In the immediate aftermath of the GOP convention, the Troopergate scandal has clearly emerged as VP candidate Sarah Palin's Achilles heel, with a ferocious, Nixonian combination of lies, stonewalling, and, of course, attacks on her "enemies" in the media.
The sheer intensity of Palin's turn from promised cooperation to Nixon/Bush total resistence only seems to makes sense if she's got something very serious to hide. So now, subtley, belatedly, but most definitely, the Republican state legislators are coming to her assistance, agreeing to subpoena the whole lot of Palin cronies she's convinced not to testify, but not Palin herself. The announcement comes along with an earlier completion date for the investigation--October 10--which could make it even easier for Palin to run out the clock.
This move will clearly allow Palin's stonewall to continue, without consequence, unless political heat is brought to bear. This will prove particularly challenging, as the Nancy Pelosi "See No Evil Policy" is having a deeply corrosive trickle-down affect on our political culture, as stonewalling legislative oversight has now become accepted public practice. Details on the flip.
The investigating committee has an 8-4 GOP majority. TPM reports:
The bipartisan committee overseeing the investigation announced today in a press release that they're moving up the date that they release the results of their investigation by three weeks, meaning it should come out in early October. The commitee, led by Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat also announced that it would meet on September 12 to issue subpoenas in the case.
But according to the release, Palin herself will not be subpoenaed. The committee still holds out hope that she will talk to indepedendent investigator Steven Branchflower voluntarily.
"We also discussed and agreed amongst ourselves that no subpoena will be issued for the Governor," said Representative Nancy Dahlstrom, R-Eagle River. "She has told the public that she intends to cooperate with the investigation, indeed, she has told the public that she welcomes the investigation and I have every faith that she means it. If necessary we can send Mr. Branchflower to wherever the Governor is, or she can give her statement to him over the telephone, whatever is most convenient for her. We recognize that her schedule is extremely busy, and we want to accommodate that."
French had initially indicated that subpoenas likely wouldn't be necessary, since Palin had pledged her full cooperation. But earlier this week, Palin's lawyer warned that unless the case were handed over to the state personnel board -- whose three members are appointed by the governor -- Palin would not be made available to testify. And according to the release: This week, seven key witnesses informed Mr. Branchflower through their attorneys that they would not provide depositions. Their depositions, which had been agreed to and scheduled earlier with Mr. Branchflower, were cancelled within the last 72 hours."
And, just to be perfectly clear, in a follow itemTPM reported:
Even if she refuses to testify voluntarily, Sarah Palin will definitely not be subpoenaed as part of the Trooper-Gate investigation, Rep. Jay Ramras, a Republican on the committee overseeing the probe, just confirmed to TPMmuckraker.
Ramras said that issuing a subpoena for a vice-presidential candidate "would be disrespectful." He called it "inappropriate conduct, given the unique political circumstances," and "bad form."
Adding some detail to this last paragraph of the first item above, as well as the date shift, the Anchorage Daily News [ADN] adds:
The idea of the earlier completion date for Branchflower's report is to avoid the appearance of a last-minute "October surprise," said Rep. Jay Ramras, a Fairbanks Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
The Palin administration in recent days has shown resistance to the legitimacy of the legislative investigation.
A press release today from Ramras and Sen. Hollis French, the Anchorage Democrat who is managing the Branchflower investigation, says subpoenas are necessary to compel cooperation with Branchflower.
Says the press release:
"This week, seven key witnesses informed Mr. Branchflower through their attorneys that they would not provide depositions. Their depositions, which had been agreed to and scheduled earlier with Mr. Branchflower, were cancelled within the last 72 hours.
"Additionally, the governor's lawyer has stated that he represents the governor and the governor's office, and has forbidden any contact by Mr. Branchflower with any member of that office.
"Mr. Branchflower wishes to depose some of those employees. The issuance of the subpoenas is intended to get at the truth and to expedite the completion of his report to the public."
ADN is also reporting on GOP push-back against Democrat Hollis French, despite the fact that Branchflower, not French, is conducting the investigation at ground level:
A ranking Republican state representative is calling for Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French to step down as manager of the Legislature's "Troopergate" investigation.
Rep. John Coghill, R-North Pole, today released a letter criticizing statements French purportedly made in media interviews.
Coghill said French remarked that a forthcoming legislative investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her former public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, is "likely to be damaging to the administration" and has twice suggested the governor faces potential impeachment.
"These statements cause me to think that the report is already written even though the investigation is only just begun and the most important witnesses have not even been interviewed," Coghill's letter says. "The investigation appears to be lacking in fairness, neutrality and due process."
Of course, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the investigation is "likely to be damaging to the administration" since Palin has already been exposed as lying about it. But, apparently speaking frankly is a sure sign that "the report is already written" according to the GOP spin machine.
Where are the Democrats? And I don't just mean the Alaska Democrats. I mean the folks who have pretty much failed to get one scinitilla of cooperation from the Bush Administration these past two years, on the rare occassions where they've actually pressed for it. Because Dick Cheney in a skirt is clearly waiting in the wings.
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