Sep 22, 2008
By now, most of the country has heard about "Troopergate" and Governor Palin's related conflict with several powerful members of the Alaska legislature. This conflict arises, in part, out of a legislative investigation into media allegations that Governor Palin removed the state's Commissioner of Public Safety because he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper. As the lead attorney for one of two Troopergate lawsuits filed in Alaska last week, I am convinced that this legislative investigation is blatantly unlawful.
First, a little background on the investigation is in order. According to the Department of Public Safety, the trooper in question used a Department-issued Taser on the Governor's 10-year-old nephew, operated his marked squad car while drinking alcohol, illegally shot a cow moose, and was subject to a domestic violence restraining order. He also allegedly threatened to make Governor Palin's father "eat a [expletive] lead bullet." Despite these findings and allegations, this trooper has not been fired. Amazingly, he is currently stationed in the Governor's home community.
Although most of us would probably agree that such a rogue trooper should not remain on the force, the ex-Commissioner himself stated to the Anchorage Daily News on August 30, 2008, that "[f]or the record, no one ever said fire [the trooper]. Not the Governor. Not Todd [Palin]. Not any of the other staff . . . ." Even in the face of this very public admission, the legislative investigation drives blindly on.
Undercutting the investigation further, recently disclosed communications between the Governor's office and the former commissioner transparently reflect that the real reason he was removed from his position was due to his insubordinate refusal to implement the Governor's budgetary and fiscal policies. For example, on December 6, 2007, the commissioner called a press conference in support of his expansive budgetary plan, a plan that was directly at odds with the Governor's policies. Two months later, he released a letter to the Governor advocating for additional funds for items that the Governor previously vetoed.