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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, October 10, 2008

Campaign: Palin not guilty of wrongdoing

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Gov. Sarah Palin

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Trying to head off a potentially embarrassing state ethics report on GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, campaign officials released their own report yesterday that clears her of any wrongdoing.

Sen. John McCain's running mate is the subject of a legislative investigation into whether she abused her power as governor by firing her public safety commissioner. The commissioner, Walter Monegan, says he was dismissed in July for resisting pressure from Palin's husband, Todd Palin, and numerous top aides to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, Palin's former brother-in-law.

Lawmakers are expected to release their own findings today. Campaign officials have yet to see that report but said the investigation has falsely portrayed a legitimate policy dispute between a governor and her commissioner as something inappropriate.

Monegan said yesterday that he doesn't know what to expect from the legislative panel's own report.

"I just hope that the truth is figured out," Monegan said. "That the governor did want me to fire him, and I chose to not. You just can't walk up to someone and say, 'I fire you.' He didn't do anything under my watch to result in termination."

The campaign's report blames former campaign opponent Andrew Halcro of conspiring with Wooten to pin Monegan's dismissal on the family's dispute with Wooten. Three days after Monegan was fired, they say, Wooten told his ex-wife, Palin's sister, that: "You guys are going down. Get ready for the show."

Two days after that confrontation, they say, Halcro and Wooten met at a hotel bar in Anchorage for more than three hours — and that evening, Halcro posted the first accusations on his blog that Monegan had been fired because of a vendetta against Wooten by the Palin family.