Palin E-Mails in Troopergate Revealed

Washington Post: Messages Criticize Investigation Into Ex-Brother-In-Law For Not Firing Him

(Washingtonpost.com)  By Washington Post Staff Writers James V. Grimaldi and Karl Vick.

---

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate for GOP presidential candidate John McCain, wrote e-mails that harshly criticized Alaska state troopers for failing to fire her former brother-in-law and ridiculed an internal affairs investigation into his conduct.

The e-mails were shown to The Washington Post by a former public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan, who was fired by Palin in July. Monegan has given copies of the e-mails to state ethics investigators to support his contention that he was dismissed for failing to fire Trooper Mike Wooten, who at the time was feuding with Palin's family.

"This trooper is still out on the street, in fact he's been promoted," said a Feb. 7, 2007, e-mail sent from Palin's personal Yahoo account and written to give Monegan permission to speak on a violent-crime bill before the state legislature.

"It was a joke, the whole year long 'investigation' of him," the e-mail said. "This is the same trooper who's out there today telling people the new administration is going to destroy the trooper organization, and that he'd 'never work for that b****', Palin'.)"

Asked about the e-mails, Palin's campaign spokeswoman, Maria Comella, said that Palin was merely alerting officials to potential threats to her family and that there is no evidence that Palin ever ordered Wooten to be fired.

"Let's be clear, Governor Palin has done nothing wrong and is an open book in this process. Mr. Monegan even stated himself that no one ever told him to fire anyone, period," Comella said later in a statement. "The Governor was rightly expressing concern about Mr. Wooten."

Palin is under investigation by a bipartisan state legislative body that was authorized last month to look into whether Palin pressured Monegan to force Wooten from the state police force and whether his failure to do so led to his dismissal.

Palin had promised to cooperate with the legislative inquiry, but this week moved to change the jurisdiction of the case to the state personnel board, which Palin appoints. Her attorney, Thomas V. Van Flein, who was hired last month, challenged the jurisdiction of Stephen Branchflower, the retired prosecutor hired to investigate and report back to the legislature by the last week of October.

When Palin entered the governor's office in late 2006, Wooten already had been reprimanded, reassigned and suspended for five days for incidents reported by Palin's family. They had filed complaints in April 2005 after her younger sister's marriage fell apart and the couple battled in a bitter child-custody dispute.

Palin has said previously that she discussed Wooten with Monegan only in the context of security concerns for the family. Monegan has said that Palin never directly told him to fire Wooten but that the message was clearly conveyed through repeated messages from Palin, her husband and three members of her Cabinet.

"To allege that I, or any member of my family ... directed disciplinary action be taken against any employee of the Department of Public Safety, is, quite simply, outrageous," Palin said in a statement in mid-July after Monegan's dismissal.

In August, Palin acknowledged that "pressure could have been perceived to exist, although I have only now become aware of it."

During an interview here Wednesday, Monegan said that as Alaska's top law enforcement official, he took his duties seriously. "I would willingly die for the governor, but I would never lie for her," he said.

He showed The Post two e-mails he received from Palin, but he declined to give copies. The first e-mail came on Feb. 7, 2007, after the governor's husband, Todd, met with Monegan to press the case for disciplinary action against Wooten. Palin's family had accused the trooper of shooting a cow moose without a permit, Tasering his stepson, and drinking while driving a trooper vehicle. After her husband met with Monegan, Palin followed up with a phone call to Monegan.

In that first e-mail, sent a few weeks after the meeting, Palin encouraged Monegan to testify for a bill that would require 99-year sentences for police officers found guilty of murder. "For police officers to violate the public trust is a grave, grave violation - in my opinion. We have too many examples lately of cops and troopers who violate the public trust. DPS has come across as merely turning a blind eye or protecting that officer, seemingly 'for the good of the brotherhood'."

She cited Wooten's case as an example of violating the public trust. She recounted his transgressions, beginning with the killing of the cow moose using a permit obtained by his wife. Molly McCann, who uses her name from a previous marriage, was with Wooten at the time.

"He's still bragging about it in my hometown and after another cop confessed to witnessing the kill, the trooper was 'investigated' for over a year and merely given a slap on the wrist," the e-mail said. "Though he's out there arresting people today for the same crime!"

"He threatened to kill his estranged wife's parent, refused to be transferred to rural Alaska and continued to disparage Natives in words and tone, he continues to harass and intimidate his ex. - even after being slapped with a restraining order that was lifted when his supervisors intervened," the e-mail said. "He threatens to always be able to come out on top because he's 'got the badge', etc. etc. etc.)"

Palin wrote that the Wooten matter had contributed to "the erosion of faith Alaskans should have in their law enforcement officials." She concluded by saying the e-mail was "just my opinion."

The second e-mail Monegan produced came from Palin's Yahoo address on July 17, 2007, after the local newspaper publicized a legislative proposal that would keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

Her first thought about the bill, the e-mail said, "went to my ex-brother-in-law, the trooper, who threatened to kill my dad yet was not even reprimanded by his bosses and still to this day carries a gun, of course."

"We can't have double standards. Remember when the death threat was reported, and follow-on threats from Mike that he was going to 'bring Sarah and her family down' - instead of any reprimand WE were told by trooper union personnel that we'd be sued if we talked about those threats. Amazing. ...

"So consistency is needed here," the e-mail said. "No one's above the law. If the law needs to be changed to not allow access to guns for people threatening to kill someone, it must apply to everyone."

Research editor Alice Crites in Washington contributed to this report.

[clovisbuford]

3. If judge and jury decides against killing the unborn, then the woman will be required to carry the child full-term and give it up for adoption. We will create special home to care for these women. However, such women will be forever branded as a "Predatory Mother" for wanting to kill her unborn, and banned from ever having children, laws similar to our child molester laws now.
4. Fathers of the children of Predatory Mothers should be required to pay court costs, the expenses of the Predatory Mother while pregnant, and the cost of adoption. A Father should have the first right to adopt his own child, however.Posted by gctomajtom at 07:58 PM : Sep 04, 2008
wow I thought conservatives were for smaller govnt ,less intrusion , get them out of our lives etc. I suppose you are also opposed to comprehensive *** education , birth control , and condoms as unnecessary government intervention , but are totally supporting a seperate sets of courts indeed criminal laws jsut to deal with reproductive rights.you should actually just move to Tehran where they support that kind of intervention in peoples *** and personal lives,and wearing a bhurka etc. based on their state religious views

[clovisbuford]

It''''s not exactly "free love" as liberals want, but remember, 40 million unborn have died since Row v Wade, and that fact is an example of humanity at it''''s most primitive form.
Posted by gctomajtom at 07:58 PM : Sep 04, 2008
err wasn''t row vs wade asked as a question to GW back when katrina hit ,and he said he didnt care it wasn''t his problem how they got out?

[clovisbuford]

No one hear should discuss the Sarah palin thing until they have let republicans present their case on it , truly. John stewart has karl rove , bill o''Reilly , helll sarah palin herself talking on it .. classic john stewart .. www.thedailyshow.com
then you can have a rational discussion of the arguments

[irisfay]

Can we start talking honestly about issues please? So far i''ve fallen asleep 3 times and when I wake up, I hear another bunch of distortions and lies. Does he have anything to say about the troubles we''re in economically, politically, environmentally? Does he know there are poor people in America? there are men and women dying in this ridiculous war? Oh, I forgot, they don''t want us to think about that. What about world opinion who can see more clearly how American is going down thanks to these people. Their bs is such a bunch of self grandizing *** because they have no policies, just flag waving military fear mongaring with no facts to support their ***. Wake up America, before it''s too late! AND QUIT USING PRETTY FACES AND MILITARY HEROISM TO CONVINCE US ABOUT WHAT''S GOOD FOR AMERICA; IT''S NOT WORKING ANYMORE- Believe it or not, most of us know that game and your sentimentality is juvenile. Keep it honest and keep the American Dream alive. Viva la CONSTITUTION! and you religious right wing fanactics, quit ************ Americans with your self rightousness and hypocracy. God Bless America and save us from their deception and distortion of truth.

[vetforobama]

By the way, you are so ignorant of things, I don''''''''''''''''t even think you are a US citizen.

Posted by gctomajtom at 07:01 PM : Sep 04, 2008

------------------

Another classy statement by someone of obvious supperior intellegence. So, do you have Bomb, Bomb, Bomb,...Bomb, Bomb Iran by John McCain loaded on your iPod?

[jw218389]

Why is the GOVERNOR of ALaska MICROMANAGING the State Police???

Because as "Governor" of Alaska she has fewer employees than the MAYOR of Fort Lauderdale!!!

Can you imagine a MAYOR running for VP???

Give me a break!!!

[vetforobama]

Pleazzze! You''''re gonna make me puke. You know the writer of that "no federal experience" comment was just being mean-spirited.

Obama and his people have no sense of fairness at all, so ideas about nice little debates is just madness.

I knew for sure that when the Obama campaign played the race card against Bill Clinton that they were not going to be fair in any way at all. Obama is just useless so all he can do is attack.










--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by gctomajtom at 07:24 PM : Sep 04, 2008

--------------------

FOX News said today that Senator Obama has run probably the classiest campaigns ever. He and Biden have not only said that going after Palen''s personal life is off limit, he got that message out to his entire staff. Meanwhile he has critisized the media for their attacks.

Meanwhile, McCain when asked about Corsi''s book chalked full of lies and personal attacks said, with a sh*t-eating grin and a chuckle "you have to have a sense of humor".

[jw218389]

You get on the wrong side of a GOPer and they don''t care about the truth... She fired the guy that followed the rules.

That''s what we need is ANOTHER Executive (President & VP) that don''t follow the rules...

Bush/Cheney already wipe their @ss with the Constitution.

Palin is just another rich elitest that thinks she''s better than the Middle Class!!

[vetforobama]

Less than 2% of all abortions are for rape or incest, all the rest are the result of predatory mothers who willingly sacrifice their unborn because they don''''''''''''''''t want to be inconvenienced.


Posted by gctomajtom at 06:45 PM : Sep 04, 2008

------------------------

I don''t agree with your primace, but I''ll humor you. So you want these predatory mothers to go through delivery. Then what? Cot-death, accidental drowning, suicide?

[vetforobama]

BEST ARTICLE TO HILLARY VOTERS YET

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton''''s candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama''''s still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I''''ll amputate my legs

[vetforobama]

Folks PEOPLE like this are going to destroy this nation. Do ANY of you know what we are going to have to do to stop Abortions? We are going to have to have a POLICE State and ALL our rights will be tossed in the Trash. A scared Teen or desperate Wife are NOT going to be prevented from having and Abortion. Now we CAN prevent the need for Abortion by working together and making the Morning after pill more available. The idea that somehow we are going to stop or change nature is simply a non starter and becoming someone like this will solve NOTHING. When we put the Government in the position to control peoples bodies, that is a very slippery sloop indeed.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by skyk at 07:05 PM : Sep 04, 2008

---------------

Excellent Post

For the person who said "the blood is in your hands", who are you talking about? I didn''t authorize a war that has taken 800,000 (and counting) Iraqi lives and thousands (and counting) American lives. All under false pretences.

If you happen to be talking about abortion with your "blood on your hands" rhetoric, well, I have never had an abortion or participated in one and I''m sure most other readers here haven''t either.

[firststate]

Major Tom
I''d leave W and Jimmy out of the argument about success on the national scene without federal experience. Their job approval ratings are close, but I can''t remember a president who has squandered the approval numbers W once had.

[vetforobama]

gctomajtom, You may think that Palen is experienced, but when another post said "she doesn''t have one day of federal experience" that is simply the truth.

A civilized debate will beat trash talk every time.

[skyk-2009]

This is just mindless Demo Party trash talk. That it is spoken on behalf of Obama just makes Obama look dumber than he already is.

You attack Palin for her lack of federal experience, but what about Gov. GW Bush, Gov. Bill Clinton, Gov. Ronald Reagan, Gov. Jimmy Carter... and so forth.

NONE of them had federal experience, but you are totally blinds to reality. You''''re just a mad dog that will retell any lie to help the failing Obama.

By the way, you are so ignorant of things, I don''''t even think you are a US citizen.



Posted by gctomajtom at 07:01 PM : Sep 04, 2008

You think people on here are working for Obama? LOL What ALL of us who care about our Kids and Grand Kids should be asking, no demanding, is solutions. Falling for this hype is how we ended up with the Worst President in US History. Now you can go on just falling for the Snake Oil... that''s how people like Larry Craig survive but rest assured our standard of living is NOT going to reverse as long as we have NO solution to Social Security, Medicare and so many more. We are NOT going to see that Enormous Debt going down until we trash Bush''s Economic Policies. THESE are the things we MUST, as American Citizens, look or the next generation will most certainly be passed down a life worse than we had. THAT we can NOT do!! Obama 08

[skyk-2009]

What''''s that supposed to mean? You Liberals are the ones responsible for 40 million killings since Roe v Wade. The blood is on YOUR hands.

NotE that your candidate, Obama, wants to kill even more! That is the real shame of it all.

The idea that a woman has the right to kill her own unborn is barbaric.

There is no one on the planet LESS qualified to make life and death decisions than a self-absorbed, self-serving pregnant woman.

Less than 2% of all abortions are for rape or incest, all the rest are the result of predatory mothers who willingly sacrifice their unborn because they don''''''''t want to be inconvenienced.


Posted by gctomajtom at 06:45 PM : Sep 04, 2008

Folks PEOPLE like this are going to destroy this nation. Do ANY of you know what we are going to have to do to stop Abortions? We are going to have to have a POLICE State and ALL our rights will be tossed in the Trash. A scared Teen or desperate Wife are NOT going to be prevented from having and Abortion. Now we CAN prevent the need for Abortion by working together and making the Morning after pill more available. The idea that somehow we are going to stop or change nature is simply a non starter and becoming someone like this will solve NOTHING. When we put the Government in the position to control peoples bodies, that is a very slippery sloop indeed.

[vetforobama]

Will your taxes go up or down after the election? Simple comparison right here:
------------
http://www.washingtonpos
t.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/09/ST
2008060900950.html
------------




I wish this candidate would be a little more honest and stop lying to us:
------------
http://www.factcheck.
org/elections-2008/more_tax_deceptions.h
tml
------------
Posted by notelatu at 06:52 PM : Sep 04, 2008

----------------------

Great post but for those who won''t bother going to these Sites, the general principle here is that McCain is lying to all of us on Obama and his tax plans.

Plane truth is foresir 95% under Obama your taxes will go down. For me my taxes will go up...but with an improved economy I will have more spending power anyway.

FACT - Over the last 100 years Democratic presidents have resided over the best economies.

FACT - Over the past 20 years (BUSH/CLINTON/BUSH) the Democratic economy has far out performed their GOP counterparts.

FACT - Most independent economists prefer Obama''s plan over McCains.

[skyk-2009]

Are you folks SURE you want to do a Bush Administration 3?

[vetforobama]

Shame on you baby killer.

----------------.


You are allowing yourself to be sucked in by Carl Rove tactics. Ever since Carl Rove worked on Nixon''s campagn in the 1970''s the GOP has used abortion as a wedge issue. This tactic worked excedingly well in the last two elections.

Simple fact is that if you are against abortions, as I am generally, all you have to do is live your life that way and try to promote others to live that way. If abortions where outlawed the results would be back alley abortions or Mexico for the poor and more expensive "vacation" abortions for the rich. A US law outlawing abortions wouldn''t stop them and probably wouldn''t even reduce them. Women can now get pills which will have the same result as surgical abortion. If you outlaw them they will be sold on the black market.

At this point in time, I believe that trying to turn back the clock would only have a result similar to prohibition.

None of this even takes into consideration the grey areas, of which there are many, such as rape, incest, and extream birth defects such as being non-functional, but clinically "alive".

There are a lot of things people can do that YOUR beliefs won''t allow you to support, but voting on a whole range of issue is not the same as saying you support any one of them.

You can still try to persuade others in civilized debate.

[wastedbandwidth]

had to wade thru two thirds of the trivial drivel before I got to: "tasing a child, driving a patrol car drunk, poaching and threatening to kill a family member"
the guy deserves to be in jail.

[firststate]

McBush and Palin want the discussion to be about the liberal media or Obama''s personality and lack of experience. They definitely don''t want to talk about the fact that much of McBush''s experience is at the root of some of our problems.

They don''t want to talk about McBush introducing and/or cosponsoring reform legislation in order to attach his name to it before opposing it. They don''t want to hear about his efforts to influence action by the Federal Communications Commission in a case that involved a major contributor to his campaign.

About McCain, " . . . it%u2019s also important for people to know that my friend is raising money from people who have business in front of his committee. Nothing illegal about that, but I just want to make sure the facts are laid bare," "The reality is he is the person who has been the Washington insider," and "What I need to do is make it clear and not let Senator McCain get away with this Washington double-talk." These are George Bush''s thoughts about McCain. Even he gets it right sometime.