UPDATE: Palin aides to testify, Todd Palin will answer questions in writing

ANCHORAGE — The “Troopergate” investigation being conducted by the state Legislature seems to be going ahead after seven aides to Gov. Sarah Palin agreed this past weekend to honor subpoenas to testify in the probe.

Palin's husband, Todd, has agreed to answer questions from the legislative inquiry, but only in writing. He had previously refused to honor a subpoena requesting he testify in person.

An independent investigator assigned to the inquiry is expected to release his findings Friday.

The legislative investigation is trying to determine if Palin or any of her staff abused the governor’s office or authority by pressuring former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire Palin’s ex-brother-in-law, an Alaska State Trooper.

The seven Palin aides had initially declined to give a deposition to Stephen Branchflower, the Legislature’s independent investigator, calling the subpoenas invalid. That was until a state judge ruled Friday that the Legislature’s investigation was within that body’s jurisdiction. The judge also threw out a lawsuit brought by the aides challenging their subpoenas.

In a statement, Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg, who had previously advised state workers not to honor subpoenas, said in light of the judge’s decision, employees would agree to testify.

“Despite my initial concerns about the subpoenas, we respect the court’s decision to defer to the Legislature,” Colberg said. “We are working with Sen. Hollis French to arrange for the testimony of the seven state employee plaintiffs.”

A second lawsuit, one filed by a group of Alaska lawmakers to halt the Troopergate investigation, is waiting for an Alaska Supreme Court decision after the suing legislators appealed the state court’s decision.

Wasilla Rep. Wes Keller, a Republican, said Monday he’s optimistic the Supreme Court will decide to halt the investigation. Keller was one of five Republican lawmakers who sued seeking to quash the Legislature’s investigation, saying it has become too political and biased.

“The appearance is the problem here,” Keller said. “I would like to say we could trust them as people we work with.”

He added that French, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Kim Elton, chair of the Senate Legislative Council, are U.S Sen. Barack Obama supporters, which gives the appearance of bias.

“The appearance is bad when they are so clearly Obama supporters,” Keller said.

Asked how he would feel if French and other Democrats leading the investigation were Republicans and John McCain supporters, Keller said he’d hope calls to end the investigation would still be there.

“I would like to think that if we found out they were McCain supporters, we would have done the same thing,” Keller said.

But Kevin Brown, chair of the Mat-Su Democrats, said he doubts that, adding no one tried to stop the investigation until after Palin became the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Brown said if Palin is being truthful about having nothing to hide, getting the report out before the Nov. 4 general election would only benefit her.

“If she’s done nothing wrong, get this report out before elections and put it to bed,” Brown said. “They always say the coverup is worse than the crime.”

Keller said his main concern, if the investigation goes forward, is what kind of spin Democrats and the media would put on results finding Palin and her family have strong feelings toward ex-brother-in-law Michael Wooten, or about the situation.

Keller’s counterpart, Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, who signed onto the lawsuit to stop the legislative investigation last week, said he’s also concerned over how the media will spin the findings.

He pointed out Monegan said he was never explicitly told by Palin to fire Wooten, but that he felt pressured. The media has not paid enough attention to Monegan’s statement that he was never directly told to fire Wooten, Gatto said.

He also questioned how a public safety commissioner can feel pressured by a governor.

Gatto said he signed onto the lawsuit because he also feels the hearings are politically driven.

“If someone would agree we wouldn’t have to do this on a panic basis because it’s politically important to Barack Obama,” he’d feel better, Gatto said.

David Cheezem, Gatto’s challenger for House District 13, said Gatto’s move is all political.

“What’s Gatto’s done is he’s signed on at the last minute because he wants to ride the coattails of a popular governor instead of campaign on his own two feet,” Cheezem said.

He added Gatto is participating in an attempt to undermine the authority of the legislative body.

But one positive result Cheezem can see as a possibility following whatever takes place with Troopergate might be a setting of standards for better government in the future, he said.

Since its beginning, the Troopergate investigation has gone from a relatively well-received inquiry to a highly debated, pre-national election fight.

What began as a bipartisan effort of eight Republicans and four Democrats, who unanimously decided to investigate Palin, has been branded by many in the state as a political circus in recent weeks.

Palin initially agreed to cooperate with the investigation, saying she had nothing to hide and an official inquiry would prove that.

Since joining the GOP ticket Aug. 29, however, Palin has called the legislative investigation politically motivated, and the McCain campaign has held almost daily news conferences seemingly attempting to exonerate Palin from any wrongdoing.

The so-called Palin Truth Squad, made up of former Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton and former U.S. co-chief of terrorism and national security in the New York office of the U.S. attorney, Ed O’Callaghan, has used charts and graphics attempting to show the connection between legislative investigators and the Obama campaign.

The pair has received mixed reviews about their performance for media.

Even some Republican lawmakers have called the Palin Truth Squad “ridiculous.”

In a September interview, Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, said while he believes Palin has nothing to hide, he doesn’t know why the McCain-Palin campaign has been pushing back so hard against the Troopergate inquiry.

“Obviously they feel there is some political reason there,” Neuman said.

What will happen when Branchflower releases his findings Friday is unclear. The findings will be part of just one investigation, the other being a separate investigation launched by the state’s Personnel Board to determine if any abuse of office exists.

Palin can fired all three members of that board.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.