Here‘s the opening of the New York Times‘s report today on the investigation into whether Sarah Palin abused her power when she fired her public safety commissioner:
What great fodder for the Colbert Report! Could anything possibly justify Sarah Palin’s fear of her ex-brother-in-law dressed as a child-friendly “Safety Bear” mascot? Well, the facts that Wooten abused his 10 year-old step-son and threatened to kill Palin’s father might make the governor seem a tad less paranoid, but the Times buries and then fails to fully report these facts. About halfway through the 2,100-word story, the Times adds:
The Times portrays the death threat as a “he said, she said” incident and merely adds that Wooten’s “suspension letter mentions nothing about threats.” But the internal trooper investigation “sustained” the charge that Wooten threatened that Palin’s father would “eat a f—ing lead bullet”–although the report concluded “a statement ‘or implied threat to a non-present third party is not a crime.” Neglecting the conclusions of the internal trooper investigation is some incredibly shoddy reporting. The Times‘s evidence that Palin fired Monegan because he refused to fire Wooten is also quite flimsy:
The Anchorage Daily News reported two months ago that Palin’s husband and staffers had made two dozen calls to the public safety department about Wooten. So the Times‘s report that maybe an extra dozen calls were placed really doesn’t constitute evidence that Palin pushed for Wooten’s firing “to a far greater degree than was previously known.” As Palin admitted back in August, “Many of these inquiries were completely appropriate. However, the serial nature of the contacts could be perceived as some kind of pressure, presumably at my direction.”The Times also reports that Palin “has contended, among other things, that Mr. Monegan arranged two unauthorized lobbying trips to Washington. But according to interviews and records obtained by The New York Times, the governor’s office authorized both trips.” ABC News first reported that one of Monegan’s trips had been authorized, but Allahpundit thoroughly examined this matter, and while Monegan may have been approved for that specific trip, it does not appear he was approved to pursue his own agenda. More details about this specific matter may emerge today, as the Alaska legislature releases its report on the Monegan firing, but it looks like Times, at least, has produced little more than a work of journalistic malpractice.
