Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

Governor Sarah Palin appeared on the Charlie Rose Show with Governor Janet Napolatino last October. On the show, Charlie Rose asked what the most important issue would be that candidates would face that would appeal to independent voters in the 2008 election. Sarah Palin answered that it would be national security [question starts at 45:30 into the above video]:

Charlie Rose: What are those issues that will sway them? Are they lifestyle issues, are they education, healthcare, security?

Sarah Palin: National security issues. Candidates are going to be asked: "Are you doing, even as a candidate, and are your intentions to do all that you can to help secure these United States. And I think every elected official needs to ask themselves that. And I say that, Charlie, even personally. My one and only son, my 18 year old, he just signed up for the United States army – he’s at boot camp right now. And I am thinking – you know, this kid is doing all that he can, within his power, to help secure and defend the United States. Every elected official had better be asking themselves, are you doing as much also, are you doing all that you can, certainly on the presidential election – in that scene – that’s what is going to be asked of candidates – and I think he or she who ends up on top of that issue will get those independent votes.

Charlie Rose: And who do you think?

Sarah Palin: I’m undecided. Because I haven’t heard a lot of discussion to the degree that I want to hear about doing all that we can to secure these United States. And not just militarily but, again with our energy issues. Are we too beholden to unstable regimes right now. Are we at their beck and call – those who would potentially cut off a supply of energy to the United States.

Charlie Rose: Do you know what the Bush administration energy policy is?

Sarah Palin: Well, we hear about it through the media, yes.

So, I think it is fair to ask what kind of national security experience Sarah Palin has, in these dangerous times, that would reassure American voters that she can be trusted to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. Is being mayor of a town of under 10,000 citizens national security experience? Is living in Alaska, which happens to be close to Russia, national security experience? These important questions need to be asked as soon as the McCain campaign offers up Sarah Palin for interviews with the press.

In my previous post I noted the timeline of Governor Palin’s lawyering up. However, since CNN is tonight beating the drums on the air, and in print – based on information from the McCain campaign – that Palin hired the lawyer "three weeks ago", it is important to lay some facts on the table more clearly in a separate post.

Palin’s lawyer, Thomas V. Van Flein, wrote a letter, dated August 29 2008, to Stephen Branchflower, the investigator assigned to investigate "Troopergate". In this letter Flein first informed the investigators that he had been "retained to represent the Governor and the Governor’s Office relative to the Legislative Council’s investigation into the termination of Mr. Monegan, the alleged Executive Branch Ethics violation, and the alleged Personnel Act Violation." This letter was sent via email to Stephen Branchflower.

According to the response to this email from Alaska State Senator Hollis French, the letter from Flein was sent to Branchflower on August 30, 2008. French writes in his response: "I am in receipt of your letter dated August 29, 2008, sent to Stephen Branchflower on August 30, 2008." French added "It’s worth pointing out that we have not received any notice from the Department of Law that the Governor was retaining private counsel." The letter was the first time French had heard that the Governor had retained a lawyer.

John McCain announced that Sarah Palin was his running mate last Friday, August 29, 2008. It appears that sometime the same day, possibly after the McCain camp learned of "Troopergate" from the media, a lawyer was retained for Sarah Palin.

In Flein’s own letter he makes it pretty clear that he has just been retained. He says:

"We have considerable information to review to get up to speed. The Attorney General is forwarding to us information it collected and already shared with you.

…

If you are in town, I think a sit down meeting with you would be beneficial so we can map out the logistics. In the meantime, I would ask that you have no ex parte contact with members of the Governor’s Office, and we will not contact Sen. French."

It is possible that the lawyer was hired three weeks ago and did nothing to notify the investigators he had been hired. If so, he let the investigators contact his client directly for three weeks before sending a letter asking that they not do so. That seems highly unusual. It is also unusual, that if he was hired three weeks ago, that he would not have already gotten information from the Governor’s own Attorney General by this time. It seems a lot more likely that the lawyer was retained on August 29, 2008 – the date he used on his letter to Branchflower.

The McCain campaign, to try to demonstrate they have vetted Palin, may be scrambling to push the timeline of the vetting back. However, all evidence suggests that Governor Palin had not been vetted until she was announced as John McCain’s running mate. The timing of the hiring of the lawyer is further evidence of the lack of vetting.

This is not Watergate, but it is the pressing question of this election season. What did John McCain know about his pick for Vice President, and when did he come to know it?

Very soon after John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on Friday it became apparent that his campaign had not vetted her. Over the weekend rumors began to swirl about her family, and today, in an unfortunate turn of events, Sarah Palin announced that her 17-year old daughter was 5 months pregnant and would be getting married in the future. John McCain’s campaign claims they knew about this "last week" – not necessarily a denial that they found out after Palin was announced as McCain’s VP pick.

A few hours ago, in another sign of disarray, the McCain campaign announced that Governor Palin has retained a lawyer to defend herself in the abuse of power investigation against her known as "Troopergate". The news from the McCain campaign is that the lawyer was hired three weeks ago. According to CNN:

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin hired a lawyer three weeks ago to act on her behalf as state legislators investigate whether she may have abused her power in firing the state police chief for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper, CNN has confirmed.

However, Palin’s lawyer first contacted Alaska investigators this Saturday, August 30, announcing that he had been retained [See lawyer’s letter here and the response from an Alaska legislator here]. It appears that the lawyer was retained after McCain announced her as his running mate.

Today it was also revealed that Palin’s husband, Todd, had been arrested many years ago on a drunk driving charge. Over the weekend Governor Palin’s 1993 no contest plea for a  fishing violation also emerged. Why are these two trivial matters of relevance, you might ask. They are relevant because of the sordid drama that is "Troopergate". It is alleged, and there is strong tape recorded evidence to support the allegations, that the Governor tried to use the power of her office to get a state trooper, her ex-brother-in-law, fired from his job. When the Alaska public safety commissioner refused, it is alleged the commissioner was fired. In an ironic turn, two of the reasons the Governor, her husband, and her staff used to try to pressure the commissioner to fire the state trooper were that the trooper had once been seen drinking a beer before driving his vehicle and that once he had shot a moose (only in Alaska!) without a proper license. It turns out the moose shooting charge stems from the trooper shooting the moose even though the permit to hunt moose was in his then wife’s (the Governor’s sister) name. The irony is that Palin was cited for her fishing violation because the permit to fish was not in Palin’s name, but in her sister-in-law’s name.

On more substantive matters, it was also learned over the weekend that Palin was not exactly being frank in her speech last Friday on her position on the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere".

At this point the evidence is overwhelming that John McCain did not properly – if at all – vet Sarah Palin, a woman he had only met once, for the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket. The McCain campaign is now in full damage control mode. They have sent lawyers to Alaska to now begin the vetting process.

This week was supposed to be the week the Republican party makes its case to the American people for four more years at helm. Instead it threatens to be consumed by the rolling disclosures about an unvetted vice presidential pick. No matter how the Republicans try to spin what is occurring, this is a disaster for the McCain campaign.

All of this could have been avoided if John McCain asked questions first, instead of shooting from the hip. The vetting now is left to the American people. It is time to vet John McCain to determine if he has the focus, the interest, the judgment, and the temperament to be the next president of the United States.