A1A emails, “Let me get this straight. If you are a governor who is being investigated by your own state and you get chosen to be your party’s VP nominee, you can be cleared when your campaign issues a finding that you did nothing wrong? Do I have that correct?”
Well, I can’t say “correct,” only that this seems to be McCain-Palin’s theory. However, today the real deal, Alaska’s Legislative Council, receives the report of Troopergate investigator Stephen Branchflower, which document is unlikely to contain such nonsense. At least it won’t if Branchflower talked to the same people as the New York Times, which conducted its own investigation. NYT reports:
… In all, [Alaska's then-public safety commissioner Walt Monegan] and his aides were contacted about Trooper [Michael] Wooten three dozen times over 19 months by the governor, her husband and seven administration officials, interviews and documents show. …
Todd Palin has admitted an obsession that Kevin Drum terms “serious[ly] Ahab-like“: “I had hundreds of conversations and communications about Trooper Wooten over the last several years with my family, with friends, with colleagues, and with just about everyone I could — including government officials,” owned Todd’s 25-page answer to Branchflower’s written questions.
By the way (and very interestingly), the Toronto Globe & Mail adds that Todd “registered as a Republican only last month, and had previously been a member of the Alaska Independence Party, which supports the state’s secession from the United States.”
Last night, Mudflats reflected on what’s to come:
After overcoming every hurdle, every stonewalling tactic and every flimsy legal challenge imaginable, the report is in the hands of Legislators.
Tomorrow, the Alaska Legislative Council will decide what to do with the results of the real investigation – the one that John McCain and Sarah Palin would rather you not see. …
But before the report is released, the Legislative Council must vote to do so. There is EXTREME pressure coming from very high in the Republican Party to keep this report from coming out. If this report is released to the public tomorrow, it will be because of the principled bravery of a majority of members of the Legislative Council, particularly the Republicans who will have had to stand up to their own party. And that’s where we stand.
Though these days it’s hard — even illogical — to connect the terms “principled,” “bravery,” and “Republicans,” if the GOP’s recovery of viability is to begin, they’ll have to make the connection plain. Let’s see whether enough Alaskans start that work today.
