The Wooten Challenge

The only issue is abusing her power to get him fired. What he did or did not do is not the issue. Whatever he did, it goes by the procedure. You don't just overrule the procedure b/c your'e the governor. Why can't we all get that special treatment- we don't like what someone did so we get the governor's staff to get the guy fired. That's not democracy but a totalitarian state with her at the top with all the power. She herself admitted it was wrong in her press conference -- she said she did not authorize the contacts or condone them and the sheer number (14 people made dozens of contacts) looked like 'pressure' So, get off of what the trooper did or did not do. The only question is, did she abuse her power- by her own admissions she did- otherwise she'd have to be incompetent because she was unaware of what dozens of her own staff and husband were doing for her entire term in office to get her personal enemy fired.

Was Wooten's reprimand/suspension public knowledge? If so, why were the governor's people harassing after the issue had already been addressed. What about gaining access to someone's personnel file? Is THAT legal in AK?

That 'popular girl/mean girl' syndrome. Remember that popular girl in high school who would stab you in the back with a smile on her face? Uses charm to get her way, and if she doesn't, BEWARE! And I think many good --not perfect-- men have experienced the irrational venom of an angry ex. I'm a woman, and there are those of my gender who can be downright evil.

To claim that simply because there were no other complaints outside of the adults in the family in the trooper investigation makes Wooten an unblemished father is misleading. You have one of the victims of abuse and exposure to drinking while driving--the young step son reporting, you have the statements of the bartender, friends of the family who were direct witnesses, etc. Palin's email to Grimes also references past court documents to similar patterns of behavior in his previous divorces which should be readily discoverable. Even though I am no fan of Palin's over-stepping her boundaries in this situation, it is naive to promote the notion that Wooten is a fit father in the custody issue. Andrew, you missed the boat on this one and could use some schooling in domestic violence, particularly that involving police. Check out http://www.abuseofpower.info/ for better insight about how abusers in uniform operate.

When people flip out and have a personal crisis they do un characteristic (spelling) things. Maybe he was a great trooper before the seperation and divorce, but as many times, divorce triggers an ugly side to people, including police. Just ask O.J. Simpson!

Thanks for your blog. This is an interesting case of Molly McCann's former husband and pressure to fire him from his job. I want more investigation of Molly's characer. My question to you--- everyone is pointing finger to Michael Wooten, what do you know about Molly McCann? Why does she keeps marrying people and having children and divorcing? Could you investigate about her first marriage and what happened to the first guy and what made her to choose Micahel Wooten as her second husband and what went wrong. There are always two sides for the stories. There won't be smoke without fire. I will appreciate your discussion on your blog. Thanks.

Why do women stay with husbands who abuse them? Who knows. Could it be this mental condition was the cause for Wooten's wife not reporting the taser incident? Perhaps enough time had passed that would have prevented legal action, however adminstrative action can be taken after the incident becomes known. Of course the rules in Alaska may be different. I just retired after 30 years of law enforcement in California. Not only should Wooten have been fired, anyone who thought otherwise should have been fired as well. You guys must get away with quite a bit of stuff up there.

You're the governor--your little sister is in a custody fight with a state employee that she claims has beaten her and tasered her son. Is it too much to write a letter on behalf of a family member who is trying to retain custody of her children--or maybe you'd rather she'd step down as governor? The letter is all you've got. Let everyone read her letter and make up their own minds.

you discredit my argument because you think im not importan....but i want to hear you say it..thats all......say it .....Union rules are more importan that alaska law!!!....because you are saying it....when you say that Wooten did nothing wrong...and that the Palin's do not deserve to be heard...ethics are not stipulated by union rules...no matter how you spin it...

i cant belive you....i did not think i would see the day a so called conservitive sticks up for union rules over alaska laws....you do realized you are sick up for child molsting,poching,drunk driver....no wonder you only got 10% of gov's elections...

..go back to sleep behind the desk Zman. I'll wake you when I come in to do my show on Saturday.

I'm not a Palin supporter, nor am I anti-Palin. As well, I'm not an anti-AST's person. The men in AST do an outstanding job with what has been shoved in their face lately. Conversely, I also question if there might be some animosity from the Palin administration making life a little more difficult for the AST boys and girls. However, no Trooper should be allowed to exceed the face value of a Law as it would apply to you and I unless the stituation merits it. Several of Wooten's deeds certainly exceeded this standard and these were noted by Dective Grimes when she investigated Wooten. Any one of these actions should have demoted Wooten, Several of them should have removed him from the Duty Line. All of them combined should lead to his dismissal. Granted, Wooten was in the midst of an obviously nasty divorce with Palin's sister. That in itself would not garner the sympathy of any Trooper or Magistrate should you or I have commited those acts. The vast majority of our Troopers (Ladies and Gents) are some of the finest individuals I have ever met. But as always in society, a few slip past the gatekeeper and give the rest a bad name. Alas, the folks at AST are not all perfect and wander from time to time as we all do. We refer to it as the "Human Factors" element and whether we like it or not, it is prevelent in our Society. That alone is why the citizens of Alaska need a civil review board for complaints filed against the Troopers and other Law enforcement personnel. I commend Governor Palin for trying to "root out" a Trooper that has strayed way-way to far. However, I also must discredit her for what appears obvioulsy a personal involvement on public matter. Was firing the Chief the wrong move? The way she applied his dimissal appears to indicate it was. But...what does an administrator do when her subordinate refuses to act on an issue? Should she have fired the Chief? It is the administrator's option to do so and it happens on a very frequent basis. This particular one just appears to be more colorful. I'm sure there is much more that has not surfaced about this....stand by. Time to stop the cat fight and get back to running the State, there are much bigger issues out there to deal with than the personal issues between the Gov and AST. Neverless, the one very big issue that remains is how are we going to "police" or monitor our Law Enforcement Agencies so we can avoid the "good Cops" taking a bad rap for the actions of Casey and Mike. Possibly that might be the first step needed in an attempt to restore credabilty to AST. Also a good way to muster support for an enhanced compensation package for the Troopers. For the record, I don't have priors. I don't dislike the Troopers, in fact the only traffic violation I have was the only enforcement contact I have ever had with Trooper. One friend many years ago was a Trooper, as well as a good neighbor, and another a good hunting buddy. So....no anti AST sentiment here.

I have been hearing people for and against Governor Palin for the last month and have read a multitude of blogs and letters on adn.com. I am a little frustrated with people trying to twist the issue at hand. Some say she is guilty but because she fired Monegan because he wouldn’t get read of a bad trooper, it is ok. That she is trying to clean up the AST. I am tired of such idiocy. Therefore, I decided to write an analogy for all of you who think this way. Bob, Jane and Mike drove to a local bank. Bob went in and robbed it. Jane stood guard. Mike drove Bob and Jane to Jane’s father’s house to divide the loot. Father called Jane’s sister Jill and her husband Jack to come help divide it up. They all knew it was stolen but there is insurance, so no one really got hurt. Bob, Jane, Jack, Jill and Jane’s father split the loot between them and spent it. So, who in this scenario is guilty of a crime? If you answered all of the above, you would be correct. Let’s take that same scenario but change it up like this. Wooten, Molly and a friend went hunting on Molly’s permit. Wooten shoots the moose for Molly. Molly puts it down on her tag to make sure they didn’t get caught. The friend takes Wooten and Molly with moose back out of the woods. Wooten and Molly go to Molly’s dad’s house, where they call Sarah and Todd to come and help butcher the moose. They all new who shot it and whose permit it was. Sarah and Todd come over and help Wooten Molly and their father butcher the moose and take some for themselves and consume it. Years after the fact, when a divorce heats up between Molly and Wooten, now it is an issue. So, who in this scenario would be guilty of a crime? If you answered all the above, you would be correct. The child tasing is the same way. Where were Sarah, Molly, Todd and grandpa after it happened? They did nothing to remove this child from harms way. IF a child were beaten by a step parent and OCS came in and saw that the parent had done nothing to protect this child and remove it from harm, they would take the child. If this is child abuse, why wasn’t OCS called? Why didn’t these upstanding citizens do anything to help this child? I don’t know if she pressured Walt to fire Wooten, though it does look bad right now. However, I do know that to demonize Wooten is to demonize Sarah and family too.

Andrew, Why should TP get excutive privledge when he has nothing to do with the governors chair per say! He did make several calls on Trooper Wooten, and we all know he tryed his best on behalf of him and SP to get him fired. Did Nancy Regan and Hillary Clinton get as much Excutive Privledge as SP is asking for TP? And they were presidents wifes, oh I forgot, they were ladies! Thanks Just Courious!

Could it really be true that Palin kicked the friend of her daughter out of her car after learning of mother dating ex-brother-in-law?? - and - is there any way to verify that Palin was carrying her baby when the fender bender happened and he was not in a car seat?? What is the source or sources of these allegations. If they are true, these issues are a pattern of grossly irresponsible behavior and reflects an attitude that she doesn't have to answer to anyone for her actions.

When you ask the wrong question you necessarily will get a wrong or irrelevant answer. Average citizens generally don't file complaints against Troopers or other law enforcement officers because they are intimidated by the badge and uniform. Take the bartender for example. He's not part of the Palin family and neither he nor any member of his family is divorcing Wooten. If Wooten drove a trooper vehicle while intoxicated and then got quietly ushered home by a fellow trooper, that's a scandal, regardless of whether there is anything to investigate about the Governor or not.

..That complaint was investigated and it was not sustained. We all have complaints about the due process of something, a judges ruling, a jury ruling, a decision made by the planning and zoning commission. That doesn't mean there was a scandal or a cover up it just means people saw things differently. After all, isn't that what the governor is arguing now; that although it looks like pressure...it really wasn't.

Twenty five complaints against Wooten including some that were so ridiculous they shouldn't even of been given any credence but they were. Two of the three he admitted to doing on his own and the third was the unprecendented action taken bu Col. Grimes to go back in and change the investigators findings. 

Most of those complaints were obsessive. Like the one where Sarah accused Wooten of drinking and driving then when she was questioned admitted she had never witnessed the incident, but had only heard from someone else that it happened.

If you don't like the process, then change the system....don't keep going after Wooten on a witch hunt.  

Our governor should be taking the highest ethical road. Hell, she freakin' ran on that platform. Is it ethical to pull these out of your back pocket when it's going to benefit a member of your family during a family dispute. If this guy was so bad, then YOU Governor Palin are just as guilty for not saying anything when this stuff was going down. Why was she so popular in the first place? I love those Parnell political commercials when the voice over announces her when she is about speak. "Now here's your Queen, Sara Palin." I immediately go to one knee in my living room. Wouldn't want any pressure from a staffer.

Andrew, in 2001 he used DPS forms for the court and was of a personal nature. Who made the complaint? This was documented in his record. It would be interesting to know. He also was absent without leave... This was documented. Not sure who made the complaint. The other complaints that were identified other than the complaints you outlined that came from the Palin's have no source. It would be interesting to know who reported it. The issue with the possible drunk driving was a report done by a bar owner done through a phone call. The question is still out on if the trooper that pulled Wooten over and smelled alcohol on his breath acted appropriately. The negilgent damage to a state vehicle was documented but it is not clear who reported it. The other driving infractions that were traffic violations were documented but it is not clear who reported it. The open beer can was reported by a neighbor? But was discounted by the investigation but later was found credible. It would be interesting to know who reported the other documented misconduct that required some sort of action.

I've seen his file and went through it before I wrote the original story and there were no complaints that I saw from anyone not connected with the Palin family that would give credibility to this rogue, out of control cop theory being used as a red herring.

Ironically, the recent discovery of this tape featuring Frank Bailey has more than likely given Wooten grounds for legal claims against the state.