Sarah Palin's dirt......Let's talk about Trooper Gate.

[Taylorcofan]

Palin’s husband, Todd, seems to be unusually involved with State
personnel decisions...and conversations about “blogger
management”...despite not having any formal role in State government.

Which brings us to “Troopergate”.

You’re probably already hearing that Commissioner of Public Safety
Walt Monegan was fired by Palin for refusing to fire an Alaska State
Trooper (the equivalent of a State Police Officer).

If Andrew Halcro, the former Republican State Legislator who ran as an
Independent for Governor against Palin in 2006 is to be believed, the
backstory is full of dirt (and budget intrigue)...and now we know
there’s at least one thing the Governor and her running mate have in
common—nasty divorces.

The story, as Halcro tells it, goes something like this:

First, according to Halcro, Moneghan would not agree to cutting the
budget for the Troopers, despite the Governor’s insistence. Moneghan,
it’s reported, felt that the Troopers had been shortchanged for
several budgets in a row—and he felt that it would be imprudent to cut
the budget, again, in a time that calls for service were
increasing...and the price of fuel is increasing...and the Troopers
often have to respond to calls in airplanes because of the size of the
State.

He reminded the Governor that social trends—like the price of heating
oil in cash-starved communities—had the potential to increase the
demand for service on the Troopers...and he felt that if the budget
was cut further the Troopers might not be able to respond to every
citizen call.

(“Reforming” a budget by cutting essential services. Sound familiar?)

The other issue: Governor Palin’s sister and her very nasty divorce.

She married an Alaska Trooper, Mike Wooten, and after they split up
she and the family filed 25 separate complaints against him over a 10
month period. According to Halcro, 24 of the 25 were dismissed.

The 25th?

Wooten has acknowledged illegally killing a moose in 2003...which the
Governor’s father butchered...after which the meat was shared with the
rest of the family...including the not-yet-Governor and her husband.

In 2005 this became an issue after Wooten sought equal custody of his
children...and that’s when the complaints began. Quoting Halcro:


But every time they filed a spurious complaint, the Troopers would
bring in an Administrative Investigator who after seeing more than two
dozen of these ridiculous and time consuming complaints stated that in
all his years he had never seen such a shotgun pattern against one
officer.
The custody battle began anew in 2008, and it is alleged that the Gov
herself is involved in trying to get him fired...and somehow,
information from Wooten’s personnel file seems to have found its way
into the hands of the ex-wife—and her attorney. A more compliant
Commissioner of Public Safety, Chuck Kopp, has been appointed,
possibly protecting the Governor from any further internal
investigations, such as the one Former Commissioner Moneghan was
planning.