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Politics & Campaign ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The former Alaska public-safety official at the center of a controversy surrounding Sarah Palin said in an interview that he and other police officials heard from the Alaska governor, her husband and aides "at least a dozen times" on the subject of Gov. Walt Monegan, the former Alaska public-safety commissioner, told The Wall Street Journal that he never received explicit orders to fire the brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, who is a state trooper. But he said this was the implication during the discussions, which he said included suggestions that Mr Wooten was unfit for his job.
Associated Press Former Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan The commissioner himself was dismissed by Gov. He says the answer was that the governor wanted a new direction. Mr Nizich, who was later named permanent chief of staff, referred questions to the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate, Gov. The governor's staff has denied that her family's personal dispute with the trooper had anything to do with Mr Monegan's dismissal. Monday, the McCain-Palin campaign released a series of emails suggesting that the commissioner was dismissed for insubordination, particularly for defying the governor's budget requests. A McCain spokesman told reporters that Mr Monegan had engaged in "obstructionist conduct" and a "brazen refusal" to follow the governor's directions on spending. Mr Monegan said he hadn't heard of the complaints about his performance raised by the McCain-Palin campaign this week. Before Monday's interview, Mr Monegan had declined to speak at length to the press about the case.
View Interactive Getty Images Separately, five Republican state legislators Tuesday filed a lawsuit to stop the Legislature's investigation of the matter, after a bipartisan committee approved the probe. The lawmakers said Tuesday that the investigation was "unlawful, biased, partial and partisan." The investigation by a former Alaska prosecutor hired by the state Legislature is seeking to determine whether Gov. About a dozen witnesses have testified in the investigation, including Mr Monegan and his former second-in-command, Audie Holloway. In an email to the Journal on Tuesday, Mr Holloway rejected the McCain campaign's contention that Mr Monegan was fired over a budget dispute. "This last tactic against Walt is false," Mr Holloway wrote. After they divorced, Sarah Palin and her family accused Mr Wooten of misconduct, including making threats to Palin family members and shooting a female moose without a proper hunting permit. The state troopers office found evidence to sustain some of the misconduct charges, but it called some of the more serious charges unfounded. It disciplined Mr Wooten by putting him on a brief leave of absence. Palin's inauguration in December 2006, and state police officials considered the matter closed. "She sounded exasperated, but she appeared to accept it," Mr Monegan said Monday. Mr Monegan said that in February 2007, he called the governor in her office to ask whether she would join him at a birthday celebration for a state legislator. On their way to the gathering, Mr Monegan said the governor told him, "I'd like to talk to you about Wooten." Mr Monegan said that was the only time he cautioned the governor about discussing the Wooten case, preferring to keep her "at arm's length," in Mr Monegan's words, to which he says the governor acquiesced. The former commissioner said that until his dismissal, Gov. Palin's husband and members of her staff, including chief of staff Michael Tibbles, repeatedly raised the Wooten issue with him. Mr Tibbles, who resigned as chief of staff in May, didn't return calls seeking comment. Mr Monegan said some staff members inquired whether Mr Wooten could be transferred away from the Anchorage area where he lives. The commissioner said he replied that Mr Wooten's seniority made it unlikely he could be reassigned.
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