Monday morning is almost here and ABC News and other news outlets are again going after the ‘Troopergate’ issue. We’re going to layout all the information you need about the players, issues, and the real story.
Major Players in Troopergate
Mike Wooten: ex-brother in law of Sarah Palin, current Alaskan State Trooper, ex-husband of Molly McCann, and former stepfather of McCann’s son.
Walt Monegan: Former Commissioner of Public Safety who resigned. He was NOT FIRED as reported by the media, but was offered an alternative job and chose not to take it.
Monegan Quote: “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.’
(Link)
How does Monegan treat women? Let his ex-wife Georgene Moldovan tell you:
Moldovan said she sought a restraining order against Monegan in 1994 after he threatened to kill her, waved a gun at her, and knocked her shoulder out of socket, according to court papers. The court papers say, “He pulled out his gun and waved it at me outside my home and yelled he would kill me if I stopped him.”
Moldovan told the SF Chronicle that Monegan “would show up unannounced and break into my apartment and do threatening things. I was forced to get a restraining order because I was really fearful he was going to harm me.” She said he also threatened to throw her body into a cold, Alaskan river. Monegan, for his part, said his ex-wife was telling “either half-truths or pure fabrications.”
Hollis French II: Obama supporter. Democratic state Senator that was overseeing the ‘Troopergate’ investigation. His father, Bob French, is a county commissioner in Summit County, Colorado.
Even French Himself Acknowledged That He Has Stepped Out Of Bounds. “French today acknowledged that some of his public comments about the ongoing probe may have been out of bounds. ‘I said some things I shouldn’t have said,’ he told Newsweek. But he insisted he had no intention of stepping down…” (Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, “Team McCain And The Trooper, Newsweek, 9/5/08)
French: “I should have had my project director hat screwed on more tightly and kept my mouth shut.” (”All White Noise,” The Associated Press, 9/10/08)
Steven Branchflower: Is The Special Counsel Appointed To Review The Dismissal Of Former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.
Steven Branchflower’s wife is also a conflict of interest in this story. Check it out here. She was a detective working with Monegan.
What is the problem with Branchflower’s involvement?
Branchflower And Walt Monegan Were Colleagues.
“French will supervise Branchflower. French, also a former prosecutor and colleague of Branchflower, has told the council that the investigator will go to work gathering evidence and could come back to lawmakers if ’some people just won’t talk.’ The House and Senate Judiciary Committees could then issue subpoenas to compel testimony.” (Megan Holland, “Branchflower Will Investigate Monegan Case,” Anchorage Daily News, 8/2/08)
Kim Elton: Chairman Of Alaska’s Legislative Council and refused Republican John Coghill’s request to remove Hollis French as the overseer of the Monegan Investigation. He denied Coghill.
The Alaskan Democrats aren’t done here. They gave money to Barack Obama and supported his campaign. All the while, they were members or connected to the Troopergate scandal in some fashion.
The Real Story
The Alaskan state Troopers kept the majority of this story among themselves until Sarah Palin was nominated as John McCain’s VP.
Mike Wooten, for all the drama, continues to be a Trooper. Even after being reprimanded for illegally moose hunting under someone else’s permit, alcohol related incidences which was investigated in the Grimes Investigation , and of course—tasering his 11 year old stepson.
All of the incidences with Mike Wooten were before Sarah Palin was governor.
On October 10, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously voted to release the Branchflower investigative report, which implicated Palin of violating the public trust through abuse of power. On November 3, 2008, the day before Election Day, the Alaska State Personnel Board released the findings of its probe, which cleared Palin of violating ethics laws. These two investigations provided contradictory conclusions.
(Link)
Keep in mind the members of the Alaska Legislative Council and their connections to Democratic members mentioned above.
And because Sarah Palin was trying to clean up Alaska politics and tapped to be Vice President, both the left and unprincipled Republicans worked overtime to trash her reputation. However, there is a reason why so many Alaskans on both sides love her.
Sarah Palin will emerge from this overblown and Democratic outrage to maintaining being one of America’s most popular governors. If you read the newspapers in the rest of America, Sarah Palin has been trashed by Americans that do not really know her or Alaskans.
We’re proud of our Sarah and if she chooses to run again; it will be on her terms and not at the request of someone else. She has a lot to offer this country and unfortunately, too many political foes know this and continue to trash and degrade her good name.
Shaele (EMFK)
