Palin Focus of Probe In Police Chief's Firing

Monegan, 57, a former chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said in an interview Friday that during his 19 months on the job the governor repeatedly mentioned Wooten but "never directly asked me to fire him."

Monegan said Todd Palin told him that Wooten "shouldn't be a trooper."

"I've tried to explain to him," Monegan said, " 'You can't head-hunt like this. What you need to do is back off, because if the trooper does make a mistake, and it is a terminable offense, it can look like political interference.'

"I think he's emotionally committed in trying to see that his former brother-in-law is punished."

Monegan said he was also contacted by three other Palin-appointed officials, including the attorney general, regarding the trooper. Each time, he said, he told the administration officials that he would keep an eye on the trooper, but that unless he violated a rule, nothing could be done.

In a TV interview in July, Todd Palin confirmed that he had talked with Monegan but said he was just "informing," not pressuring.

At a news conference Aug. 13, the governor said, "I do now have to tell Alaskans that such pressure could have been perceived to exist, although I have only now become aware of it."

That day, Palin's office released a recording of a call made in February by Palin's chief of commissions, Frank Bailey, to a police lieutenant. Bailey complained about Monegan's lack of action against Wooten. Bailey said Palin "really likes Walt a lot, but on this issue . . . she doesn't know why there is absolutely no action for a year on this issue. It's very, very troubling to her and the family."

John Cyr, chief of the troopers' union, said he was "shocked and disappointed" at McCain's selection of Palin. "It goes well beyond the fact that she is under a cloud of ethics investigations. She's fired the only commissioner who dared to stand up and say we need to do more to make Alaska safe."

Palin's chief of staff fired Monegan on July 11, telling him Palin wanted "to go in another direction," Monegan said.

"I am not, and don't want to come across as, a disgruntled employee," Monegan said. "I was trying to protect her. When I was let go, I was a little surprised. There was not a warning shot or anything."

Monegan said complaints about Wooten first came to him on Jan. 4, 2007, a month after he started on the job. Todd Palin, a commercial fisherman, laid out a dossier he and a private investigator had collected.