ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AFP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will not cooperate with a legislative inquiry into her firing of an Alaska official, her campaign said, labeling the probe "partisan."
Spokesman Ed O'Callaghan said Monday the investigation had become "tainted" by Democratic state lawmakers targeting Palin, the governor of Alaska who Republican White House hopeful John McCain chose as his running mate late last month.
"I think it's fair to say that the governor is not going to cooperate with that investigation so long as it remains tainted and run by partisan individuals that have a predetermined conclusion," O'Callaghan said.
Last week Alaska lawmakers voted 5-3 to subpoena Palin's husband Todd Palin in the legislative investigation into whether his wife improperly attempted to fire a state trooper who was her former brother-in-law.
The committee also subpoenaed Palin's chief of staff and deputy chief of staff.
The panel had agreed beforehand however that a subpoena of Sarah Palin herself would not be considered, with the understanding she would agree to an interview by the investigator, retired prosecutor Stephen Branchflower.
In July Palin fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, who has alleged that he was removed because of his resistance to pressure to dismiss Alaska state trooper Mike Wooten, the ex-husband of Palin's sister Molly McCann.
Palin rejected the charge, but the legislature launched an investigation in late July, well before Palin was chosen by McCain.
At the time, Palin said she and her staff would cooperate fully with the probe, which has been dubbed "Troopergate."
But since she was made the Republican vice presidential nominee seven Alaskan agency heads and members of Palin's executive staff have canceled or refused to voluntarily schedule interviews with the investigator.
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