Troopergate Report: Palin Unlawfully Abused Power

by: Chris Bowers

Fri Oct 10, 2008 at 21:22


The Palin "Troopergate" report has been released by a totally partisan, unanimous vote. Unsurprisingly, the report which Palin tried to block through lawsuits, stall through non-cooperation, discredit through personal attacks against the investigators, isn't very good for Palin:

Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled her reputation as a reformer on John McCain's Republican ticket.

Investigator Stephen Branchflower, in a report by a bipartisan panel that investigated the matter, found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain.

The inquiry looked into her dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.

The panel found that Palin let the family grudge influence her decision-making even if it was not the sole reason Monegan was dismissed. "I feel vindicated," Monegan said. "It sounds like they've validated my belief and opinions. And that tells me I'm not totally out in left field."

Branchflower said Palin violated a statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

So, Palin broke the law. But at least she broke the law in a folksy, hockey-family sorta way: by carrying out a vendetta against a former borther-in-law. I don't know how carrying out personal vendettas through the office of the Governor is mavericky or reform-minded, but it is at least kind of folksy. And petty. And unethical. And illegal.

Read the entire 263 page PDF here. That is, if you really have nothing else to do tonight.

Update: Of course nothing will immediately happen to Palin because of this. It is a report from a commission, not an indictment from a prosecutor. Reports from commissions like these have no teeth. That is why it is so laughable when McCain suggests them. It is almost the same as suggesting nothing.

Chris Bowers :: Troopergate Report: Palin Unlawfully Abused Power

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Troopergate Report: Palin Unlawfully Abused Power | 24 comments
What are the practical implications? (0.00 / 0)
What legal standing does this have?  Will she be forced to resign as governor?  Will she go to jail or receive other punitive measures?  What happens next?
from what I've read so far (0.00 / 0)
it appears that no legal action was recommended by the commission. She was within her legal authority to fire Monegan (but violated the law regarding the firing of Wooton).

My best wild-assed-guess is that someone will bring forth lawsuits and/or a petition for recall.

[ Parent ]
Watch out for (4.00 / 2)
Someone I know managed to see a rushed report on [they thought it was] MSNBC reporting Palin acted "within her power", and based on that report walked away thinking that meant the commission found Palin had broken no laws (until they saw the actual report themselves). The McCain response that NCDemAmy links is that Palin "acted lawfully".

This is how they're going to try to bury it. The right wing spin on this report will be to publish finding two, only finding two, pretend finding two was the entire report, and refuse to acknowledge the existence of anything except finding two (Palin did not break the law in the specific act of firing Monegan) and hope people will ignore or not hear about finding one (Palin broke the law in her dealings with Wooten).

Expect by the beginning of next week there will be a LOT of people who believe the report found that Palin "did not break the law in firing Monegan" and express surprise or active disbelief if you tell them the report found that Palin violated the law.

[ Parent ]
"active disbelief" should be their campaign slogan (0.00 / 0)
that is exactly what the entire McCain/Palin campaign is focused on. Active disbelief of the truth - on a variety of issues - by partisans is the only way they have a chance of avoiding a complete landslide loss on November 4th.

You have a very good catch there. The clear point from the report is that she violated the law and acted in unethical manner in firing Wooten, and may have also been unethical in using her personal vendetta against Wooten in firing Monegan. The media and Obama campaign will likely keep pushing the headline that "she was found to have unlawfully abused her power". The McCain/Palin group will focus on how she was within the law to fire Monegan. Partisans will believe what they want to hear... and the undecideds/leaners that might actually vote may really listen critically to this issue.  

[ Parent ]
Did she wink when she fired him? (4.00 / 2)
I dunno if this is a big deal. After all, it's something Joe Six Pack would do.

Ok, in seriousness now... I think this should become a big deal, but I imagine it'll get swept under the rug. McCain/Palin are doing a pretty good job of hyping this as a partisan witch hunt (although all evidence indicates it was a fair bi-partisan investigation). However, if you look at the MSNBC.com coverage, their article spends a lot of time talking about the partisan questions and discussing the McCain/Palin Campaign's "report" that preceded this report.

Interestingly enough, the UK Guardian has a very good article about the Troopergate report: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl...

John McCain's election campaign last night suffered the body blow which Republicans had been bracing themselves for when his vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, was found to have abused her powers in pursuit of a personal feud with her former brother-in-law.

At the end of the 10-week investigation into the so-called Troopergate affair, Palin was found to have breached the ethics rules which govern her conduct as governor of Alaska. The findings, delivered by an investigator who had been hired by the Alaskan state legislature before she was picked as McCain's running mate, are certain to lead to questions over his judgment, and to queries and challenges as to her suitability for national office.


No consequences (0.00 / 0)

 Sounds like she's going to skate. Lawbreaking or not.

 So why WAS the McCain campaign so adamant about quashing this thing?  

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

McCain camp has responded (4.00 / 1)
They just released a statement claiming that "Sarah Palin acted lawfully..." and that the report was "partisan."

The committee was bipartisan composed of both Dems and Republicans, but facts don't matter to the McCain camp.

I hope the media hammers this one. Here's a clip of one of the first reports on this:


In fact.... (4.00 / 1)
I believe the commission was comprised of 10 reps, 4 dems
[ Parent ]
You see! A complete partisan hit job! (4.00 / 2)
Not one single AIP member on the whole commission!
[ Parent ]
the McCain/Palin campaign thinks we cannot read (4.00 / 2)
and that videotape, audio tape, and The Google do not exist. I swear, that is the only conclusion one can draw from their behavior and reaction to scandals.

McCain and his campaign have flat-out denies so many things that are in writing, that are on the internet, that have been videotaped... it's as if they think that if they deny something that can easily be proven with minimal research, we'll just say, "ok, I won't believe my eyes and ears."

Barack was right when he said "McCain must think you're stupid".

[ Parent ]
typo? (0.00 / 0)
wasn't the panel that looked into this a BI-partisan panel, rather than a "totally partisan" panel?
sarcasm (nt) (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
WOW the McPAlin campaign calls a panel (4.00 / 3)
with 8 repugs and 4 Dems PARTISAN...bwahahahhaha

and they are all Obama supporters according to that IDIOT Nicole Wallace?

LMAO...to much

well, it's not important compared to the economy (0.00 / 0)
It's not a good news cycle for McCain, and he is running short. It also shows once again that picking Palin undermined all the attacks on Obama.

Hopefully this loss will end her career.  She would be worse than W as President.  

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

No Surprises... So Why??? (4.00 / 4)
None of the findings strikes me as the least bit surprising.  It was known all along that the governor can fire the public safety commissioner for no reason.  It was known all along that she orchestrated an arm-twisting campaign, but didn't want her fingerprints on it.  And it was known all along that proving a sole reason for her doing it would be virtually impossible, even if true.

So the big question is, why?  Why, make such a tremendous fuss fighting it, if this is all that was going to happen?  Does it look bad?  Yes.  But it's not surprising.  And it may not hurt her very much, since she's already hurt herself so badly. (Check out the DKos regular updates on her plummeting popularity.)

More importantly, if she had cooperated, she really could have spun this much, much better.  She could have said, "Yes, not firing Wooten was a contributing factor.  I tried to put it out of my mind, but I just couldn't.  It was family.  That wasn't the only reason.  There were important differences.  But those might have been worked out, if not for Wooten, I really can't say, because when it comes to family, I'm sorry, but that just cuts too close to the bone."

And how could anyone have disputed this, or even make it look very bad?

This is what I think is the most troubling thing.  She could have come out of this reasonably okay, if only she (and/or the McCain campaign) had been willing to look a little bit foolish, and -- quite frankly -- a little bit human and vulnerable.

But no.  They have to be Superman.  They have to be divine warriors.  They have to be better than everyone else. (Precisely what they spend 24/7 accusing us of, naturally.)

And that is what has destroyed them.  Because, quite frankly, I think that that is one of the main reasons that Palin has been such a spectacular failure, incapable of even delivering pre-fab dumbed-down talking points, which she has certainly been quite capable of doing in the past.

Her entire persona is based on being superior.  And knowing that it's public knowledge she is not--that, quite literally, was more than she could handle.  Being seen as human was more than she could bear.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

they imported the Bush playbook wholesale (4.00 / 2)
not stopping to think if it applied or if it was smart. Bush's whole presidency is the story of magic fantasies shoehorned into the wrong reality.

Remember We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality--judiciously, as you will--we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out.

Acting out the magic fantasy is more important than engaging with reality. The creed of the compulsive gambler.

[ Parent ]
I think you are right except for one thing. (0.00 / 0)
I seem to remember one more detail about this, that has been completely lost.  She fired Monegan and did not give him any severance pay.  The guy she chose to replace him had to resign after a few weeks due to some sort of scandal.  She gave that guy some severance pay.  Maybe it was worth all of this to keep her poor judgement of character off the list of things she doesn't do very well.
[ Parent ]
Report is contradictory, seemingly.. (0.00 / 0)
She unlawfully abused power, but didn't unlawfully fire him.

Umm... Ok.

She had the legal right to fire the one guy (4.00 / 1)
It was the other stuff surrounding the case that was illegal. She didn't have the legal right to pursue a personal vendetta against the other guy.
[ Parent ]
To clarify: (4.00 / 2)
  1. She acted legally when she fired Monegan.
  2. She acted illegally when she pressured Monegan to fire Wooten.
  3. The firing of Monegan, although legal, serves as evidence that she pressured him to fire Wooten, which was not legal.

[ Parent ]
Thank you... (0.00 / 0)
After thinking about this a bit, I reached the same conclusion as this.

Thanks for boiling it down to 3 easy points, though. =)

[ Parent ]
Mavericky indeed (0.00 / 0)
I don't know how carrying out personal vendettas through the office of the Governor is mavericky...

A less mavericky governor would not have imagined doing such a thing. It took a real maverick to think of such creative uses of the office of the Governor.

Right wingers can use this as evidence that Palin is qualified (0.00 / 0)
to walk in the footsteps of Dick Cheney. And they would be right. Yes, the blatant misuse of power, the total lack of scruples and the obvious disregard for the law is evident in Sarah Palin. However, the rethuglicans should be reminded that this isn't good qualification for the job of the VP. Actually, quite to the contrary. At least, if you believe that the constitution of the US still is relevant today. And I guess that's where the right wingers have different opinions...
|-(
unlawful abuse of power (0.00 / 0)
it's a maverick thing
Troopergate Report: Palin Unlawfully Abused Power | 24 comments
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