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Alaska lawmakers vote to subpoena Palin's husband
The abuse of power investigation against Sarah Palin, Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, took a potentially worrying turn for her party on Friday when state lawmakers voted to subpoena her husband.
- AP
- Published: 10:17 September 13, 2008
Anchorage, Alaska: The abuse of power investigation against Sarah Palin, Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, took a potentially worrying turn for her party on Friday when state lawmakers voted to subpoena her husband.
Republican efforts to delay the probe until after the November 4 election were thwarted when GOP State Senator Charlie Huggins, who represents Palin's hometown of Wasilla, sided with Democrats. "Let's just get the facts on the table," said Huggins, who appeared to vote during a break from moose hunting.
The Senate committee acted at the request of investigator Stephen Branchflower, who is gathering evidence on whether Governor Palin abused her power by firing Walt Monegan, the state's director of public safety. Critics claim she fired Monegan after he refused to dismiss Mike Wooten, a state trooper who had a messy divorce from the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was let go because of a budget dispute.
Thomas Van Flein, the Palins' private attorney now representing her as governor, did not immediately return calls for comment. In a broadcast interview, Palin said she welcomed the investigation.
"There's nothing to hide," she said in an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson. "Commissioner Monegan has said, 'The governor never asked me to fire him, the governor's husband never asked me to fire him,' and we never did. I never pressured him to hire or fire anybody."
Branchflower said he wants to interview the governor, but omitted her from the 13-person list of subpoena targets he presented to the lawmakers overseeing his investigation.
He said Todd Palin is "such a central figure. ... I think one should be issued for him."
While Todd Palin's role in the dismissal of Monegan is unknown, the request for a subpoena suggests he spurned earlier calls to testify voluntarily. Monegan voluntarily submitted to an interview earlier in the week.
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