Gov. Sarah Palin's Husband Will Not Testify

Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, refuses to comply with a subpoena issued by state lawmakers investigating her firing of Alaska's public safety commissioner. The McCain-Palin campaign is working overtime to sabotage the investigation into whether Gov. Palin pressured then Public Safety Commissioner Monegan to fire her ex-brother-in-law before firing Monegan for not following her orders. Palin has said Monegan was dismissed over budget disagreements and denies any wrongdoing.

CNN.com reports that state Senate committee is scheduled to meet Friday to take statements from the 12 people they subpoenaed last week, including Todd Palin. But McCain-Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella said Todd Palin would not face a "fair hearing" before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The campaign has stepped up its attacks on the Legislature's investigation of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan's firing in the past week, saying the governor won't cooperate with an inquiry that it says is "tainted" by partisan politics.

The governor originally pledged to cooperate with the state Legislature's investigation of her July dismissal of Monegan. Since his firing, Monegan has accused Palin of trying to pressure him into firing her former brother-in-law, a state trooper who had been involved in an acrimonious divorce from the governor's sister. Since becoming Sen. John McCain's running mate, she has argued that the investigation belongs before the state Personnel Board, whose members are appointed by the governor.

In a new twist, Comella said Alaska state law bars ethics investigations of people running for elected office. She is reported as saying, "That law was passed to insulate legislative investigations from exactly the kind of political maneuvering we are seeing in this inquiry."

Since Todd Palin is not running for elected office, I wonder how the Alaska state law allows him to ignore the subpoena? what executive privilege is he claiming?

Palin initially denied that anyone in her administration or family had pressed for action against her former brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, whom she has branded a "rogue trooper." But in August, just two weeks before her nomination, she acknowledged that members of her staff had contacted Monegan's office nearly two dozen times about the trooper and suspended one aide whose February call to a state police lieutenant on the matter was tape-recorded.

And Todd Palin was a "principal critic" of Wooten and had "many contacts" with Department of Public Safety officials about his status, Stephen Branchflower, the former prosecutor hired by the state Legislature to investigate the firing, told lawmakers last week.

The controversy has led to more scrutiny of Todd Palin's role in his wife's administration. Documents released during the Monegan inquiry suggest that the oil-rig worker and champion snowmobile racer, nicknamed the "first dude," has been copied in on e-mails on numerous issues ranging from public criticism of the governor to meetings with corporate leaders. But Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said Todd Palin's role in the administration "has not been inappropriate."

Read the CNN.com article about Todd Palin's refusal to cooperate with the investigation here.

Read the CNN.com article about Sarah Palin's lawsuit to halt the investigation here.

Read the CNN.com article about Palin's staff's refusal to cooperate with the investigation here.


plez sez: i've almost grown tired of writing about this woman... but i'm still incredulous about john mccain sticking with her through this "troopergate" mess! the luster has worn off of the crown and the lipstick is fading on this pit bull... and i am convinced that we haven't seen all of the dirt on the Palin family.

there are reports that todd palin was calling monegan and putting pressure on him to fire wooten. todd is an unemployed "snowboard champion," why he was conducting the business of the state is beyond ridiculous. ms. congeniality would've probably gotten the boot from alaska voters after her first term.

i hope that john mccain loses, but if by some miracle he wins, i'd hate for his second-in-command to be this ditzy boob for the north country... mccain needs to drop palin like a bad habit!