I 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 this a scandal that she fired him for some personal vendetta, or not? And apparently, it’s becoming more than clear that it’s not. So now the media is off on another entrapment tangent, trying to play the “gotcha” game as to even her legitimate reasons for firing an appointee for sundry differences.
Case in point, Justin Rood at ABC news, whining over Monegan’s planned lobbying endeavor to the beltway to secure funds for an anti-sexual violence program. ABC triumphantly lauds it as “new doubt”…
And what’s the new bru ha ha? Is it related to Wooten? But no….
Instead it is questioning one of Palin’s reasons – citing an event that happened 4 days before she fired him, and his refusal to take another position.
Palin called it an “unauthorized lobbying trip”, and the liberal/progressives, desperately seeking anything to tank Palin’s numbers, point to a travel authorization signed by one of Palin’s staff, Mike Nizich. The authorization states the purpose of the trip is “to attend meeting with Senator Lisa Murkowski.”
Now all you “gotcha” types out there, I wouldn’t get too excited. Let’s follow once again the timeline.
The Palin campaign released many emails… and one of them, dated July 7th (pre’Veep era), from the Governor’s Special Counsel, John Katz, cited two great reasons why the lobbying trip in question would not have been approved by Gov. Palin:
In a July 7 e-mail, John Katz, the governor’s special counsel, noted two problems with the trip: the governor hadn’t agreed the money should be sought, and the request “is out of sequence with our other appropriations requests and could put a strain on the evolving relationship between the Governor and Sen. Stevens.”
The travel authorization is dated June 19th, and a noted purpose only to meet Sen. Murkowski… Monegan had to have known Palin was not seeking the money, nor sanctioned a lobbying trip for that purpose.
It appears that Monegan may have been trying to pull a fast one to advance a pet project, over Palin’s objections.
17 days later the General Counsel sent the email recommending *against* any lobbying trip, (this is still pre’Palin Veep). Obviously written after they found out Monegan’s purpose for the travel was more than stated on the authorization.
What was it Palin said? “Mr. Monegan persisted in planning to make the unauthorized lobbying trip to D.C.” Certainly appears that, despite the Palin’s lack of support for a lobbying trip, Monegan “persisted” in putting in a travel authorization request anyway with a vaguely stated purpose. Hummm… so far, looks like she was right.
The plot thickens in that this was an attempt by Monegan to mask his true intent for the beltway visit… as Hot Air’s Allahpundit points out, the date of Nizich’s signature is June 18th. But the travel authorization is actually dated a day later… June 19th.
Either Nizich did not know what day it was, or he signed a blank authorization document for what he believed was a standard visitation to an Alaskan Senator. So why would he do that? Apparently, the purpose of meeting Murkowski was not made clear on the authorization (if he just dated it wrong), or the verbal intent gave him the impression it would be a generally authorized trip.
According to Ruaro, Monegan asked for — and received — approval for the travel without telling Palin’s staff his reason for going. “As a matter of routine, the travel was approved by Mike Nizich … weeks before the actual purpose was made clear by former Commissioner Monegan,” Ruaro wrote.
“When you receive permission to travel, it does not mean that you receive blanket authorization to discuss or do whatever you would like on that trip,” he added.
BTW, Nizich is one of those on the Legislative Council’s…. er Steve Branchwater’s… list of witnesses. And he is also one of those who will be cooperating with a Personnel Board investigation, and enjoying the Alaskan AG’s office advice that showing up (for the Legislative inquisition) is not mandatory…
In fact, with these released emails, Thomas Van Flein has used them as further evidence in his plea to the Personnel Board to find “no probable cause” for further investigation. Per an AP/Google article:
The e-mails made clear that some Palin staffers believed Monegan and the Department of Public Safety worked outside normal channels. One was written in May by Randy Ruaro, then a special assistant to Palin, to the governor’s budget director, and concerned efforts to pay for and build a crime lab.
“I FEEL YOUR PAIN! DPS is constantly going off the reservation,” he wrote.
In February, Monegan signed a public letter of support for a $3.6 million project designed to keep troubled teens off the street in Anchorage — even though the governor had vetoed the project last year and hadn’t included money for it in her budget this year.
“I am stunned and amazed — do you know anything about this?” budget director Karen Rehfeld wrote to two other high-level staffers when she learned of the letter.
“Think about that:one of the governor’s own cabinet members publicly contradicting her veto decision,” Stapleton said.
Monegan acknowledged he shouldn’t have signed the letter, because it put the governor in the awkward position of defending her veto decision. But he said he thought of the letter as simply making another run at getting funding for a worthy project.
Uh… now how was it Palin described Monegan? “rogue mentality” and “outright insubordination”. Apparently, quite fitting a description.
This latest media nonsense, suggesting Palin lied about her reasons for firing Monegan is nothing more than a bait and switch – parsing words to muddy the scandal’s origins. Remember, this whole mucky muck started with Monegan publicly complaining (with Andrew Halcro’s dutiful aid) about being fired because of retaining Trooper Wooten, Palin’s ex-brother in law. This despite being on the record, under oath, plus in other media reports stating:
“For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor.
Not Todd. Not any of the other staff….”former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan
Anchorage Daily News, Aug 30, 2008
Let me also remind you that it is Monegan and Halcro who have been smearing Palin since day one on this supposed personal vendetta. Yet battles over policy and budget between Monegan and Palin are not new emergences of info. In fact, even her staunchest critics have pointed to the battles between Monegan and Palin, prior to her Veep pick.
One criticism is that Gov. Palin had not been more explicit in her reasons for firing Monegan upfront. As I’ve mentioned before, on Aug 13th (again, pre’Veep pick) Alaskan Pride, most definitely no fan of Palin, said:
Palin has been under heavy criticism since firing former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. However, she also disclosed three reasons why she fired Monegan (I listened to the press conference in part on KFQD and specifically took down this information).
– He was not making headway on achieving key goals such as resolving the trooper shortfall.
– He was not making satisfactory progress on resolving alcohol issues.
– He was not a team player in regards to budget issues.
But recognizing his previous experience in dealing with alcohol issues, particularly in Bush Alaska, Governor Palin did not want to remove Monegan from the administration altogether, but to place him in charge of the Alcoholic Beverage Control board, where he could combine his rural expertise with a full-time focus on alcohol issues. Nevertheless, Monegan elected not to accept the post, and left the administration instead. Monegan continues to maintain he was pressured by Palin’s family and the administration to fire Trooper Wooten. You can view all previous posts on Monegan’s firing HERE.
~~~Opinion: Sarah Palin could have saved herself a lot of grief if she had simply told us why she canned Walt Monegan last month instead of serving up some New Age Oprah-style drivel about “new energy” and “new direction”. There seems to be a disturbing aura of New Age influence within the Palin Administration.
Even Palin’s most vocal critic, Andrew Halcro, documented the the budget battles between Monegan and the Governor back on July 18th, prior to Palin’s pick as Veep.
Walt Monegan got fired for all of the wrong reasons. Walt Monegan got fired because he had the audacity to tell Governor Palin no, when apparently nobody is allowed to say no to Governor Palin.
Monegan said no, he couldn’t cut his budget because his State Troopers were already being stretched to the limit and public safety suffering. He said no, he couldn’t cut his budget because fuel costs for planes, boats and patrol vehicles soaring, while crime in rural Alaska was putting more demands on the Troopers transportation system.
~~~When Walt Monegan was appointed, he realized the deep problems at DPS including low morale, understaffed detachments and the lack of a funding commitment to a long term vision.
He also recognized, that along with the strategic plan his department developed and introduced just months ago, there needed to be a commitment of resources to follow through on the public safety needs for Alaskans.
“We want out employees to know that help is on the way; that we are planning to grow our staff to provide both the needed services for this vast state, and the appropriate training necessary to do it”, Monegan wrote in his 2008-17 Strategic Plan.
But the Palin administration wanted Monegan to go in another direction. They wanted him to cut corners on a budget that had already fallen behind over the last decade. Under Former Governor Murkwoski there was significant investment made to try and catch up with growing costs but Palin’s budgets have again started to starve the agency.
To make matters worse, the change to the state’s retirement benefit program adopted by the legislature in 2004 has had a negative effect on the departments ability to recruit new Troopers.
Since there’s ample documentation by even the most ardent nemesis of Palin, why did all this end up resting on Wooten? Politics… plain and simple. But they all forget that the Info Age leaves a trail of evidence. And there is ample evidence that Monegan and Palin were battling on far more important issues than a years ago divorced brother in law.
After tossing all this sheeeeet toward the fan, it’s hard to fathom why Monegan is “dismayed” about this assault on his performance. Alaskan Pride… again an anti-Palin outlet, but actually reasonably balanced in much of his coverage, described Monegan’s reaction:
Reached Monday at his Chugiak home, Monegan said he was dismayed at the attack on his record as Palin’s public safety commissioner. “In my mind, I’ve always been a team player,” he said. Monegan also said that the papers the governor’s lawyer filed are selective and he’s provided other documentation to the legislative investigator, Steve Branchflower, that will provide a more balanced portrayal of his time as commissioner.
Perhaps he should have thought about that before he started dragging Palin thru the mud -teaming up with Halcro to publicly accuse Palin of abuse of power by terminating him. If he went up against Palin’s governance even once, he was worthy of firing. But fact is, it matters not that they may have worked together 20 times… there is documented insubordination for more than one incident. Does he think those other times wipe out his behavior on these?
And oh, by the way… what does all this have to do with it being all about Trooper Wooten?? Isn’t that supposed to be the scandal? Evidently not, if we’re now having media arguments about Monegan’s performance.
Frankly, considering the sequence of events, and the length of time before Palin released emails highlighting the specifics of the Palin/Monegan internal battles, it appears the Governor went to great lengths to *avoid* dragging Monegan’s public record thru the mud.
Instead she was forced into publicizing all their policy, budget and enforcement disagreements… in self defense. Monegan begged for this… by his stubborn refusal to accept his termination, or the other position offered, with grace.
Over at AJ’s The Stratasphere, another commenter is researching the PSEA’s (trooper union) relationship with Palin’s nemesis, Andrew Halcro. While it’s interesting, I already have no doubts that Halcro is actually the one with the vendetta. And I truly have no desires to intentionally engage in smearing the AST’s union.
Without a doubt, with Palin shaving back the State budget, I’m quite sure that the PSEA was far from happy with Palin. But do I believe these disagreements would trigger them to engage in a Palin smear campaign? No… I don’t. In fact, strikes me as it would behoove them to see that Palin moves on to the Veep offices in the beltway.
Additionally, to the PSEA’s credit, they went the legal ethics complaint route by filing the paperwork with the AG for official review by the Personnel Board. So I personally don’t think there is some hidden conspiracy lurking.
I could be wrong… but I still say this is a local battle of the disgruntled (Halcro, Monegan, French, Elton and Lyda Green) against Palin. It is French who is determined to carry on with the witch hunt. And it is Halcro who continues to feed media scandal headlines with his theories.
But time will tell all…. a Personnel Board decision of probable cause, plus some incomplete Legislative Investigation that does nothing but muddy the political waters…. and that’s all it was ever intended to do.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.
mata, once again you have gone above and beyond in your research. how you do this is beyond me. you have a great mind. i find the fact that the msm refuses to explain the fact that the legislative investigation in unlawful in pursuit. why do they not recognise alaska state law and show the real story. it make syou sick.. this whole msm bias makes me think of that movie,”wag the dog”. they do whatever they want and add the whole smear thing and then sit back and wait to get caught.
How desperate de Dems are! They will chew on any bone trying to get a bit of meat. But guess what? They will die of starvation… lol
An extraordinary post. One little problem though is that the MSM, in reaching the majority of the general populace, will selectively report this aka ABC/Charlie, and a far different picture is painted for the choir in the Church of Obama and those out in the pews thinking of standing up and walking down the aisle as his new ‘brides’.
Remember the short span of time after “Charlies’ attempt to dead-fall Palin and after ABC had selectively edited the interview to give the most negative outlook towards the interview that reports of this selective editing came to light and transcripts finally began to come out everywhere on the web? Well, even the faithful were a little disappointed with Palin’s performance since at that point all they had to go on was the edited feature of ABC News. Imagine my incredulity after reading the full transcript! Only the MSM can turn a slam dunk by the opposition into a turnover for traveling with the ball.
I bet if we took a look at budget authorization for DPS between Palin’s first year as Governor and the cycle just before she was picked as McCain’s Veep, you would still see growth in the budget for DPS. I would argue that Washington BudgetSpeak had already made its way to Juneau. You simply would not see the growth in budgetary authority that Walt Monegan, Lyda Green and other members of the Alaska Combine wanted.
They assumed that increased oil revenue meant that Lesse Les Bon Temps Roullez. They didn’t get Sarah. When they finally understood that she would limit budgetary growth, that’s when the stories about starving troopers lost on the ice start showing up in the Anchorage Daily News.
There is no Troopergate Scandal. It’s all Kodiak Bear shit. This was about Walt Monegan and his patrons in the State Legislature not being able to pass out budgetary pork.
By the way, the press knows this. So does the Bambi Campaign. They’re the ones stoking this non-scandal.
After basking in the glow of your granddaughter, you got back to business and provided us with a wealth of information…..again! Wouldn’t it be a hoot if French, Branchflower, Halcro and Monegan were lurking about? We should send them some Rolaids.
I always wondered why Kopp was hired.
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/531723.html
If true, this troopergate side-street story makes reasonable sense why he was ‘chosen’ to replace Monegan, even tho’ he had a tainted past.
Some may say, the Gov. never knew! It doesn’t matter, she should have, others could have told her, too (they probably did); it was as large as life, given his Christian prominence, and stood out like a dead bug on a white sheet.
Doug, I fail to see your point, nor the Anchorage Daily News point.
Kopp was hired in the middle of July, when no one… including her… could fathom she’d be McCain’s tap. Now you and the ADN are suggesting it was a pandering to the religious right, and has something to do with McCain?
Boyo… you’re going to have to ‘splain that one, guy.
If you’ve read the Trooper’gate series, you’ll know that the beefs Palin had with Monegan had to do with enforcement of the drug/alcohol laws, trooper recruitment, budget, and evidently… now that she’s been forced to reveal their internal battles in self defense, his “rogue mentality.
Kopp was hired for two reasons… to address the recruitment problem in the AST and their high vacancy rate, and for a crackdown in the areas of rural Alaska on drug/alcohol problems.
You can also see the ADN story on her agenda for Kopp in this ADN July 19th story
The “Update” snipped part is is a schpiel that some said Monegan had similar programs, and that admin officials said Palid didn’t support Monegan’s particulars on the programs.
Here is the story of his supposed sexual harrassment…
So wonder no more. Sorry to dash your conspiracy theory that it was all a pander to the religious right. Nothing to do with looking good to the McCain campaign. She was not even a glint in his eye at the time. But it had everything to do with the reasons she’s repeatedly been giving for firing Monegan.
Mata,
Doug doesn’t explain things. He’s a paid Obama staffer. One of his legions of butt-boys.
Sorry, I just know these people, and Doug in general.
Section 9… love the French “let the good times roll” comment. And you are exactly correct that money grubbing lawmakers and their puppet press always love to promote a request for a 10% increase in budget, and an executive branch wanting it to be 5% as a “5% budget cut”. The games pols and media play.
Steve Rowland, it is too bad that the MSM overtly passes on lies and and mistruths for a political agenda. And yep… they sure are louder voices than we little internet voices.
But the more informed everyone gets, the more the word gets around. And eventually, someone on the media steps in it. I listen to some of these talking heads… and Fox included… and consider what I know on this story alone. I have to say, it makes me very leery of any news report anymore. They are just so research lazy… Each event has a history leading to that event. But they never look back to see how we got from there to here.
Great research. Maybe you could figure out the real story on the Democrat kid who hacked Sarah’s email.
Very well done – research wise. I also wonder why so much of this is being brought up. I have come to disregard anything Halcro says, because he seems hell bent on destroying Gov. Palin. However, with the governor’s selection as the VP running mate of John McCain, Halcro has suddenly become the quoted expert on the Commissioner-gate bipartisan investigation. MSM quoting a blog, come one! … oh, but wait a minute… they’ve done that to Gov. Palin since her selection.
Bitter people, unhappiness or just plain old envy make people say or do all types of things. There are the 20% of Alaskans who do not like our governor and the MSM has seemed to find them and used them where ever they can for their 3 minutes of fame. Whether the Anne Kilkenney (Wasilla resident – I attended every City Council meeting, every Library Board meeting and can quote Gov. Palin despite it was 10 or 15 years ago); Halcro (bitter over losing the governor’s race) on this Commissioner-gate; Tony Knowles (former governor, gave the Obama camp his “file” on Gov. Palin and recently hit the Sunday talks shows); then there is the jealousies of the politicians – she completes a pipe line in the works for 20+ years (how dare she take the credit), etc. etc. Just remember… Gov. Palin has an 80% approval rate as governor for a reason.
Gov. Palin is real and sincere. She will fight for what she believes in. Even the Anchorage Daily News (not a fan of hers believe me) wrote that she has been a very effective governor, though not into details.
This “scandal” is a witch hunt — and of course, the McCain people have seen it and know what it is. Anyone, taking on her own party and that of an opposing party makes enemies. Gov. Palin enjoys a high popularity rate, because she is a reformer and actually sides with the people of her state. What she says is not just in words, this lady talks the talk and walks the walk. We have been fortunate to have her… she has truly changed our state for the better. This is a bogus case and hopefully, down the road, everyone will see what a sham it has been.
Ah yes, C in Alaska. After all this time, I am quite aware that the ADN is no friend of Palin’s…. nor Halcro. Anne Kilkenny got a very brief spotlight until her analysis and numbers were debunked by even the very liberal St. Pete Times fact check site.
But you missed another getting her 5 minutes of fame. Some blogger named Mudflats who makes Halcro’s cyber trashing of Palin seem downright genteel…
But I’ve found that if I read them all, sometimes a name or event dropped here and there lead me down the trail to more revealing events. Like, for example, these quotes from both Halcro and AlaskanPride I’ve used in previous posts. I well remember them… pre Palin being tapped… talking about the Palin/Monegan battles. But they always worthy bringing up one more time in the right context.
And there’s nothing like proving someone’s intent and BS by using their own words, yes?
That’s why this “scandal” for firing Monegan over Wooten is such a crock. But keep in mind their goal …. to keep the public guessing, try her in the media as guilty during the campaign season, and (maybe) exonerate her after election day.
So Knowles donated his Palin file to thel Obama camp, eh? LOL Why is that no surprise.
Mata,
Mudflats is related to someone who goes by the name “Syrin”. “Syrin” is a female who has major connections to the oil companies and is a part of the old-boy Republican establishment that Palin had the tenacity to take a sledgehammer to.
“Syrin” is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the old-boy (or in her case old-ovary) Republican network.
MataHarley – thank you for the welcome in the other comments I left. The Mudflats is not one I have read. Good to know you (and Yomi Mizuhara) have already read and know where this person is coming from.
I found this blog by accident but have enjoyed the stories and comments. The research is excellent. The Commissioner-gate (Trooper gate) irks many Alaskans. And, there is so much incorrect out there. I read much of the columns and news stories (we don’t have television by choice not availability – so I need to know what’s going on). Sometimes comments are incredible — oh, I am not going to vote for her because she traveled back to Alaska to have her baby (at 8 months) on AK Airlines and caused Downs syndrome (never mind that Downs is not prenatal care related) and that maybe the baby isn’t hers? (I’ve traveled at 8 months on AK airlines myself and was never questioned and would much prefer my babies born in Alaska too with a caregiver I know). Plus Gov. Palins water was leaking, she was not in active labor – believe me, a woman knows the difference, especially one having her fifith child). And, yes the baby is hers. (Are these people for real?) Or Gov. Palin takes Federal funds (not sure if they were earmarks or funds, WSJ never specified). Of course she takes Federal funds – Alaska has the largest coast line, largest amount of land (97% owned by the Federal govornment), closeness to Russia, etc. Alaska has US Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Forest Service, etc. And, a large number of Alaska natives. Or Gov. Palin was for the bridge before she was against it. Well, after she was elected, she read the transition report and decided $400 million was too much – yes, there were two bridges but the famous one is from Ketchikan to its airport. I’ve been there, the ferry ride is a pain in the rear, but you have to admit, $400 million – that is too much for a bridge.
Our town has had the governor visit and she was super. She answered questions, took time to meet people and hear their concerns. No, you don’t always agree with her (she and I differed on a measure recently that did not pass) but just the same, know she works for what she thinks is best for Alaskans. Gov. Palin is not perfect, neither is her family – but she actually does work for the people – not the political machines or big companies. (And, no we do not know the Palins.)
She enjoys a high approval rating because she has put the people first. Yes, there are the 20% you could find anywhere however, the 80% that approve her cross party lines. We are very much in favor of a McCain/Palin win!
Face the issues . Clear your name. Do not push it under the political rug.
The longer you run with this the more you look like you running from the truth.
Women want to be respected and this is no good.
White 68 mother of 3 (girls)
Shirley, forgive me, but what the heck are you talking about? Palin is not pushing this under a “political rug”.
The entire Trooper’gate series I’ve written is about the TWO investigations.
One investigation is per the Alaskan Ethics law, and is run thru the Personnel Board. Palin and all administrative witnesses are cooperating FULLY with this.
The other investigation is a legislative investigation, which is not the Alaskan law procedure. However in the beginning, Palin was willing to cooperate… until the lawmaker in charge of the investigation started running around to the media, pronouncing her guilty and speaking impeachment, before even one witness was called.
Under the circumstances, which investigation would you consider is legal and unbiased?