Palin’s Safety Commissioner Dispute Fueled By Foe

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Troopergate. It’s a political he-said, she-said that has dogged Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for nearly two months and is likely to do so for another two months leading to the Nov. 4 presidential election. The little-known vice presidential candidate faces accusations of firing public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in what amounts to a messy Palin family drama dating to her pre-gubernatorial days. Monegan had refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin’s sister. The accuser is blogger and rental car executive Andrew Halcro, a Republican-turned-Independent who lost to Palin in the 2006 governor’s race. The accused is Palin, the rising Republican star with a clean-hands reputation who has the most to lose. The man in the middle is former commissioner, Monegan, who says Palin never told him to fire the trooper, but he felt pressure to do so from members of her administration. Then there’s trooper Mike Wooten, who used a Taser on his ... (link)