Palin hires attorney for Troopergate investigation

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential candidate, is being represented by an attorney in the investigation into the firing of her public safety commissioner.

The Legislature is investigating whether Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan after he refused to fire a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister.

The Legislature's investigating committee disclosed the attorney's hiring on Monday. The committee released an e-mailed letter it had received from the lawyer on Friday, the day McCain announced she would be McCain's running mate.

"We have been hired to represent the Governor and the Governor's Office" in the investigation, Anchorage attorney Thomas V. Van Flein wrote. "We fully welcome a fair inquiry into these allegations. ... Please know that we intend to cooperate with this investigation."

Tucker Eskew, a senior McCain adviser, said the state, not Palin herself, hired the attorney to represent her in her capacity as governor, and he has been working for several weeks.

"The governor of every state gets legal counsel and this attorney is part of a weeks-old effort to provide this governor defense in a series of outlandish politically motivated charges," Eskew said. "This legal defense is neither new nor uncommon nor at all political. It is a matter of her job and is not recent and it is not related to her selection on the McCain-Palin ticket."

Van Flein requested a copy of all witness statements and documentary evidence from the Legislature's investigator, Stephen Branchflower. Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat who heads the panel, said he has instructed Branchflower not to comply with the request.

In July, a legislative oversight committee approved $100,000 to investigate whether Palin abused her power in firing Monegan.

This political he-said, she-said has dogged Palin for nearly two months and is likely to do so for another two months leading to the Nov. 4 presidential election.

The little-known vice presidential candidate faces accusations of firing public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in what amounts to a messy Palin family drama dating to her pre-gubernatorial days.

The accuser is blogger and rental car executive Andrew Halcro, a Republican-turned-Independent who lost to Palin in the 2006 governor's race.

The accused is Palin, the rising Republican star with a clean-hands reputation who has the most to lose.