anyone thinks about it. So in fact, Sarah did not abuse her power, she exercised it. And that seems to be what the uproar is all about. There is not a single fact in the 263 page report that clearly demonstrates...

The chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday that Governor Sarah Palin broke no laws when she tried to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. The inquiry looked into her dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire trooper Mike Wooten. However, Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute, and the panel said his firing was lawful.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state's public safety commissioner. The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn't the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor. The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing a commissioner to settle a family dispute. Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated. Monegan says he was dismissed as retribution for resisting pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's...

Conclusion "The framers of Alaska's Constitution vested the office of the governor with very broad discretion to fire the head of any department, for virtually any reason, without preapproval or review by the legislative branch of government. Governor Palin has not submitted to an interview with me, or provided any written explanation of the reasons' she fired Commissioner Monegan. There are indications in the record that there was not universal support for Commissioner Monegan among other department heads. Comments in the press linked the governor suggest there was a feeling within the governor's office that he was not a team...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her power as Alaska's governor in the firing of her former public safety commissioner, but violated no laws, a report for the state Legislature concluded Friday. Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Palin's ex-brother-in-law from the state police force was "likely a contributing factor" to Monegan's July dismissal, but Palin had the authority as governor to sack him, the report by former Anchorage prosecutor Stephen Branchflower states.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A legislative committee investigating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has found she unlawfully abused her authority in firing the state's public safety commissioner. The investigative report concludes that a family grudge wasn't the sole reason for firing Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan but says it likely was a contributing factor. The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing a commissioner to settle a family dispute. Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated. Monegan says he was dismissed as retribution for resisting pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's...

<p>ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A state legislative panel has concluded that Sarah Palin abused her power in the firing of the state's public safety commissioner.</p> <p>The findings were released after lawmakers emerged Friday from a private session in Anchorage where they spent more than six hours discussing a politically charged ethics report into the firing by Gov. Palin.</p>

Branchflower Report Released: Palin was within her rights to fire Monegan The headline that will be screamed from the rooftops everywhere is Branchflower's claim that Palin "abused her power." But he also admits she was within her right to can Monegan. I've skimmed through much of it and the basic conclusion is that Todd Palin was trying to exert pressure to get Wooten fired, and Palin should have stopped him from doing this. She herself is not accused of doing anything. Pretty thin gruel. But of course, the media will have an orgy with this.

Democrats pushing "Troopergate" are getting closer and closer to defending the records of two abusive men who have threatened family members and on occasion taken violent action towards them. Alaska's former Public Safety Commisioner Walt Monegan and state trooper Mike Wooten both have a distrubing history of abuse. Monegan, of course, is the man who Democrats believe GOP vice presidential contender Sarah Palin improperly fired as Alaskan Governor and who is at the center of their controversial "Troopergate" inquiry. Wooten is Palin's former brother-in-law who Democrats think Palin unethically pressured Monegan to terminate. Via the San Francisco Chronicle Monegan admitted...

See all theTrooper'gate saga posts hereI swear, I'm not sure why I'm wasting my time, or yours, with this post. Took about 24 hours off to be with my granddaughter, and re'entered the news world to find the media and Palin hater dogs are off, chasing a new bone of contention on the Trooper'gate/Monegan angle. First, let me say this in no uncertain terms. I don't care if Sarah Palin didn't like which side of his head Monegan parted his hair... she had a right to terminate him for any reason she wished because he served at will. Now, is...

Some members of the chattering classes — pinot-swilling, arugula-chomping snobs — seem to think Sarah Palin is not qualified to be vice president. Well, that’s not fair. Any thorough study of Palin’s record reveals that she has modeled her style of governance after Dick Cheney, whose authoritarian principles of leadership rely heavily on lying, secrecy and vindictiveness. Though Palin’s public career has been much shorter than Cheney’s, she has nevertheless shown a genuine flair for those same traits — telling lie after lie to conceal her misdeeds from public view and trying to destroy those who dare disagree with her....

An internal government document obtained by ABC News appears to contradict Sarah Palin's most recent explanation for why she fired her public safety chief, the move which prompted the now-contested state probe into "Troopergate." An internal government document obtained by ABC News appears to contradict Sarah Palin's most recent explanation for why she fired her public safety chief Walt Monegan, the move which prompted the now-contested state probe into "Troopergate."

Reader SBD, who is one of the best researchers I have seen, has pulled together an exhaustive history of events and reports surrounding Palin’s battles with Walt Monegan and is allies. It is a comment worthy of being a post all on its own, and is being copied here. Not surprising, the records shows that at the time Monegan was asked to take another position (he was not fired, he quit instead of taking the other job) all the reporting and screaming from Palin’s opponents revolved around the budget issues.

Exclusive: New Doubts Over Palin's Troopergate Claims Internal Government Document Contradicts Sarah Palin, Campaign By JUSTIN ROOD September 19, 2008— An internal government document obtained by ABC News appears to contradict Sarah Palin's most recent explanation for why she fired her public safety chief, the move which prompted the now-contested state probe into "Troopergate." Fighting back against allegations she may have fired her then-Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan, for refusing to go along with a personal vendetta, Palin on Monday argued in a legal filing that she fired Monegan because he had a "rogue mentality" and was bucking her administration's...

Democrats pushing "Troopergate" are getting closer and closer to defending the records of two abusive men who have threatened family members and on occasion taken violent action towards them. Alaska's former Public Safety Commisioner Walt Monegan and state trooper Mike Wooten both have a distrubing history of abuse. Monegan, of course, is the man who Democrats believe GOP vice presidential contender Sarah Palin improperly fired as Alaskan Governor and who is at the center of their controversial "Troopergate" inquiry. Wooten is Palin's former brother-in-law who Democrats think Palin unethically pressured Monegan to terminate. Via the San Francisco Chronicle Monegan admitted...

(FAIRBANKS) – In response to the political turn taken by the Legislative Council's inquiry into Walt Monegan's removal from office, today Christopher Huffman, a Fairbanks small business owner, filed an Alaska Freedom of Information Act request with Senator Kim Elton, Senator Hollis French, Stephen Branchflower, and Walter Monegan. The request seeks "all documents pertaining to the Alaska State Legislature inquiry" into the Monegan matter, including all documents related to the hiring of Stephen Branchflower and the evaluation of any other candidates for the position; all communications between Mr. Branchflower, Mr. Monegan, Sen. Kim Elton, or Sen. Hollis French and other...