Long-Standing Feud in Alaska Embroils Palin

"She said troopers like this one and my former brother-in-law, or that trooper I used to be related to, are the things that make people not trust troopers," Monegan told The Post yesterday.

Monegan said he also got telephone calls from three Palin appointees, including her then-chief of staff, Mike Tibbles; Commissioner Annette Kreitzer of the Department of Administration; and Attorney General Talis Colberg.

Colberg said at a news conference this year that he was one of staffers who called Monegan. Colberg said he called after Todd Palin asked him about "the process" for when state troopers make death threats against the first family.

"I made an inquiry and was told by Commissioner Monegan that there was a process in place and that it was handled and it was over. And I reported back to the first gentleman that there was nothing more that could be done," Colberg said.

With each of the calls, Monegan became more concerned and warned each caller about exposing the state to litigation from Wooten. Monegan told Tibbles: "This is not your issue. This is something I am supposed to handle. Every time we talk about this, it is discoverable. Do you want this trooper to own your house?"

Meanwhile, Todd Palin continued to collect evidence against his former brother-in-law and lobbied for his dismissal, records and interviews show. In April 2007, he told the Anchorage Daily News that he met just once with Wooten's boss, Col. Audie Holloway, to give her pictures of Wooten driving a snowmobile when he was out on a worker's compensation claim.

The legislative investigation is looking into whether information was leaked from Wooten's personnel file.

In an interview yesterday, Alaska Deputy Attorney General Michael Barnhill said that a member of the governor's staff made at least one telephone call to Holloway about the snowmobile incident reported by Todd Palin. Diane Kiesel, Alaska state personnel director, called because she believed the troopers should know there might be a violation of law, Barnhill said.

"People in the administration made contact with the Department of Public Safety to deal with the worker's compensation file," he said.

Barnhill said the attorney general's office does not think the governor's staff should be banned from making calls about Wooten to his superiors.

In July, Palin's chief of staff told Monegan he was being fired because the governor wanted to "go in a different direction," Monegan said.

Monegan went public, alleging that his firing was connected to his failure to remove Wooten. The state legislature launched its investigation, and the governor asked the attorney general's office to conduct an internal investigation.

Barnhill said the review, made public two weeks ago, found that half a dozen officials had made about two dozen phone calls regarding Wooten. But only one call was determined to be improper, a tape-recorded conversation between Palin's chief of boards and commissions, Frank Bailey, to a police lieutenant.

In the call, Bailey said, "Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, 'Why on earth hasn't this, why is this guy still representing the department?' "

Palin suspended Bailey with pay, saying she knew nothing about the call.

Palin still faces the review by the legislature.

State Sen. Hollis French (D) said that both Republicans and Democrats authorized the hiring of a former prosecutor to determine whether Palin "used her public office to settle a private score." French described the prosecutor, Steve Branchflower, as a "straight shooter,"

French said the investigation of the popular 44-year-old governor had been criticized throughout the state until about two weeks ago, when the governor's office released the audiotape of Bailey.

Such evidence points to a violation of Wooten's privacy, French said.

"We're seeing clues or signs that matters from his personal confidential file were being shared to generate talking points against the trooper as drums being pounded to get him dismissed," French said yesterday.

The legislative report is due in October.

Staff researchers Alice Crites and Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.