Troopergate Still Hounds Palin

CBS Evening News: Witness Refusals To Answer Subpoenas The Latest Development In Corruption Probe

(CBS)  Demonstrators gathered Saturday in Anchorage to demand that Gov. Sarah Palin keep her earlier pledge to cooperate with the corruption probe know as Troopergate.

But an investigation that once seemed of interest only to Alaskans has taken on much greater significance with her presence on the Republican presidential ticket, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.

At the Alaska Legislative Building in downtown Anchorage Friday, the hearing room was ready for seven state employees subpoenaed to testify. But no one showed up.

The inquiry into Palin's firing of the head of the state police began with her promising full cooperation.

"I did not abuse my office powers, yeah, and I don't know how to be more blunt and candid and honest about it but to tell you the truth that no pressure was ever put on anybody to fire anybody," Palin said in July.

But now, 10 witnesses associated with the governor, including her husband Todd, have refused to testify.

Palin's supporters complain the investigation is being used to smear her as she campaigns as John McCain's running mate. They think any findings will be tainted.

"If this is all supposed to be done at arm's length from the political process, I think the genie's out of the bottle," said State Sen. Gene Therriault, a Republican. "And I don't know how you can put him back in."

Supporters of the inquiry say presidential politics is behind an all-out push to close the investigation down.

"There are many efforts to try to stop the investigation, no doubt about it," said Democratic State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, who told CBS News he thinks the McCain campaign is behind those efforts.

Alaska's attorney general has filed a lawsuit challenging the "validity" of the subpoenas issued in the investigation. And six Alaskan lawmakers who support Palin are seeking a temporary restraining order to bring the investigation to a halt until after the election.

While Palin remains popular in Alaska overall, Troopergate and the presidential campaign seem to be taking a toll on her popularity even here.

A month ago when she got the vice presidential nod, her favorable rating among Alaskans was 82 percent. According to a poll released this week, that number's dropped to 68 percent.

[hillary1973]

Why does MAYFERY insist on yelling at everyone in crazy rambling sentences with poor grammar?

[hillary1973]

She is virtually incomprehensible. This was the closest she came to making any sense because they didn''t ask her anything that she had to be coached on. It''s almost like her brain doesn''t process most of the questions.

You realize she could not name another Supreme Court decision besides Roe v Wade. They teach that in grade school. She''s just like Bush, incurious.

[seenitallx9]

We believed Bush and now we''re in a heap o'' trouble. Go ahead and believe Sarah and McCain who are putting up a smoke screen so you can''t see the truth. See how far down is. McCain has no conscience. He left his first wife who loved him and waited for him. He''s unreliable and senile. His lack of judgement gives him away.

[seenitallx9]

We believed Bush and now we''re in a heap o'' trouble. Go ahead and believe Sarah and McCain who are putting up a smoke screen so you can''t see the truth. See how far down is. McCain has no conscience. He left his first wife who loved him and waited for him. He''s unreliable and senile. His judgement gives him away.

[ibwilliamsi]

It boggles the mind that interviewing a Vice Presidential Candidate should be considered "shameful", or that any adult should think that the American People should "just acknowledge" someone''s accomplishments without question.

But what is worse is that learning constitutional law as preparation to be the President of the United States of America should be seen as "memorizing outdated documents" while shooting a moose and nepotism qualifies you to get a free pass, no questions asked.

This country has had enough "stupid" in the past 8 years. It''s time for an intelligent leader. If you''re not stupid, you''ll vote for Obama.

[expression12]

this is for "Cinn00" please learn how to spell before you post your silly comments. your comment made no sense.

[juwboy]

This Comment, posted yesterday, was deleted by CBS:

History, from the lips of Joe Biden:

"When the Stock Market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television and ..."

1. Franklin Roosevelt was President, 1933-1945.

2. The Stock Market crashed in 1929.

3. The only televisions in 1929 were prototypes in inventors` research labs.

CBS, why was this deleted? The Joe Biden quote is accurate and his ignorant statement was made just a few days ago.

[charlenew222]

Here''s a link to a video of Sarah Palin and her own words on the increased scrutiny as a woman vying for political office.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Y8FKAsxmk
So, according to Sarah, you need to face the scrutiny head on, speak to it, work harder and prove yourself.
This is a far cry from her being hidden away from the press, or refusing to talk with the press.
Our politicians are completely hypocritical these days. And the press never calls them on it. Transparency my foot. And where is Ms. Palin ? and where are her tax returns? And where are Mrs. McCain''s tax returns.
The news seems so narrow these days. The news get one story and runs it again and again. Why hasn''t the press used Palin''s own words to question why she is now not available ????
For heaven''s sakes, develop some hutzpah. Don''t repeat the same old tired lines. Do your job - question, question, question. Shine the light in the corners . . .
What happened to the press reporting on almost 40 employees of the McCain campaign who have worked for or on behalf of Freddie Mac and Fannie May, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars they have received from those organizations ??? As this news was just about to come out, McCain pulled his "Hail Mary" stunt of (not) suspending his campaign, and the news media COMPLETELY dropped the ball on that story. WHY???
Why has Palin been given such a pass?

[cinn00]

Dear John McCain,
This interview is a wonderful testament to you and your running mate Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin''''s assests to our country are being vastly underestimated and her responses taken out of context, just like the media does to everyone incliding Barack Obama and Joe Biden, etc.
Let''''s get past this grilling the candidate phase (Katie...shame shame) and give her credit for who she is, a strong smart woman whom is governor (with the highest approval rating in the nation) and has acheived more than most people in their life. Just because she hasn''''t spent her life going to Harvard memorizizng outdated doctrines, doesn''''t mean she hasn''''t been serving our country. She even raised her son to respect this nation so much that he is going to Iraq to honor this country. Don''''t we all wish we had such strong convictions?
Thank you Gov. Palin for being a Patriot! And thank you John McCain for rescognizing this patriot and giving her a platform to share her patriotism!

[pearlsm]

This individual needs to understand the meaning of the word transparency, and that she needs to walk it, not just talk it. I am tired of the constant complaining about how she''s been treated with regard to Troopergate and her other actions as a governor--the bottom line, Governor, is if you want to run for one of the highest offices in the land, you''d better be ready to be put under a microscope (there''s that transparency thing again)--if you made questionable decisions, this is where you are going to reap the consequences. If you believe you didn''t do anything wrong, then you have nothing to hide and you owe it to your constituents to prove it. They didn''t ask you to run for VP--you made your bed, now lie in it.
(And quite frankly, watching the Couric interviews has been painful--it is so obvious that Palin is in so far over her head--just a pawn being used by the campaign to garner votes from uninformed people). As a woman, I am saddened that there are women out there who are actually supporting Palin just because of her ***.

[nevadanan]

Sure, wait until after the election to bring this investigation to a head when it''s possible Palin is the V.P. Then our nation, once again, will be sitting in moose dung while our position in the world continues to decline.

[marymark10]

Seems to be an all out effort to trap her in something. If the Dems can find 6-8 abuses of office in Alaska, Gov Palin will begin to approach Clinton while in Arkansas. Interesting that the scandels in Arkansas-troopergate, ***, drug, securities, real estate..... were not a big deal to dems back then.

[dixxson-2009]

Thanks BRAZIL42- Great, Informative, and extremely relevant information on Palin.
Those 2 actions alone shows why McCain chose her, Because Hitler would have Loved her!

It never ceases to amaze me when there is a negative story about a republican they seem to get to the press and get it squashed. What a bounch of hypocrites. Pregnant daughter out of wedlock. Ok for Sarah''s kid but not ok for Britney Spears sister. FIre a person because he refused to do the wrong thing. Ok for Sarah. Just saw her and Mcain on cbs evening news together. Republicans are afraid to let her open her mouth alone. Whats wrong with CBS that they could not have insisted of a one on one interview? They must be republicans also.

[relee42]

Palin spent $400k of public funds this past election to defeat a ballot measure that would stop aerial hunting of wolves. She is the worst governor in our states history. She also charged victims of rape for evidence kits as mayor of Wasilla, the only mayor to do that.

[karela33]

If Sarah wants to be trusted, she''ll have to behave in a trustworthy manner. Her behavior concerning "troopergate" has been far from transparent. Ir reeks of corruption. If she wants us to see it in another way, she should let the evidence speak for itself. Subverting the investigation tells another story. Yes, politics are being played in a hardball way around this issue, but it''s the republicans who are playing it. This started out as a bipartisan vote (8 republicans to 4 democrats on the judiciary committee who voted) that there was good reason to investigate; enough good reason to allocate $100,000 to it. The McCain campaign has made it political by interfering with an ongoing investigation and the attorney general of Alaska is certainly representing Palin, and not the state he swore an oath to, when he tells people under subpeona that they don''t have to appear and testify. Sarah demands absolute loyalty from her minions; even if it means breaking the law. Apparently HER attorney general got the message loud and clear.

[mairin27]

Even the person who was responsible for Palins entry into polictics, Nick Carney, is appalled that she has been picked as McCain''s running mate.

He stated she broke the law by spending $55,000 of road maintenance funds, without the council''s permission. "When I braced her about that her response, and I will never forget it, is ''I''m the mayor and I can do anything I want until the courts say I can''t,'' " Carney recalls.

Carney watched as Palin fired many of the long-serving city employees, including the librarian, police chief and museum manager. She hired the former lawyer for the Alaska Republican Party to be the new city attorney. He said she was simply repaying political debts.
"Always, her first question is: ''How is this decision going to affect me and my administration.'' It was never, ''Is this the best thing for the city of Wasilla?'' " said Carney.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10503452?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

[hapklein]

The closer we look the worse she appears. I had a very open mind when I first saw her and listened to the little bit she ever said.

But the more we see of her dealings in her hometown and some of the nasty things she was reported to have done and which seemed to be corroborated by more and more witnesses I must conclude she is just nt avery nice person and is in fact a nasty second rate mayor of a backwater village.

It was the dynamics of Alaska politics rather than her ability that got her elected governor and she has since cost the state tax payers a lot of money with the two big bills she worked. I just read yesterday that the pipeline deal she thinks is so great for the US actually supplies gas to Calgary and nowhere near the US border.

I guess Sarah never studied too much geography either.

[royalia]

See, I can spam just like you!

[abbe91]

"If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself."

Kathleen Parker, conservative columnist.