Alaska lawmakers vote to subpoena Todd Palin

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Alaska lawmakers vote to subpoena Todd Palin

By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

4 minutes ago

The abuse of power investigation against Palin, Alaska governor

and Republican vice presidential candidate, took a potentially

ominous turn for her party on Friday when state lawmakers voted to

subpoena her husband.

Republican efforts to delay the probe until after the Nov. 4 election

were thwarted when GOP State Sen. Charlie Huggins, who represents

Palin's hometown of Wasilla, sided with Democrats. " Let's just get

the facts on the table, " said Huggins, who appeared in camouflage

pants to vote during a break from moose hunting.

The Senate committee acted at the request of investigator

Branchflower, who is gathering evidence on whether Gov. Palin abused

her power by firing Walt Monegan, the state's director of public

safety. Critics charge she fired Monegan after he refused to dismiss

Mike Wooten, a state trooper who had a messy divorce from the

governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was let go because of a budget

dispute.

Van Flein, the Palins' private attorney now representing her

as governor, did not immediately return calls for comment. In a

broadcast interview, Palin said she welcomed the investigation.

" There's nothing to hide, " she said in an interview with ABC's

Gibson. " Commissioner Monegan has said, 'The governor never

asked me to fire him, the governor's husband never asked me to fire

him,' and we never did. I never pressured him to hire or fire

anybody. "

Branchflower said he wants to interview the governor, but omitted her

from the 13-person list of subpoena targets he presented to the

lawmakers overseeing his investigation.

He said Todd Palin is " such a central figure. ... I think one should

be issued for him. "

Palin, cast at last week's Republican National Convention as a

supportive husband, oil rig worker and championship snowmachine

racer, has emerged in the days since as also a powerful figure in his

wife's administration. Despite holding no government position, he

attends official meetings and is copied on e-mails concerning state

business.

While Todd Palin's role in the dismissal of Monegan is unknown, the

request for a subpoena suggests he spurned earlier calls to testify

voluntarily. Monegan voluntarily submitted to an interview earlier in

the week.

Nor was it immediately clear whether Van Flein was representing Todd

Palin as well as the governor in the investigation. Van Flein is

working at taxpayer expense to represent the governor in her personal

and official capacity.

The subpoenas, which were approved for 12 state employees in addition

to Todd Palin, instantly gave a new, national significance to what

until recently was a controversy confined to Alaska.

The McCain campaign released a statement from Alaska Lt. Governor

Parnell, blaming Democrats.

" I'm disappointed by the complete hijacking of what should be a fair

and objective process, " the Republican said, calling the

investigation a " smear. "

The investigation — dubbed " Troopergate " — began before Palin was

chosen as Sen. McCain's running mate. Since then, Palin's

supporters have argued that the investigation is politically

motivated, and urged lawmakers to turn the matter over to the three-

member State Personnel Board, which is appointed by the governor and

charged with handling ethics complaints.

In his presentation to lawmakers, Branchflower revealed evidence that

the governor's office interceded to try to have Wooten's worker's

compensation claim denied.

An employee at a company that handles such claims for the state,

Harbor Adjustment Service, told Branchflower that the company's owner

said " the governor's office wanted the claim denied. "

One of the subpoenas issued Friday was for the company's owner,

Murlene Wilkes. Branchflower said he had an informal conversation

with Wilkes in August, and believes she was lying when she said she

had never been contacted by the governor's office. Wilkes did not

immediately return a telephone call.

Monegan says he received repeated e-mails and phone calls from Palin,

her husband and her staff expressing dismay over Wooten's continued

employment.

One member of Palin's administration was caught on tape discussing

personal information about Wooten, raising questions of how he knew

those details.

Branchflower also asked for a subpoena for the phone records of one

Palin administration official, . was recorded

calling an Alaska State Trooper lieutenant and discussing

confidential information about Wooten, including his job application

and worker's compensation claim. In a deposition taken by Palin's

attorney, he testified that he never saw Wooten's file, but instead

received the information from Todd Palin.

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