UPDATE: Palin to resign as governor

JULY 3, 2009 - 10:04 AM

Gov. Sarah Palin says she will resign in a few weeks. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will take over in late July.

Wow. So ... is this the end of her announcements this weekend or will we hear something on July 4?

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

Woke up to a cryptic e-mail this morning from Gov. Sarah Palin's office. All it says is she "will make an announcement at her Wasilla home this morning" at 11.

On Fourth of July weekend? From her home? Hmm.

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Palin gets Sitting Duck Award

JULY 2, 2009 - 12:47 PM

From Bill White in Anchorage --

The National Association of Newspaper Columnists has named Gov. Sarah Palin the winner of its Sitting Duck Award.

The group said the award is "an honor bestowed each year on the crème de la crème of the most ridiculed newsmakers in America."

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich finished second.

Winners in recent years include former President Bill Clinton and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The association gives the award tongue in cheek, noting "The award’s title originates from the fact that these figures are easy targets — sitting ducks — during the most perilous of times a columnist can face: the slow news day. The award may be given to a person, animal, group or thing, but the point is to poke a little fun."

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French files intent to run for governor, says it doesn't mean he's running

JULY 1, 2009 - 6:00 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage

Democratic state Sen. Hollis French filed an intent to run for governor today.

But French said it’s doesn’t mean he will run for sure next year.

“It’s just simply a preliminary step towards making a final decision but also keeping the dialogue going...continuing the conversation I’ve been having with a lot of people about what sort of governor they want to have in the next election,” he said.

French, of Anchorage, said he filed the letter of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. That allows him to legally start raising for a campaign. But French said he doesn’t intend to raise any money until he makes a final decision and a formal announcement of whether he will run for governor.

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Troopergate looks to have dominated state costs for ethics complaints

JULY 1, 2009 - 8:43 AM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage --

The state personnel board has now posted its expenses for dealing with ethics complaints against Gov. Sarah Palin and her staff, saying the costs has been nearly $300,000 over the past year.

Most of the expenses --$187,797 -- appear to have come as a result of the "Troopergate" investigation of Palin that the governor herself initiated. Palin did so because, she contended, the Legislature's investigation on the matter was politicized and she was seeking the appropriate venue to deal with the allegations.

That figure could also include the related claim by the Public Safety Employees Association that Palin or her staff improperly disclosed information from personnel records of state trooper Mike Wooten. The personnel board investigator dismissed the PSEA complaint.

Click here to read the expense list.

I was off yesterday when the numbers were released, so I've just started going through them. But the other biggest case expense -- $43,028 -- was also from last year.

The personnel board expense list doesn't specify the nature of each case listed so it takes some deduction to figure out which costs are associated with which complaint. The list calls them "independent counsel expenditures" and only provides case numbers followed by total expense incurred per case.

The board won't say which case numbers correspond with which complaint, or provide a detailed breakdown of the expenses.

The chronology of the list suggests that the $43,028 could be the complaint where Andree McLeod contended Palin and some staff members used their influence to get a Palin supporter a job in state government.

The complaint against Palin was dismissed but the board investigator did recommended ethics training for one of the governor's closest aides.

That was the first known personnel board complaint made against Palin last year (on Aug. 6) and it is case number 2008-001 on the personnel board expense list just released. It's the first case number on the list, right before what appears to be the Troopergate investigation it immediately preceded.

The third biggest case expense listed -- $29,962 -- is also from last year. Based on the chronology, it's possible that is the complaint made against Palin for having the state pay for her children's travel. Palin ended up settling that complaint by agreeing to reimburse the state about $8,000 for several trips.

The personnel board decided to publicize the costs after complaining about the expense of ethics complaints filed against Palin or her staff (the best estimate now seems to be 18 of them.)

Click here for a chronological list of known ethics complaints.

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Palin sparks internal GOP warfare. Again.

JULY 1, 2009 - 8:03 AM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

The Vanity fair article about Gov. Sarah Palin has taken on a life of its own, reports Politico, which has delved into some of backstabbing, eating-their-own politics going on within the GOP right now as the party looks for a leader.

From Politico: "The vitriol also suggests the degree to which Palin remains a Rorschach test not simply to Republicans nationally but within a tight circle of elite operatives and commentators, many of whom seem ready to carry their arguments in 2012. Was Palin a fresh talent whose debut was mishandled by self-serving campaign insiders, or an eccentric "diva" who had no business on the national stage? Going forward, does she offer a conservative and charismatic face for a demoralized and star-less party? Or is she a loose cannon who should be consigned to the tabloids where she can reside in perpetuity with other flash-in-the-pan sensations?"

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Sullivan names spokesperson, city attorney

JUNE 30, 2009 - 3:30 PM

From Bill White in Anchorage --

Anchorage Mayor-elect has named Sarah Erkmann as his chief spokeswoman and Dennis Wheeler as the city attorney for his three-year term that starts Wednesday.

Erkmann has been a columnist for The Alaska Standard Web site, a public relations executive and a drug sales person. She worked for the former Anchorage PR firm Bernholz & Graham for many years and earlier had been a weekend producer at KTUU-TV. She is a lifelong Alaskan who graduated from Service High School and has a history degree from the University of Oregon.

Wheeler has been an attorney for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska with responsibility for utility and pipeline regulation. He previously worked in the city’s law department and served two years as deputy municipal attorney. He graduated from Chugiak High School, also has a history degree from the University of Oregon and earned his law degree from Willamette Law School.

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Sean Parnell questions Young's candidacy

JUNE 30, 2009 - 3:02 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage–

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell isn’t saying what office he will run for next year.

But he questioned the chances of his old campaign foe, Don Young, being re-elected.

Parnell told me in an email today that he acknowledged the past effectiveness of Young, Alaska's lone representative in the U.S. House. But Parnell said he was surprised by Young's decision to file yesterday to run next year for his 20th term in Congress.

“Where Don Young’s own Republican members of the House took away his clout by removing him from committee leadership, Young will be hard pressed to explain why Alaskans should send him back in 2010,” Parnell said.

In December, after winning re-election, Young agreed under party pressure to relinquish his committee leadership until his legal problems were resolved.

Young said yesterday that he’s still the best person to be Alaska’s Congressman, as Alaskans decided by re-electing him last year (he beat Parnell in the Republican primary by just 304 votes than defeated Ethan Berkowitz in the general by over 16,000 votes.)

So what are Parnell’s plans?

”I’ll be a candidate for statewide office in 2010 as I want to continue serving Alaskans,” he said.

That’s a pretty broad statement. It could mean he’s running again for lieutenant governor, gunning for governor (presumably if Palin doesn’t run), taking on Don Young in a rematch, or running against Lisa Murkowski for U.S. Senate.

Parnell said a formal announcement would come at a later date.

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Cabinet secretaries to visit Alaska on rural tour

JUNE 30, 2009 - 2:17 PM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

The White House announced today that five cabinet secretaries will be visiting Bethel this summer as part of a nine-state tour to find out how "communities, states, and the federal government can work together to help strengthen rural America."

The August 12 visit to Bethel will include Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. They'll be discussing rural infrastructure, green jobs and climate change, the White House said.

"A healthy American economy depends on a prosperous rural America, President Obama said in a statement released Tuesday. "Rural America is vast and diverse, and different communities face different challenges and opportunities. That's why we’re going out to hear directly from the people of rural America about their needs and concerns and what my Administration can do to support them."

The White House said that the goal is to hear about "the diverse set of challenges and opportunities facing the small towns and rural communities that are so integral to the fabric of American life." They will report back to the president about the state of rural America, and what the administration can do to strengthen it, the White House said.

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Judge in Stevens' trial: Do federal prosecutors have a pattern of mishandling evidence?

JUNE 30, 2009 - 2:05 PM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. –

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who oversaw former Sen. Ted Stevens’ corruption trial, continues to be critical of the conduct of federal prosecutors in his courtroom. Days after dismissing the indictment against Stevens, Sullivan ordered a criminal investigation into the conduct of FBI agents and prosecutors who failed to turn over evidence that might have aided Stevens in his defense. Today, it appears that he was equally hard on prosecutors in an unrelated drug case.

From an Associated Press story:

By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ A judge asked federal prosecutors in a major drug-dealing case Tuesday if they have a pattern of mishandling evidence after a second high-profile prosecution fell apart in his courtroom because of witness problems.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he saw similar prosecutorial mishandling in the dismissed corruption conviction against former Republican Sen. Ted Stevens this spring and now in the Justice Department's move to drop drug charges against Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon.

Sinec Ye Gon’s arrest, prosecutors said one witness has recanted and another has refused to testify, and they have asked Sullivan to dismiss the case. Sullivan said he will throw out the indictment during a final hearing on July 30, when he'll also decide whether to allow prosecutors the option of charging Ye Gon again.

Sullivan said that the prosecution only belatedly revealed the witness problems, despite being required to do by Justice Department policy and the Constitution. Meanwhile, he said that without knowing of the problems he repeatedly delayed the trial at the prosecutors' request while Ye Gon was "essentially in solitary confinement" at a Washington jail.

"All of this raises legitimate questions about whether the government ever intended to abide by its constitutional obligations to provide that information to the defendant," Sullivan said.

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Vanity Fair: Palin’s life has sometimes played out like an unholy amalgam of Desperate Housewives and Northern Exposure

JUNE 30, 2009 - 7:52 AM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

Todd Purdam's Vanity Fair article about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is out in the August issue of the magazine.

The article begins with a description of Palin's triumphant return to campaign-style politics, with her April appearance at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner, but there also are some new campaign trail tidbits from 2008, like this from McCain-Palin aides:

"In recent rounds of long conversations, most made it clear that they suffer a kind of survivor’s guilt: they can’t quite believe that for two frantic months last fall, caught in a Bermuda Triangle of a campaign, they worked their tails off to try to elect as vice president of the United States someone who, by mid-October, they believed for certain was nowhere near ready for the job, and might never be. They quietly ponder the nightmare they lived through. Do they ever ask, What were we thinking? "Oh, yeah, oh, yeah," one longtime McCain friend told me with a rueful chuckle. "You nailed it."

And this:

"At one point, trying out a debating point that she believed showed she could empathize with uninsured Americans, Palin told McCain aides that she and Todd in the early years of their marriage had been unable to afford health insurance of any kind, and had gone without it until he got his union card and went to work for British Petroleum on the North Slope of Alaska. Checking with Todd Palin himself revealed that, no, they had had catastrophic coverage all along. She insisted that catastrophic insurance didn’t really count and need not be revealed. This sort of slipperiness -- about both what the truth was and whether the truth even mattered -- persisted on questions great and small."

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Palin's PAC: "Please also encourage your friends and family to give" (Updated)

JUNE 29, 2009 - 12:40 PM

Update: There's a longer story about the SarahPAC fundraising on the homepage.

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

Gov. Sarah Palin's political action committee sent out an e-mail today, soliciting contributions tomorrow. June 30 is deadline for reporting donations to the PAC from the first half of the year. ("Please give before June 30th. Your help is critical," the e-mail from the PAC notes.)

"SarahPAC needs to be in the position to help fund candidates who are going to fight for what we all believe - smaller government, less spending, and fewer taxes," writes the head of SarahPAC, Meg Stapleton. "With your help, we can take the Governor's message and encourage others who also have hope and are firmly rooted in the conservative belief that you know how best to spend your money and not government."

This is the second big push for money from Team Palin this month -- the governor's friends and supporters recently held an online appeal to help her pay as much as $600,000 in legal bills.

The PAC push is pretty common. Most PACs are cranking out the solicitations today, the day before their reporting deadline, so they have as much money as possible when they release their reports July 31. Palin's performance as a fundraiser matters in that it's a sign of future political viability, said GOP fundraiser Steve Gordon. "She has to do well so she’s graded well," he said.

The full text of the e-mail, after the jump:

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Weyhrauch case to be heard in front of Supreme Court

JUNE 29, 2009 - 9:26 AM

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. --

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review part of former Alaska Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch’s pending criminal case.

The court will look at one specific area: whether prosecutors must prove Weyhrauch violated a state disclosure law to convict him on federal mail-fraud statutes.

Weyhrauch, awaiting trial on federal corruption charges, has asked the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision that directly applied the federal mail-fraud statute to his case. At issue is one count in Weyhrauch’s 2007 indictment. It charged him with violating the federal mail fraud statute by depriving Alaskans of his honest services when he served as a legislator in 2006.

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Do you know where your governor is? A state-by-state rundown

JUNE 27, 2009 - 5:21 PM

From the Associated Press --

After Gov. Mark Sanford disappeared on a seven-day trip to see a woman in Argentina with whom he was having an affair, Associated Press reporters in 40 states contacted their governors' offices to ask: What's the governor doing right now? The AP also asked for a copy of each governor's complete schedule for the day, not just public events.

Here's a glance at each state's response:

___

ALABAMA: Gov. Bob Riley's spokesman said he was landing in Seattle after an overseas economic development trip. He also released the governor's Friday schedule, mostly blocked out so he could rest from the trip.

ALASKA: Gov. Sarah Palin was in Kosovo visiting U.S. troops. Her spokeswoman released the location only after consulting the Department of Defense. Palin's office requires an open records request to release her calendar.

ARIZONA: Gov. Jan Brewer was at her office in the state Capitol. Her office would not release her full schedule.

ARKANSAS: Gov. Mike Beebe was at the dentist. His office denied a request for the governor's calendar, saying it's considered a "working paper" exempt from open records laws.

CALIFORNIA: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was in his office meeting with lawmakers over the state budget plan. His office released a list of Schwarzenegger's scheduled meetings, but without the names of people he was seeing.

CONNECTICUT: Gov. M. Jodi Rell was in her Capitol office, watching a Senate budget debate on TV. Her schedule was released, with no private appointments listed.

COLORADO: Gov. Bill Ritter was in the Capitol for a press conference on his plans to cut the state budget. His office released a redacted version of his calendar.

DELAWARE: Gov. Jack Markell was in his Dover office. His office rejected a written request for his official calendar, saying it wasn't subject to open records laws.

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Palin in Kosovo: videos

JUNE 26, 2009 - 6:55 PM

From David Hulen in Anchorage --

The governor's visit to Alaska National Guard troops in Europe continues. Here's a video produced by the National Guard.

And here's a video produced by someone in the audience of a speech to the troops, posted on YouTube. Comments near the end are creating some buzz. She brings up Sen. John Kerry, who earlier in the week caused his own buzz when he was quoted as saying the wrong governor -- Sanford not Palin -- had gone missing.

The Boston Herald, in the midst of the Sanford story earlier in the week, quoted Kerry as saying: "Too bad if a governor had to go missing it couldn't have been the governor of Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin."

Palin asks the troops how they keep up with the what's going on, and mentions TV news. "Some of that stuff you see on TV, you just don't know if you want to believe it." She says she was watching the news. "Then Sen. John Kerry makes this joke," Palin says, "I don't know if you saw this, but he makes this joke saying, 'Aw shoot, of all the governors in the nation who disappeared, too bad it couldn't have been that governor from Alaska.' But the way he said it, he looked quite frustrated, and he looked so sad, and I just wanted to reach out to the TV and say, 'John Kerry, why the long face?'"

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Palin in Kosovo

JUNE 25, 2009 - 3:47 PM

From the governor's office:

June 25, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin is in Kosovo visiting approximately 140 Alaska Army National Guard aviators who are deployed for 12 months on a peacekeeping mission.

“I am happy to pass on the message of sincere thanks from all Alaskans,” Governor Palin said. “We are so proud of their service.”

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Murkowski elected to Senate GOP leadership role

JUNE 25, 2009 - 12:09 PM

While President Barack Obama is shown on television speaking from the Rose Garden, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ak., newly named vice chairwoman of the Republican Senatorial Conference, appeared with Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at a news conference on Capitol Hill Thursday.(AP/Harry Hamburg)

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. –-

It’s official: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is moving into the Senate GOP’s inner circle.

Her Senate Republican colleagues voted today to make her vice chairman of the Republican Conference. In that role, she’ll be in charge of spreading the Republican message, Murkowski said.

"It’s not just an issue of pushing back, for instance, on a health care plan that doesn’t deliver what the president is seeking," Murkowski said during a press conference announcing the election results. "We need to, as Republicans, be able to voice, be able to express what our solutions, what our plans, what our proposals are and how they truly fit in with the agenda, whether it is from Alaska to Maine or parts in between."

Murkowski’s move comes at a low moment for Republicans: in the wake of two sex scandals, including one that, indirectly, led to her ascent into leadership ranks. The position opened up after Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, disclosed this month that he had an affair with an aide. He resigned, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., sought his place as the policy committee chairman. Murkowski landed Thune's old job as the vice chairman.

Murkowski, the only woman in GOP Senate leadership, was unopposed in her race for the seat, which is chosen by her fellow Republican senators. She had been serving in an informal advisory role to the leadership team as one of three "counsels" appointed by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. the Senate Republican leader.

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Pew poll: Palin popular among Republicans but polarizing

JUNE 24, 2009 - 12:29 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

Gov. Sarah Palin “continues to be a divisive figure among the general public” but is hugely popular among Republicans, according to a new national survey by the Pew Research Center.

The survey, conducted June 10-14 among 1,502 adults reached on landlines and cell phones “finds that impressions of Sarah Palin have not changed much since the presidential campaign.”

The survey asked people if they have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Palin, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Michael Steele. The survey didn’t ask if they would vote for them.

Nearly as many of the people surveyed said they have an unfavorable impression of Palin (44 percent) as have a favorable view of her (45 percent). But Palin had an overall higher favorability rating than any of the other three, with Romney in second at 40 percent. Romney’s unfavorables, though, were only at 28 percent and 32 percent said they didn’t know.

Just 12 percent of the people reached didn’t know how they felt about Palin -- far fewer than for any of the others in the survey.

Palin had a much better favorability rating among the Republicans surveyed than Romney, Gingrich and Steele. Seventy three percent had a favorable impression of her -- and just 17 percent unfavorable. Again, there were a lot more people who hadn’t made up their minds about the others than Palin.

“And Palin continues to be overwhelmingly popular with key parts of the GOP base – white evangelical Republicans (84% favorable) and conservative Republicans (80% favorable),” Pew said.

Here’s more of what Pew said about Palin:

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Palin leaves country for troop visit

JUNE 24, 2009 - 10:52 AM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage –

Gov. Sarah Palin is on her way to an undisclosed "overseas" location to visit deployed Alaska National Guard troops.

From Palin’s Twitter feed:

"Travel now to bring appreciation from their Alaska family & Natl Guard leadership to heroes in US European Command's area of responsibility."

The European command's area of responsibility includes Europe, Russia, the Caucusus and Greenland. I'm not sure where all the state's National Guard troops are deployed in that area, but we know from news coverage some are in Kosovo (they gave vice president Joe Biden a helicopter ride last month).

Here's what the governor's office had to say:

“She’s traveling overseas. For security purposes, the governor’s office cannot release information until it is cleared by (the Department of Defense),” said Palin’s spokeswoman, Sharon Leighow.

Leighow said Palin is travelling with Craig Campbell, commander of the Alaska National Guard, and Alaska Command Sgt. Maj. Gordon Choat. She said they’ll be going to training exercises, promotion ceremonies and hospitals. Leighow said Palin will be on the trip through the weekend.

This follows Palin’s Monday visit to an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Alaska.

Watching flight operations Monday from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis during the military joint-training exercise Northern Edge 2009. (Photo by Army Sgt. Ricardo Branch, Northern Edge Joint Information Bureau)

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Begich, like Murkowski, asked Sotomayor about guns

JUNE 24, 2009 - 9:11 AM

(Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/McClatchy Tribune)

From Erika Bolstad in Washington D.C. –

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, got his chance today to meet with Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court pick.

"It was a good discussion and I had an opportunity to talk to her about her process in making decisions, and understanding more about her as a person," Begich said.

Like his Republican counterpart, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Begich’s main question was about the Second Amendment. And like Murkowski – who met with Sotomayor last week -- he wanted to make it clear: Alaskans have a keen interest in the right to bear arms.

"I did a little education, I hope, on Alaska issues and what concerns we have around Second Amendment issues, around Alaska Native rights…and also environmental and development issues. It was more of an education opportunity."

Most importantly, Begich said, he had the opportunity to get a sense of Sotomayor’s decision process.

"In Alaska, we’re not anxious for activist-type of judges, people who legislate from the bench. I did not get that sense from her at all, based on her history, but also based on some of the conversation."

As a Democrat, Begich's vote is probably more assured than Murkowski's, but both have said they want to wait until her confirmation hearings next month before they decide whether to confirm her as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court judge. But Alaskans have a history of voting for her. In 1998, both of Alaska's then-senators, Republicans Ted Stevens and Murkowski's father, Frank Murkowski, voted to confirm Sotomayor as an appellate court judge.

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Ethics complaint against Palin aide dismissed (Updated)

JUNE 23, 2009 - 2:13 PM

From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage --

The state has dismissed an ethics complaint filed by Andree McLeod against Kris Perry, a close adviser to Gov. Sarah Palin and the director of the governor's Anchorage office.

McLeod charged that Perry did political work on the state's time. Her complaint focused on Perry's travels with the governor on the vice-presidential campaign trail and afterwards.

The complaint was dismissed by the attorney general's office. (McLeod said it went to the AG's office rather than the personnel board because it was a complaint against a state employee rather than the governor or lieutenant governor.)

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