Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal

rdf:langString Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal

rdf:langString The Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal, also known as Troopergate, involves the possibly illegal July 2008 dismissal of the Alaskan Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan by Republican Governor Sarah Palin. A complaint alleged that Palin dismissed Monegan because he did not fire Alaskan State Trooper Mike Wooten, who was in a bitter divorce with Palin's sister, Molly McCann. On October 10, 2008, the twelve-member bipartisan Alaska Legislative Council hired investigator Stephen Branchflower to investigate whether Palin had dismissed Monegan for not firing Wooten. The Branchflower Report found that Palin had violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act covering state executive employees, and released it to the public. Under Alaska law, the state's three-member State Personnel Board, not the Legislative Council, decides whether a governor has violated the ethics laws. On November 3, 2008, the bipartisan Personnel Board, all of whom had been appointed by Palin, released the findings of its own investigation which concluded that Palin did not violate any ethics laws. No action was ever taken.