Report: Palin abused power; inner workings of governor's office exposed

ANCHORAGE — The long awaited Troopergate report says Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power by violating an Alaska Statute of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

"The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust," the report says.

That description alludes to Palin's personal conflict with trooper Mike Wooten.

Independent investigator Steven Branchflower says in the report he feels former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan's refusal to fire trooper Mike Wooten was not the sole reason Palin fired him, but likely contributed.

Branchflower does say that Palin has the authority to fire Monegan, but adds the Alaska Attorney General's office "has failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 written request to Governor Sarah Palin for information about the case in the form of e-mails."

The report that was released is only what's being made available to the public. Before the report became public Sen. Kim Elton said some parts of the report are confidential because they deal with personnel matters.

Seemingly damaging testimony is included in the report. For instance, Chuck Kopp, the man Palin hired to replace Monegan, testified he got a call from Palin aide Frank Bailey telling him the governor's office wanted to make a change in the leadership of the Public Safety office.

"Todd is really upset with Monegan," Bailey said, according to Kopp's testimony.

Also, Gary Wheeler, who worked on Palin's security detail, testified that he feels Todd Palin had "a significant influence" over employees in the office.

"I know that he got e-mails and stuff that he was in the loop on — on activities," Wheeler testified.

The Legislative Council convened at 9 a.m. this morning at the Legislative Information Office downtown. The council then went into executive session to discuss the Troopergate investigation report's findings.

A group of pro-Sarah Palin protestors greeted legislators as they filed into the office this morning. David Boyle, who admitted to working for the McCain-Palin campaign, called the Troopergate investigation a "kangaroo circus" run by Sen. Hollis French.

"I'm here to support a wonderful governor," Boyle said.

The pro-Palin protestors moved outside during executive session and swelled to about 20 people. By 11:30 a.m., the protestors had left.

The McCain campaign yesterday released its own report, a day before the Legislature's report was scheduled to come out, clearing Palin of any wrongdoing.

"The Palins make no apologies for wanting to protect their family and wanting to bring attention to the injustice of a violent trooper keeping his badge and abusing the workers' compensation system," the McCain report's conclusion says..

Media from seemingly all over the world, including from the BBC and an Asian outlet, are covering the meeting along with national media and local outlets.

The Frontiersman will update this story as more occurs, and will flesh out more details of the report.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-3352.