On
July 11,
2008, Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan and offered him a position as executive director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which he turned down.
[50][51] Her power to fire him is not in dispute, but Monegan alleged that his dismissal may have been an abuse of power tied to his reluctance to fire Palin's former brother-in-law,
Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten, who had been involved in a divorce and child custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly McCann.
[52]
Palin replaced Monegan with Chuck Kopp, dismissing as false allegations that Kopp had sexually harassed a subordinate.
[53]
After initially refusing to explain her decision to fire Moneghan, in August Palin explained that she had done so because he had not adequately filled state trooper vacancies, and because he "did not turn out to be a team player on budgeting issues." According to Palin, Moneghan's dismissal was thus unrelated to the fact that he had refused to fire Wooten.
[54] Palin said that members of her staff had made contact with public safety officials regarding the trooper, though she said that her staff's contacts with the commission were not directed by her and she had little knowledge of them. She also took disciplinary action against one member of her staff who had mentioned her and Wooten's family connection to Monegan's staff.
[55] In August 2008, a bipartisan panel of the
Alaska Legislature hired Steve Branchflower to investigate Palin and her staff for possible abuse of power surrounding the dismissal.
[56] Democratic State Senator
Hollis French, who is overseeing the investigation, says that the Palin administration has been cooperating and that subpoenas are unnecessary.
[57]
Sarah Palin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikpedia is very up to date. Someone from the republican camp must have been busy.