On July 11, 2008, Palin abruptly fired public safety commissioner Monegan, saying only that she wanted to take the public safety department in a different direction.
Monegan then went public with his account of the mounting campaign against Wooten from the governor’s family and staff. Monegan told the Anchorage Daily News that Todd Palin showed him the work of a private investigator, who had been hired by the family to dig into Wooten’s life and who was accusing the trooper of various misdeeds, such as drunk driving and child abuse.
Though Palin vehemently denied that she was involved in the pressure campaign, a review by the Attorney General’s office found that half a dozen state officials had made about two dozen phone calls regarding Wooten.
That was when the Bailey-Dial transcript was released, causing Palin to backtrack somewhat while still insisting that she did not know that Bailey had made phone calls about her ex-brother-in-law. Bailey was put on paid leave.
The state legislature decided to investigate Palin’s possible abuse of power and appointed an independent counsel.
Initially, Palin said she would be “happy to comply, to cooperate” with the investigation, but now – after becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee – she, her husband and several of her top aides are resisting requests for depositions. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Palin’s Trooper-gate Cover-up.”]
Pro-Palin Depositions
Meanwhile, however, Palin’s private attorney, Thomas Van Flein, has deposed two senior officials with the goal of discrediting suspicions that Palin abused her power in the firing of Monegan.
In an Aug. 26 deposition, Van Flein questioned Bailey why he had made damaging statements against Trooper Wooten in the call to Lt. Dial.
Bailey responded that he was genuinely concerned not only about the governor but for “the safety of their family, their kids, their nieces, nephews, her father, regarding Trooper Wooten."
Van Flein then used a line of questioning that appeared to be leading Bailey to a response favorable to Palin.
"You weren't doing it because the governor asked you to, correct?" Van Flein asked Bailey.
"Correct," Bailey responded.
However, Bailey said he obtained information about Wooten’s medical and employment history from Todd Palin.
On Aug. 28, Van Flein deposed Michael Mongale, a state manager with the workers' compensation division. Monagle said there was no truth to rumors that the governor or her office had requested Wooten's workers' comp file.
"Absolutely not," said Monagle, who said that the file is "in my office in a locked file cabinet" for safekeeping.
However, John Cyr, executive director of the Public Safety Employees Association, the union that represents Wooten and other state troopers, disclosed a document that appears to contradict Monagle’s sworn deposition.
A routing slip dated Aug. 21 from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development shows Wooten’s workers comp file was pulled and sent to the attention of Mongale.
“Wooten, as requested,” the routing slip says, which was made out to the attention of “Mike Mongale.”
“A request came in to return all of Wooten’s [worker’s comp] files to Juneau [the state capital],” according to a note and routing slip faxed to Cyr from the worker’s compensation division. “The person who asked to route the files was told the files were being copied for the governor.”
Under Alaska’s strict privacy laws, Wooten would have had to provide written authorization to allow such access. Cyr said the governor does not have the authority to peek into the private employment and medical files of state employees.
“Even as early as a month ago the governor’s office is still mining through Trooper Wooten’s records,” Cyr said. “This is such an abuse of power.”
It’s unclear why Palin’s office would continue to obtain derogatory information about Wooten since his divorce from Palin’s sister, Molly McCann, was finalized in January and a settlement agreement was reached in May.
However, one explanation may be that Wooten was seeking additional custody rights for his children from the judge, court records show.
Bailey’s attorney would not return calls for comment this week. Palin’s office in Juneau also did not return calls for comment. A spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign, when confronted with questions about the investigation of Wooten, said he would try to get a response but later declined to comment.
Defending Wooten
Cyr said Wooten was legitimately collecting worker’s compensation, despite allegations to the contrary made by the governor’s office.
In the fall of 2006, Wooten injured himself in the line of duty when he pulled a body from a wrecked automobile, slipped on icy pavement and injured his back. He underwent surgery and was on “light” duty and had filed for worker’s comp when he could not work.
But the Palin family apparently saw the worker’s comp case as another way to get Wooten fired, especially after Sarah Palin became governor.
“Todd Palin was following Mike around snapping pictures of him,” Cyr said. “Frank Bailey was getting people to say that Mike was lying on his worker’s comp form. The governor’s family was following Mike around everywhere. They forwarded that information to the worker’s comp division.
“They were using the machinery of the state to claim that Mike was cheating the system and not eligible for worker’s comp. That was being conducted out of the governor’s office.”
Cyr said he was informed that photographs of Wooten engaged in physical activity were sent to the worker’s compensation office.
Two former Palin aides said material about Wooten was sent on official stationery from the Office of the Governor. A former senior official to Palin also said Sarah Palin openly discussed Wooten with her husband in the presence of her staffers.
“Todd would come back with pictures of [Wooten] doing something they thought was suspicious,” the staffer said. “I think everyone who worked closely with the governor knows who Mike Wooten is and knows she was consumed with him. That’s not a secret.”
Cyr said he first started to hear complaints about Wooten from the governor’s office soon after Palin took office.
“I did not become aware of the [taped] Bailey conversation until it became public,” Cyr said. “But Bailey complained to a bunch of our other members, the airport police who we represent, that I refused to fire Wooten. This was the middle of last winter. One of my members said to me ‘hey John, what’s going on with you and Frank Bailey.’ I remember thinking ‘who is Frank Bailey?’”
Cyr said more than 1,000 e-mails were exchanged between Bailey, and Sarah and Todd Palin, and other officials during this period that, if released, would show that Palin had used her office to keep tabs on Wooten.
Cyr said he filed a Freedom of Information Act request on behalf of the union to obtain the e-mails, but the governor’s office said it would cost the union $88,000 for the documents.
“That seems a little steep,” Cyr said. “And suspicious.”
Palin has refused to voluntarily release the e-mails citing executive privilege.
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