First, the replacement of fired Monegan, Charles Kopp.
But while much attention has focused on Monegan’s firing, some point to how she handled his replacement as a real test of judgment.
Late on the afternoon of Friday, July 11, 2008 Palin’s office announced Monegan would step down and be replaced by Kenai Police Chief Charles Kopp. Kenai is about 160 miles from Anchorage and has less than 8,000 residents. Palin said she brought in Kopp to usher in a “new direction.”
Kopp was no stranger to Palin, nor Juneau. He served on transition teams for both Governors Frank Murkowski and Palin. But he was not given the role of top cop in her administration. That only came after Palin fired Monegan.
Almost as soon as Kopp was named to the job, John Cyr of the Public Safety Employees Association says he began receiving complaints, about 10 in all, about Kopp. Even before his first day, news broke about a sexual harassment claim that was filed against him a few years earlier by a former employee.
A letter of reprimand was placed in Kopp’s file for the incident that he referred to as a series of “friendly hugs.” Since no further complaints were made, the letter was removed from his file after two years and Kopp said there were never any other complaints. Kopp also told reporters that Palin knew about the complaint before she appointed him.
The harassment allegations became the awkward focus of his first press conference, forcing a stammering Kopp at one point to declare, “There’s no skeletons in my closet.”
During the press conference a press secretary interrupted reporters’ questions saying, “The point of this press conference is to discuss our [department’s] future.” And yet when reporters asked Kopp to define the new direction he deferred to the governor's office saying, “It’s not the role of me to comment on new directions."
Read on.
Second, Palin's initial pledge to cooperate in TroopGate probe
Pages 65-67 with key findings on Palin are reproduced here (pdf). Here are the highlights in the TrooperGate report:
“For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin Abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.” [p.8]
“Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional....“The evidence supports the conclusion that Governor Palin, at the least, engaged in ‘official action’ by her inaction if not her active participation or assistance to her husband in attempting to get Trooper Wooten fired" [and there is evidence of her active participation]. [pgs 65-66]
She knowingly, as that term is defined in the above cited statutes, permitted Todd Palin to use the Governor’s office and the resources of the Governor’s office, including access to state employees, to continue to contact subordinate state employees in an effort to find some way to get Trooper Wooten fired. Her conduct violated AS 39.52.110(a) of the Ethics Act.” [pgs 65-66]
“Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda.” [ p 66]
“In this case, Governor Palin has declined to provide an interview. An interview would have assisted everyone to better understand her motives and perhaps help explain why she was so apparently intent upon g Trooper Wooten fired in spite of the fact she knew he had been disciplined following the Administrative Investigation.” [p 66]
“Governor Palin has stated publically that she and her family feared Trooper Wooten. Yet the evidence presented has been inconsistent with such claims of fear.” [p 67]
“Finally, it is noteworthy that in almost every contact with subordinate employees, Mr. Palin’s comments were couched in terms of his desire to see Trooper Wooten fired for reasons that had nothing to do with fear.” [ p 67]
“I conclude that such claims of fear were not bona fide and were offered to provide cover for the Palin’s real motivation: to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons. [p 67]
“The Attorney’ General’s Office failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 request to Governor Sarah Palin for information about the case in the form of emails.” [p 74]
On a side note: the legislative council doesn't have the power for indictment:
The report made no specific recommendations on penalties or how to proceed. Civil penalties range, theoretically, from impeachment by the Legislature to a reprimand or a fine of up to $5,000 by the state personnel board, but most legislative sources thought it unlikely any action would be taken.
"We have the power to investigate. We have the power to change law based on the investigation. We don't have the power to convene a grand jury, for example, and seek an indictment," Sen. Kim Elton, the Democratic chairman of the legislative council, said in a telephone interview. "We understood at the beginning that we were on a fact-finding mission, but we don't have the power to prosecute."
This is really up to the Alaskans. But, it is clear that Palin violated Alaskans' trust.
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