Lawmakers Meeting Secretly on Palin Ethics Report

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

Alaska lawmakers are meeting behind closed doors to discuss a politically charged ethics report into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her state public safety commissioner.

The Republican vice presidential nominee has been accused of firing the commissioner to settle a family dispute. An investigator's report was expected to be released later Friday.

Palin supporters have called the investigation politically motivated. Protestors wearing clown noses and carrying balloons greeted lawmakers with cheers that the circus was in town.

The investigation focuses on Palin's firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan. Monegan says it was retribution for resisting pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with the governor's sister.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Palin-Troopergate.html

---

The Legislative Council prepares to meet.

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Does this mean we'll never see the full report?

Just snippets of it, at best?

[Gap Spanner]

7. Who needs the report?

Sarah cleared herself, didn't you hear? She says she didn't do anything wrong, so shouldn't we believe her? Besides, she said it first, so any 'legal' finding wouldn't be fair, just politically corrupt.

This could lead to a whole new era for the criminal justice system if they adopt the 'Palin Justice System'. Rather than wait for the jury to decide a murder trial, the defendant and the prosecutor get to see who can announce their verdict first. Maybe a buzzer could be set up - if the defendant hits it first, he gets to say 'Not Guilty' and everyone has to agree.

[DavidDvorkin]

17. It would certainly save money.

[sattahipdeep]

2. "Alaskans for Truth" 'fair and just.'

By SEAN COCKERHAM, WESLEY LOY and KYLE HOPKINS
Anchorage Daily News

Published: October 10th, 2008

Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French, who is overseeing the investigation, said the closed-door meeting, known as an "executive session," is needed to protect the reputation and privacy rights of those involved. French also disputed Van Flein's statement that the investigator didn't try to talk to the governor. French said he wrote a letter to Van Flein last month asking to set up the interview.

"That's just strange he would say that when there is evidence to the contrary," French said.

Meantime, a group calling itself "Alaskans for Truth" wrote a letter to Palin on Thursday saying the Supreme Court decision proves that "there is no evidence this investigation has been anything but 'fair and just.' " The group organized an anti-Palin rally late last month, called for the attorney general to lose his job over his handling of the investigation, and encouraged people to urge members of the Legislative Council to make Branchflower's report public.

Monegan said he's come to believe Palin fired him because he wouldn't get rid of Mike Wooten, a state trooper who went through a bitter divorce with Palin's sister.

Kim Peterson, who was Monegan's special assistant, told The New York Times in a story to appear in today's editions that she also believed there was pressure

"To all of us, it was a campaign to get rid of him as a trooper and, at the very least, to smear the guy and give him a desk job somewhere," Peterson said.

http://www.adn.com/troopergate/story/551531.html

[EFerrari]

3. I want to know if she put Alaska first. n/t

[Winterblues]

5. This last month she has

She has blessed us with her absense..IMO that is putting Alaska First..

[EFerrari]

6. Lol!

:)

[uppityperson]

4. Now I really want to hear what they said. k&r

[long beach liberal]

8. I heard that msnbc just announced...

that they had the necessary 8 votes needed for the report to be released.

[cal04]

9. Update , I believe within the first two to three hours I had a good understanding

Before the meeting, we rode the elevator with Rep. Max Guttenberg.

'What's the headline?' Wes asked.

'Page 97, appendix B' he said.

Not sure if that was a joke or tip.

Update: 10:45 a.m.: Sen. Lyda Green just stepped outside and asked if reporters if they realized the closed proceedings could take hours. She indicated they were just a little bit into the report.


Lyda Green: Executive session could take hours;media still waiting on Troopergate report
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/10/10/local_news/doc48ef8d13249c8941381220.txt



"I could have spent four days, but I do believe that within the first two to three hours, I had a good understanding of what the investigator's findings were," he said.(committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Kim Elton)

The legislative panel's investigation — one of two that are ongoing — focuses on Palin's firing in July of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan. Monegan says Palin and her husband pressured him to fire Mike Wooten, a state trooper involved in a nasty divorce and custody dispute with the governor's sister. When Monegan resisted, he says, he was fired.

Palin's critics say that shows she used her office to settle family affairs.

"When you're the governor, you leave your household hat at home and you become governor," said state Senate President Lyda Green, a Republican who has frequently clashed with Palin.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081010/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate

[jb5150]

10. Palin Ethics?

Isn't that an oxymoron?

[YDogg]

11. if it's a secret, how come we know about it?

;-)

[tclambert]

12. "Three may keep a secret, if two are dead."

Someone will leak it.

[cal04]

13. Another update

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/132527

Kyle Hopkins is at the Legislative Council meeting with his iPhone. Come back for updates. We're posting updated stories on the homepage.

12 noon: Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau and the Legislative Council chairman, stepped out for a bathroom break and was asked how it was going inside. "I'm not going to characterize it," he said. "I'm tempted to, but I won't." None of the others coming and going from the room have had anything to say.

Then Jeff Turner, an aide to the Senate majority, came out and said it would be at least another hour until any official word emerges from within.

11:50 a.m.: It may be a while. Green just stepped outside again and reports they're now on page 20 of the 200-plus page document. "Go home," she advised.

[lonestarnot]

14. Shit go home my ass!

[librechik]

16. Friday Night News Dump

what a shocker...

[alfredo]

18. That's what I am thinking.

[sohndrsmith]

15. I'm confused. Whether the 263 pages is released to the public

or not, there is still going to be a public statement regarding a decision.... right? This whole thing seems awfully odd to me... or maybe I'm just suffering from political overload - nothing is making much sense to me lately...

[cal04]

19. update with not much info except Palin spokesman talking to BBC

1:35 p.m. Still nothing ... We haven't even seen the legislators pop out for another bathroom break.

Reporters are sitting along the hallway & and filling a nearby conference room, eating sandwiches and staring at laptops. Palin spokesman Bill McAllister is talking to a BBC reporter, while local bloggers have returned expecting the closed-door meeting would have ended by now.

A guy in a chair across from me, with a wireless microphone sitting on his chest, has fallen asleep.