Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Republican lawmaker says Palin inquiry should go on

Republican lawmaker says Palin inquiry should go on
CNN - September 23, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- The legislative investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner needs to go ahead despite the increasingly heated opposition of the McCain-Palin campaign, a leading Republican said Tuesday.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is being investigated for the possibly improper firing of a state official.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is being investigated for the possibly improper firing of a state official.

Since becoming the Republican vice presidential candidate in August, Palin has halted her previously promised cooperation with the Legislature's investigation of the July dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.

Campaign aides have attacked the state senator managing the investigation, Hollis French, as a Democratic partisan running a "tainted" inquiry, and Palin's husband, Todd, and several top aides have refused to comply with subpoenas from French's committee.

But Rep. Jay Ramras, the Republican chairman of the Alaska House Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that he still has confidence in the Legislature's investigation and said it should go forward.

"I think it's going to be benign in the conclusions that it reaches, anyway," he said. "But I think it's important to reach a conclusion."

Ramras called himself "a conservative, pro-life Republican" who is supporting GOP presidential nominee John McCain's ticket. But, he added, "We all took an oath of office, and this is an important report to come out."

The investigation was commissioned by a bipartisan committee of the Legislature in July, after Monegan's dismissal.

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Republican lawmaker says Palin inquiry should go on

McCain aide’s firm was paid by Freddie Mac

McCain aide’s firm was paid by Freddie Mac
The disclosure contradicts a statement Sunday night by McCain
New York Times, September 23, 2008

WASHINGTON - One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager from the end of 2005 through last month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The disclosure contradicts a statement Sunday night by Mr. McCain that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had no involvement with the company for the last several years. Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

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McCain aide’s firm was paid by Freddie Mac