Full Disclosure in Troopergate is Warranted

Full disclosure from the McCain/Palin camp in the issue of what has been labeled "Troopergate"--the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan in July 2008 by Palin in her position as Alaskan governor-would be in the best interest of the candidates, and more so, in the best interest of the nation. For far too long the citizenry of the United States has been made to accept one public official after another hiding behind loop holes and complexities in the truth-finding process. If McCain/Palin are serious about being "agents of change," this is their opportunity to put their money where their mouths are.

In the same month as Monegan's dismissal from his post, a bipartisan panel voted unanimously to commission an investigation into the dismissal, due to Monegan's allegations that he was fired because he did not give in to pressure from Palin and her administration to fire a state trooper, Mike Wooten. Wooten is Palin's former brother-in-law, having been divorced from her sister. Palin insisted that the public safety commissioner was dismissed due to differences in budgetary issues.

The budgetary issue at hand has been revealed to be a trip to Washington, D.C. that Monegan took to meet with Senator Lisa Murkowski. Monegan has stated the trip was for the pursuit of funding for an anti-sexual-violence program. Palin asserts the she did not authorize the trip, but a document has surfaced which reveals that the governor's Chief of Staff Mike Nizich did approve the trip on June 18, 2008.

Nizich's assistant, Randy Ruaro, deputy chief of staff, is one of several individuals on Palin's staff, who, in addition to Palin's husband, Todd, refuse to honor subpoenas issued by the committee investigating the circumstances of the public safety commissioner's dismissal.

It has also come to light that Palin's assertions that neither she nor anyone in her administration pressured Monegan about trooper Wooten, that in fact, Monegan was contacted by her staff about this issue approximately two dozen times.

When the investigation was originally commissioned, Palin agreed to participate, telling her Alaskan constituents, "Hold me accountable" (Palin Disputed in Troopergate Probe). Since becoming John McCain's vice presidential running mate, Palin has changed her stance and now refuses to take part in the investigation. What as once touted as an impartial bipartisan panel is now being labeled as tainted by politics.

McCain has not indicated that he in any way disagrees with Palin's refusal to participate in her state's investigation of these matters. While it may be understandable from a political standpoint that the investigation either be stalled beyond the November presidential election or somehow brought to a halt altogether, from a moral and ethical standpoint, both Palin's Alaskan constituents and now all of America deserve to know the truth about the entire Troopergate matter.