| | Trooper, union: Palin figure's narcotics arrest was politically timed
 A figure close to Alaska governor and former McCain running mate Sarah Palin is said to have benefited from "political meddling," the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The December 18 arrest of Sherry Johnston, grandmother to Bristol Palin's newborn son Tripp Johnston, was delayed until after the November election, according to Kyle Young, drug investigator for the Alaska State Troopers. The case "became anything but normal" once investigators knew Johnston's connection to the Palin family, Young said in an e-mail, and the search warrant "WAS delayed because of the pending election," adding that authorities were "not the ones calling the shots."
Johnston was suspected of arranging a sale of the prescription painkiller OxyContin. She was charged with six felony counts of "misconduct involving a controlled substance" and released on $5,000 bail.
"This really does smack of political favoritism," said John Cyr, executive director of the union representing Alaska State Troopers. "And if that be the case, it's another example of the Palin administration's direct influence on the public safety unit."
The Johnstons have been treated well by the Palin family, if Dan Fagan has anything to say about it. Fagan, publisher of The Alaska Standard, brought to light a possible pulling of strings that took place to secure the Governor's son-in-law-to-be Levi an apprenticeship despite his not meeting the criteria; he is not a high school graduate, and the program requires a diploma. At least one such program in Alaska has a waiting list at least 100 strong.
Palin, "over the moon" with her daughter and her fiancée, defended both of them. "You need to know that both Levi and Bristol are working their butts off to parent and going to school and working at the same time," she said, adding that Johnston was working on his high school diploma through a correspondence program.
In October 2008, Gov. Palin was also found by the Alaska Legislative Council to have abused her power in the infamous "Troopergate" scandal, stemming from the July 2008 dismissal of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, allegedly after he refused to fire Trooper Mike Wooten, who was in a child custody battle with Palin's sister. Monegan said that the Governor, husband Todd, the state's Attorney General and members of Palin's staff had contacted him numerous times about Wooten, though the Governor denied that there had been pressure to fire him.
"I believe 2009 will be the year more and more Alaskans will come to realize Sarah Palin is in way over her head as governor, doesn't always play by the rules, and is, at times, less than honest," Fagan wrote. He asked, "Is this another case of the governor believing the rules don't apply to her or her family?"
|
