Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal
[21] On October 10, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council unanimously voted to release, without endorsing, the Branchflower investigative report[2] which found that Sarah Palin "abused her power as governor [in] attempting to get Trooper Wooten fired.
[29] In May 2005, Sarah Palin told police that she and her son Track overheard a death threat against her father (Heath), in February 2005, when McCann allowed her to listen in on an argument through a phone line (speakerphone).
[30] On August 10, 2005, Palin sent an email to Col. Julia Grimes, head of the Alaska State Troopers, urging that Wooten be dismissed and giving more details about the alleged death threat.
During the trial, Judge John Suddock expressed puzzlement at the efforts of McCann's family to get Wooten fired, since it would harm his earning capacity and damage his ability to pay child support.
"[34] In the divorce decree that was granted on January 31, 2006,[27] Judge Suddock expressed concern about continued criticism by McCann's family towards Wooten and noted that he would pay particular attention to problems raised by a custody investigator.
Wall's investigation report dated October 29, 2005 found that Wooten violated internal policy, but not the law, in making a death threat against Molly McCann's father Heath on February 17, 2005.
In announcing the suspension, Grimes referred to the Taser, moose and beer incidents, and also to seven other negative actions in Wooten's personnel file, such as failing to use turn signals.
She concluded that "[t]he record clearly indicates a serious and concentrated pattern of unacceptable and at times, illegal activity occurring over a lengthy period, which establishes a course of conduct totally at odds with the ethics of our profession".
[30] Monegan also has said he got telephone calls from three Palin appointees: her then-chief of staff, Mike Tibbles; Commissioner Annette Kreitzer of the Department of Administration; and Attorney General Talis Colberg.
[30][45] In mid-August 2008, the Alaska Attorney General's inquiry reported that Palin's staff had made about two dozen contacts with public safety officials about Wooten, in 2007 and 2008, with more than half initiated by Tibbles.
[46] On November 19, 2007, a meeting was called by Mike Tibbles, at the time Palin's chief of staff, to discuss the process of how Wooten had returned to work after a worker's compensation injury.
[50] Shortly before the annual celebration of Police Memorial Day on May 15, 2008, Commissioner Monegan dropped off a color photograph at Governor Palin's Anchorage office with a request that she sign and present it at the ceremony.
[52] Dianne Kiesel, a deputy director at the Department of Administration, called Ms. Peterson to suggest that Wooten could be reassigned to the cold-case unit or perform background checks.
[45] On July 11, 2008, Palin's acting chief of staff Mike Nizich dismissed Monegan, offering him a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he turned down.
"[53] The accusation that Governor Palin may have abused her power when her attempt to reassign Commissioner Walt Monegan resulted in his termination of employment appeared in the blog of Andrew Halcro on Thursday, July 17, 2008.
[59][62]The statement also denied that the governor had improperly accessed Wooten's employment records, saying that "[t]o allege that I, or any member of my family, requested, received or released confidential personnel information on an Alaska State Trooper, or directed disciplinary action be taken against any employee of the Department of Public Safety, is, quite simply, outrageous.
[43] In September, in a televised interview with Charles Gibson of ABC News, Palin reiterated her position that she had dismissed Monegan because of his job performance and that neither she nor her husband pressured him to fire Wooten.
"[70] On September 15, 2008, McCain/Palin campaign spokeswoman Meg Stapleton held a news conference at which she accused Monegan of "egregious insubordination", "obstructionist conduct" and a "brazen refusal" to follow proper channels for requesting money.
[74] As a result of the announcement of a legislative investigation, Talis Colberg, the Alaskan Attorney General, and his Department of Law, began conducting an inquiry in late July at the request of the Governor.
Sharon Leighow, a spokesperson for the governor, said that Bailey was kept on the state payroll so Palin "can direct him to assist Mr. Branchflower, thereby fulfilling her pledge to Alaskans to cooperate fully with the investigation.
"[92] On September 9, Senior Assistant Attorney General Mike Barnhill wrote to Legislative Council chair Sen. Kim Elton threatening to go to court to confirm that it was legal for the Governor to assign her staff to review personnel files.
"[94] On September 12, the Alaska Senate Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas to thirteen potential witnesses: Todd Palin, Ivy Frye, Randy Ruaro, Frank Bailey, John Bitney, Annette Kreitzer, Dianne Kiesel, Nicki Neal, Brad Thompson, Michael Nizich, Kris Perry, Janice Mason, and Murlene Wilkes.
[105][106] He cited several public statements by Palin or her staff pledging her cooperation, in addition to what he called the "explicit" offer in the earlier letter of September 9 to allow the testimony, provided that the administration's interpretation of the State Personnel Act was agreed upon.
[106] Also on September 16, five GOP lawmakers from the Alaskan State Legislature filed a lawsuit in Anchorage Superior Court to end the investigation, claiming it was "unlawful, biased, partial and partisan.
[135] The filing accused Monegan of "an escalating pattern of insubordination on budget and other key policy issues", including a press conference appearance with Senator French, who is leading the legislature's investigation.
"[141] However, the September 15 legal filing contained a related e-mail: on June 26, 2008, Randy Ruaro, at that time a special assistant to the governor, emailed Karen Rehfeld, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, with a copy to Nizich.
There is no probable cause to believe that Governor Palin violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act by making the decision to dismiss Department of Public Safety Commissioner Monegan and offering him instead the position of Director of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board.
The governor's office also refused to release a transcript of Todd Palin's deposition and other key documents that were part of the Personnel Board investigation but not included as attachments to the official report.
Yet the evidence presented has been inconsistent with such claims of fear ... she ordered a substantial reduction in manpower in her personal protection detail ..., an act that is inconsistent with a desire to avoid harm from Trooper Wooten ... [Palin's] claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palins' real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons.
"[185] The Branchflower Report includes testimony by John Glass, Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety, who testified that he told Todd Palin "that Wooten had already been penalized for his actions that he had taken.
