That's Why The Lady Is An Obstructionist

They actually kept Sarah Palin out on the campaign trail a little more than expected before her return to Alaska. Maybe that's because her goons on the McCain campaign have been so successful in blocking the investigation into Troopergate. Since the McCain campaign operatives were deployed to the Frontier State, seven key witnesses have up and refused to testify in the probe. And there's definitely a connection there:

Key Alaska allies of John McCain are trying to derail a politically charged investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner in order to prevent a so-called "October surprise" that would produce embarrassing information about the vice presidential candidate on the eve of the election.

In a move endorsed by the McCain campaign Friday, John Coghill, the GOP chairman of the state House Rules Committee, wrote a letter seeking a meeting of Alaska's bipartisan Legislative Council in order to remove the Democratic state senator in charge of the so-called "troopergate" investigation.

Coghill charged that the senator, Hollis French, had "politicized" the probe by making a number of public comments in recent days, including telling ABC News that Palin had a "credibility problem" and that the investigation into the firing of public safety commissioner Walter Monegan was "likely to be damaging to the administration" and could be an "October surprise." Wrote Coghill: "The investigation appears to be lacking in fairness, neutrality and due process." [...]

As a further sign of the sensitivity of the probe, a lawyer for Palin told NEWSWEEK Friday that Todd Palin, the governor's husband, was in the process of hiring his own separate counsel to represent him in the legislature's probe. Thomas Van Flein, Governor Palin's lawyer, would not identify who is now representing the governor's husband. But he sought to deflect charges that Todd Palin, a commercial fisherman and oil company worker, had improperly intervened in state business by inviting Monegan to the governor's office and asking him to look into Wooten's status on the state police force. (For his part, Wooten has acknowledged that he "made mistakes," but that he was "punished appropriately" when he was suspended from the police force for five days in 2006.)

In an interview on Friday, Van Flein sought to deflect charges that Todd Palin may have acted improperly by talking to the state public safety commissioner about Wooten. Todd was "the governor's husband and a citizen of the state and he has every right to an opinion as [does] everyone else," Van Flein said.

There's a little more about the effort to remove Hollis French here. Fortunately, it was unsuccessful - the Legislative Council turned down Coghill's request. But the investigation is still neutered by the paucity of witnesses willing to testify. Meanwhile, one of the refusenik witnesses, Ivy Frye, hired the same lawyer as the one representing Palin - at taxpayer expense - in the case.

Subpoenas are expected, but the goal here is to drag out the case until after the election.