Palin 'unlikely' to aid state inquiry into firing

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin is unlikely to speak with an independent counsel hired by Alaska lawmakers to review the firing of her public safety commissioner, a spokesman for Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday.

Spokesman Ed O'Callaghan said he has not spoken with Palin, but she was "unlikely to cooperate" with the inquiry "as long as it remains tainted."

O'Callaghan also said he did not know whether Palin's husband, Todd, would challenge a subpoena issued last Friday to compel his cooperation. Thomas Van Flein, the Palins' lawyer, who has accepted service of the subpoena, did not return messages seeking comment. The governor herself has not been subpoenaed, but the Legislature's investigator, Steve Branchflower, has said he hopes to speak with her.

Palin and her husband campaigned Monday in Colorado and Ohio. Palin also planned appearances Tuesdaytoday in Ohio.

McCain's campaign insists the investigation into the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan has been hijacked by Democrats.

Palin initially said she welcomed the inquiry. But after she became McCain's running mate on Aug. 29, her lawyer sought to have the three-member state Personnel Board take over the investigation, alleging that public statements by the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democratic state Sen. Hollis French, indicated the probe was politically motivated.

French said Sept. 2 that the results of the investigation could constitute an "October surprise" for the McCain campaign. He later apologized for the remark, but Palin's lawyer has said the biased impression it created can't be undone.

The McCain campaign says it can prove Monegan was fired in July because of insubordination on budget issues and not because he refused to fire a state trooper who went through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister. To that end, the campaign released a series of e-mails detailing the frustration several Palin administration officials experienced in dealing with Monegan. The "last straw," the campaign said, was a trip Monegan planned to Washington in July to seek federal money for investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases.

In a July 7 e-mail, John Katz, the governor's special counsel, noted two problems with the trip: the governor hadn't agreed the money should be sought, and the request "is out of sequence with our other appropriations requests and could put a strain on the evolving relationship between the Governor and Sen. Stevens."

Monegan was fired four days later.