Evidence
Palin E-Mails Criticize Failure to Fire Trooper
Posted Sep 4, 2008, 04:51 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Two e-mails from Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin criticize the failure to fire a state trooper who was formerly married to her sister.
Palin is being represented by a private lawyer in an investigation into whether she fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan for keeping the trooper as a member of the police force. Monegan has given the e-mails to ethics investigators and showed copies to the Washington Post.
One e-mail called the investigation of the trooper, Mike Wooten, a “joke,” adding it was just her opinion, the Post story says. A second e-mail complained that Wooten still carries a gun even though he had threatened to kill her father.
Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella said Palin was merely alerting officials to potential threats to her family and there was no evidence she ordered the firing of Wooten.
The trooper was suspended for five days for incidents reported by Palin’s family, according to the Post account. They had claimed Wooten shot a moose without a permit, Tasered his stepson and drank while driving a police car.
Palin’s lawyer Thomas Van Flein is seeking to move the case to the state personnel board, which is appointed by Palin. He is challenging the jurisdiction of a retired prosecutor hired to investigate. He has said he was hired by the state to represent Palin because the attorney general has a potential conflict of interest.
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