Man at center of 'Troopergate' wants to 'move on' Nick Langewis

Published: Sunday September 7, 2008





Print This Email This "I would like to put this behind me and move on with my life," said Trooper Mike Wooten to the Washington Post on Friday.



Alaska Governor and McCain vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, after her election in 2006, allegedly targeted Wooten for firing and labeled him a "loose cannon" in retaliation over events that took place towards the end of his marriage to her sister, Molly McCann.



More than 20 internal affairs investigations on Wooten took place after McCann, Gov. Palin and other family members lodged complaints. Wooten was allegedly overheard threatening to kill Palin's father in 2005 before Wooten and McCann finalized their divorce. "That did not happen," Wooten said. "There was (sic) obviously arguments between Molly and I, but there were no confrontations where I threatened to kill her father. I haven't threatened to kill anyone in that family."



Gov. Palin is currently being investigated under suspicion of pressuring state public safety commissioner Walt Monegan to fire Wooten, then dismissing Monegan in July of this year when he refused.



Wooten admits to making "mistakes" during his run as an Alaska State Trooper, but says that he is "trying to move on."



"My focus is on my job and my kids," he added.



Violations Wooten was found to have committed included drinking a beer before driving a state vehicle, using a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson and illegally using his wife's permit to shoot a moose. He denied the beer-related charges and acknowledged the other two. The taser used on his stepson, Wooten said, was on a "test" setting at low strength to indulge the boy's curiosity. "When it was over he thought it was great and wanted to do it all again," Wooten said. "He was bragging about it and telling everyone in the family about it."



"If I had to do it over again," he added, "I wouldn't do it...It's one of those situations that nobody cared about. Everybody laughed about it, until several years later [when] it was made to be something it wasn't. It wasn't a good idea." Reports showed that his then-wife and extended family members were in the house at the time of the incident.



"It was no the actual Tasing of the stepson that was the issue," added attorney Jon Marc Peterson, saying that the official violation arose from personal use of a piece of state-owned equipment.



One Alaska lawmaker is calling for a member of the ethics panel investigating Gov. Palin to be replaced. State Rep. John Coghill, a Republican, has charged that State Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, has politicized the investigation by saying publicly that Senator McCain wouldn't have chosen Palin as his running mate had she been properly vetted. "Now they may have to deal with an October surprise," French said.



"Senator French appears to be steering the direction of the investigation, its conclusion, and its timing in a manner that will have maximum partisan political impact on the national and state elections," Coghill said in a complaint to Alaska Legislative Council chief Kim Elton. Coghill added that he wanted someone to take French's place who was "professional, unbiased, independent, objective," and "at arm's length from the political process."



"I probably said some things I should not have said," said Senator French, who went on to deny that he had influenced the chief investigator on the panel. French added that it was "just basic fairness to the governor" that the "Troopergate" investigation be completed on October 10 as opposed to the original anticipated date of October 31. On September 12, subpoenas may be issued to numerous state employees who have reneged on plans to give depositions.



The accompanying video report, broadcast on September 4, 2008, appears courtesy of ABC News:







