1-30-3 regular w/todd

Los Angeles Times

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A panel of Alaska legislators voted Friday to authorize subpoenas to Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband and a group of her aides to determine whether Palin improperly pressured a top state official to fire her former brother-in-law, an Alaska state trooper.

The decision by the Alaska Senate’s Judiciary Committee gives an independent investigator, Stephen Branchflower, the Legislature’s legal backing to seek testimony from Todd Palin and 11 aides to Sarah Palin.

Branchflower said he had already amassed evidence showing Palin’s husband was a “principal critic” of trooper Michael Wooten, who was married to Sarah Palin’s sister before a bitter divorce.

The state attorney general and a private lawyer representing the governor have warned they would go to court to quash the subpoenas — raising the possibility of a constitutional clash that could simmer until after the November election.

“It seems like we’re getting into a pitched battle here over subpoena powers,” said state Senate Minority Leader Gene Therriault, one of two Republicans who opposed the authorization.

But a third Republican, state Sen. Charlie Huggins, joined two Democrats in approving the legal move.

“Let’s get the facts on the table,” Huggins said.

In July, Gov. Palin fired Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan, who had refused to sack Wooten. The trooper had already been disciplined with a five-day suspension for several infractions. In 2005, Palin had accused Wooten of threatening her father’s life, demanding that state officials take action to remove him from the agency.

Branchflower said Friday he had amassed evidence showing Todd Palin had pressed Monegan earlier this year to revisit Wooten’s case. After studying Wooten’s record, Monegan told Todd Palin he saw no reason to reconsider the case.