Who are the main players in this report?

1. Sarah Palin: Alaska Governor/Republican VP Nominee


2. Todd Palin: Sarah Palin’s Husband, “First Gentleman”


3. Michael Wooten: Alaska State Trooper. Sarah Palin’s ex-brother-in-law.


4. Walt Monegan: Appointed Commissioner of Public Safety for Alaska (top boss for police/troopers)

What is the report about?

The investigation covered Walt Monegan's work with the Palin administration. It was begun to determine if Monegan was fired in part due to Palin's personal wish for Trooper Wooten to be removed from the Alaska State Trooper force.

What is the report not about?

The investigation is not about whether or not Mike Wooten is a good guy.

Who testified as part of this report?

Twenty-nine people were subpoenaed. Only 19 provided testimony.

After initially agreeing to participate, Sarah Palin and Todd Palin refused to cooperate with the investigation after Sarah was nominated for VP. Many of Palin’s “inner circle” including aides and cabinet members failed to appear when issued subpoenas. This included the personnel directors for the State of Alaska, Palin’s chief of staff, office manager, deputy chief of staff, scheduler and exec secretary. Some of the 10 who did not cooperate changed their minds right before the report was due to come out, and their input was not included in the report. It is conceivable that this change was meant to try to delay the report from being published.

What’s the history here?

Wooten and Palin’s sister Molly McCann divorced in 2005 (Before Palin was elected Governor). They had a bitter custody battle and the Palin family was involved in the trial. The Palin family was told by the judge to lay off smearing Wooten. It’s mentioned that the Palin family's private campaign to get Wooten fired directly impacted the judge’s decision about Wooten’s earning capacity in terms of the divorce settlement.

During the divorce, Wooten was alleged to have done some very questionable things. These included allegations of drunk driving, speeding, tasering his step-child, etc. He also threatened to "bring the Palin family down".

An full investigation by Alaska State Troopers (with Alaska State Trooper union involvement) was completed before Palin was elected governor and before Monegan was appointed. As part of that investigation, Wooten was reprimanded but not fired.

The Palin’s disagreed with the verdict, calling it a “slap on the wrist”. They continued trying to get Wooten fired even before Palin was elected Governor.

According to the report, what happened to the family's campaign to fire Wooten once Sarah Palin was in office?

As soon as Sarah Palin was elected, she and Todd continued trying to get the Wooten case reopened. Now they did so from the Governor's office.

What was Todd Palin's involvement in the Governor's office?

From the first week Sarah Palin took office, so did Todd Palin.

Four days after Palin was elected governor, Todd set up “his office” at Sarah Palin’s office conference table.The governor’s security detail testified that Todd spent 50% of his time there. He did not have a “cause” but was involved in day to day operations at the Governor’s office. This can be illustrated by the following points of testimony by various sources:

• He had a phone and staff resources, including a staff directory, which he proceeded to calling through from the Governor’s office to get the trooper fired.


• He scheduled meetings with Sarah’s cabinet and high-ranking appointments like Monegan’s.


• When these calls were scheduled by the governors scheduler, they were done like this “The First Gentleman would like to meet with you”.


• This is an implicit tying to the Governor, who knew this was going on and let her husband continue to put pressure on Alaska government officials from her office.


• These meetings occurred at the Governor’s office. In fact, Todd Palin met with people like Monegan IN the Governor’s office (her official office) while she wasn’t even there.


• He calls Wooten’s potential employers (police chief of Wasilla) and tells them not to hire Wooten


• He requested confidential personnel files and reports regarding Wooten, which he was denied access to.


• He was given access to confidential documents especially emails. Whoever, this report cannot thoroughly investigate him, because he is a private citizen and not an elected official. He has sworn no oath, holds no office, and therefore cannot be held accountable for his actions. Only his wife can be.


• He sat in for about a third of all confidential cabinet meetings the governor had monthly with her cabinet

How does Walt Monegan Fit Into This?

Walt Monegan was the Public Safety Commissioner appointed by Palin, and a well respected, long time cop. He had the unfortunate job as commissioner of telling Todd and Sarah Palin what they didn’t want to hear: that there was no actionable information to reopen the Wooten case, that Wooten had already been reprimanded to the extent Alaska State Trooper/Trooper Union policy allowed, and that they both needed to be very careful how they behaved on the matter for ethics reasons.

He and others testified that they felt a lot of pressure to get rid of Wooten. Monegan even told his wife he didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep the job. He also told his assistant that he suspected the Public Safety department did not get the budget it needed due to the fact that Wooten was still employed as a trooper, and as long as Wooten was there, he didn’t think Public Safety wouldn’t get the budget they needed. Also, when he was negotiating for salary increases for troopers with their union, he believed that the fact that Wooten was still a trooper appeared to have played a role in why the trooper increase was not approved by the governor.

The Governor’s Office’s Campaign to Get Wooten’s Case Re-Opened

During the first week of Sarah Palin's governorship, Todd Palin had the Governor’s office schedule an appointment with Monegan in the Governor’s personal office, alone. The Governor was not there. Todd met with Monegan to reopen the case against Wooten. Todd provided Monegan with new info from the private investigator the Palin’s had privately hired.

Monegan had his staff compare this information with the closed case, they determined there was nothing new to work from. Todd added a new allegation: Wooten shot a moose without a permit

Regarding the moose…

Apparently Wooten shot a moose without a permit. His wife was standing next to him at the time, holding a moose permit. The moose was then taken to Sarah Palin’s dad, who butchered it. This is a technicality that Alaskan officials didn’t want to pursue. If the case was reopened, The Palin father could also be charged. Todd Palin argued that he only wanted Wooten charged, not his father-in-law. Monegan basically said: that’s not how we work.

Ok. Todd's Meeting Didn't Get The Job done. What now?

Next, Sarah Palin calls and emails Monegan from her personal Yahoo account and asks him to fire Wooten. Monegan explains that the case has closed and all appropriate action taken. He reminds the Governor not to get involved in this as she holds public office. To keep the matter at arm’s length. Sarah Palin agrees to let Todd continue on the matter instead, as he is a private citizen

When Todd’s attempts to convince Monegan fail, the Governor’s Chief of Staff was sent to try.Monegan reminded the man that the conversation was inappropriate, discoverable, and they could be held accountable as state employees if Wooten were to sue.

When the Chief of Staff fails, Todd gathered more evidence against Wooten.

1. Wooten was seen driving a snow machine while on light duty with a workman’s comp claim. Todd had Monegan investigate it. The investigation found that Wooten had his doctor’s permission prior to the event.The Governor’s office supposedly called the insurance company covering the workman’s comp claim and told them that “The Governor or the Governor’s office wanted the claim denied”. The owner and handlers of the insurance company says they were contacted but nothing improper occurred. They were not pressured or asked to change the way the claim was handled. The claim was approved, reviewed, and considered correct.
2. While still on workman’s comp, Wooten signed up to be the Safety bear mascot of the State trooper booth at the State Fair. When Palin found out, her staff insisted Wooten not be allowed at the fair while she was there. The Department of Public Safety pulled him from the volunteer position.
3. Wooten was seen dropping his kids off at school in his trooper car (not a firing offense). Todd had Monegan investigate it. The investigation found that Wooten had his supervisor’s permission.
4. Another Alaska trooper goes to court for using excessive force. Todd calls to say the trooper is a friend of Wooten (guilt by association)

When this failed to get the case reopened, the Dept of Administration Commissioner (personnel and regulations) was tapped to give it a go. Monegan told her the same thing he told the chief of staff: you’re on dangerous ground here talking about this, we can be held liable. He also thought she should have known better, given her job

Meanwhile, Todd was calling up and down the State of Alaska phone tree, trying to get EVERYONE to know what a bad guy Wooten was and to call Monegan and pressure him to reopen the investigation. As a non-state employee/private citizen, Todd Palin’s conversations are not discoverable in the same way as government employees.

Next, the Attorney General calls Monegan. Monegan gives him the same line.

Then, Bailey, one of Palin’s closest aides, is caught on a recorded line, trying to push the Wooten campaign on another trooper at an Alaska State Trooper office.This call got discovered after Monegan was fired ( it's called the “smoking gun call”). Bailey basically says Sarah and Todd are angry that Monegan had “taken no action on this matter for the last year” (the closed Wooten case)

The private investigator is still hard at work. Wooten was seen dropping his kids off at church in his trooper car (not a firing offense) – info from Todd Palin or Molly (Palin’s divorced sister). Bailey had the Deputy Commissioner of Public safety look into it, who told him it wasn’t a firing offense. Bailey accused him (and the division) of “protecting Wooten”. Further investigation showed Wooten had gotten prior permission from his supervisor. Todd Palin is warned by the Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety to cease and desist on the Wooten matter, because it could very well cause a lot of embarrassment and extreme discomfort to the Governor if they keep up this up.

Monegan’s Mistake regarding Police Memorial Day 2008 Poster

Governor Palin is scheduled to appear at a celebration of Police Memorial Day in May 2008. Monegan drops off a photo of a trooper in formal dress saluting the flag in front of the crime lab at Alaska State Trooper headquarters, it was the same photo used in the celebration the year before. The Governor was to sign it and it would be used as a poster in Alaska Trooper stations.

Soon after, Monegan gets a phone call from the Governor’s office director: Did you send a poster over here with a picture of Mike Wooten? Monegan didn’t know that was Wooten in the photo (Note: Very ironic, but possible, since Monegan was hired after the original Wooten investigation, and when he had the matter looked into, it was through a page-by-page by a key subordinate, Major Matt Leveque)

Palin cancels her appearance and sends Lt. Governor in her place at the last minute.

The Firing of Walt Monegan

At an event both the Governor and Monegan attended, Palin singles out Monegan in the crowd and applauds him for doing a great job.

A couple of weeks later, after a difficult meeting between Public Safety and Sarah Palin's personal security, Governor's close aide Bailey calls Charles Kopp to offer him Monegan’s job. He says the Governor’s office would like to make a change to the future leadership of the Department of Public Safety. He says Todd is really upset with Monegan.

Kopp says he applied for the job in 2006 and yes he was still interested. Bailey asks when Kopp can take the job. Kopp says 2 weeks notice and asks about whether this was a change now or in a couple of years. Bailey says now, Kopp asks why. Bailey says “a number of reasons”, including:

1. Monegan was unresponsive to direction from the office of the Governor
2. Monegan was a poor leader, delegating too much and giving too much power to the Director of Alaska State Troopers (who looked into the cases were Wooten was supposedly breaking trooper rules, like driving his kids to school and the workman’s comp thing)
3. The governor was extremely upset over the Wooten matter.
4. He mentioned the photograph of Wooten provided for the Police Memorial Day.
5. He mentioned that it was incredible that Monegan did not know what Wooten looked like, given the trooper had threatened the Governor’s family.
6. The governor had lost confidence that the Alaska State Troopers and the Department of Public Safety could protect her and her family from Wooten.That Wooten had violated many state policies and laws over the past few years and the Alaska State Troopers had not taken appropriate action and fired him.

Monegan is fired. He asks why? Was it Wooten? The only reason he is given given: the governor wants to take the Public Safety Commission in a new direction.

When the Governor Announces “The New Direction” later that month, Monegan’s subordinates insist the plan includes items Monegan had already implemented as part of his administration, or considered but was restricted by budget.

An investigation is opened

An independent investigation is opened to determine if Walt Monegan was wrongfully terminated and if Governor Palin violated Alaska ethics laws.

Everyone agrees to participate fully.

Sarah Palin is nominated for Republican VP candidate.

Closer scrutiny is given to what is now called "TrooperGate".

Most of the Palin administration, including Sarah and Todd, refuse to participate, calling it a partisan circus. Sarah Palin insists Wooten is a bad guy and that she was within her rights to fire Monegan.

The report is released after a unanimous vote. It finds Palin had a right to fire Monegan but she violated the law with her crusade to fire Wooten, using the public office.

Did the Palin's feel physically threatened by Wooten?

The report claims "no". Most of the Palin's campaign to get Wooten fired was directed on the offensive, not the defensive.

Just before taking office in November 2006, Palin was assigned security detail. They asked if she or her family had reason to fear anyone, any threats, etc. No mention of Wooten was made.

Later, after Palin took office, Wooten was mentioned to her security detail as a threat. No specific events appear to have occurred that reignited the concern. All reasons cited dated back to the divorce time, a year or two beforehand.

Over the course of Palin’s term in office, she reduced her family’s security detail severely, at the same time Wooten was cited as a danger to the family.

My Conclusions

It’s interesting that Sarah Palin responds to the ethics violation by saying she did not benefit financially, so she didn’t violate the law.

The ethics law actually states: “The legislature reaffirms than 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.”

She seems to have missed the part about "personal benefit" since she was pursuing this "personal matter" long before she was elected Gov.

This is the same ethics law one would cite if a public officer was bought off or bribed.

This is the same ethics law Sarah Palin was refering to when she fingerpointed fellow Republicans for their "lack of ethics".

This is no technicality. No naive mistake.

I read the full report. She knew what she was doing when she had her husband, a private citizen, pursue this from the Governor's office, with State resources, and resulting in public suffering.

This was a personal vendetta, plain and simple, and Palin used her public office to further her private agenda on this.

[Image is the Alaska Safety Bear from the Alaska State Trooper website. You can print coloring book pages on safety issues and mail them to the Display your chosen picture, print and color it, and mail to Safety Bear. Have fun coloring any picture!! Mail your pictures to: Safety Bear's Cave.]