Trooper in Palin probe tells his side

[sabra]

Source: CNN

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- The Alaska state trooper at the center of a probe into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power says he has "made mistakes, and I've learned from those mistakes."

But in an exclusive interview with CNN, Mike Wooten, Palin's former brother-in-law, also denies some of the biggest allegations against him, including drinking while driving.

"I made mistakes. I fessed up to them. I was punished appropriately, and I'm moving on," said Wooten, 36, who went through a long, messy divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister.

...

He said that he was a new Taser instructor, and his stepson was asking him about the equipment. "I didn't shoot him with live, you know, actual live cartridge," Wooten said.

Instead, he said, he hooked his stepson up to a training aid "with little clips. And, you know, the Taser was activated for less than a second, which would be less than what you would get if you touched an electric fence. ... It was as safe as I could possibly make it."

He said his stepson was on the living room floor surrounded by pillows, that he "was bragging about it," and that the family laughed about it.

Asked whether it was a dumb decision, Wooten told CNN, "absolutely."



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/05/palin.trooper/in...

[emulatorloo]

1. Sounds like a dumbass move. But not the dark evil that Palinites are making it out to be.

Palin defenders try to suggest that he tasered the boy for punishment.

[democraticmajority]

2. Sarah Palin is MISS SOUTH CAROLINA.

Sarah Palin is Miss South Carolina. Palin's idiotic, nasty,
mean-spirited rant at the RNC's Convention confirms this.

I challenge you to watch Miss South Carolina's infamous clip
on America's place in the World on You Tube and view this
side by side with Ms. Palin.
Were they separated at birth ? 

Both Miss SC and Palin are clueless about the outside World.
The main difference being Miss SC's self-awareness and
acknowledgment that she is NOT an expert on International
affairs due to her State being geographically located close
to a foreign Country.

[BrotherBuzz]

5. Miss West Carolina like totally owns Miss South Carolina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUE1Cu04Jzo

Welcome to DU.

[happygoluckytoyou]

20. they were sisters..... and SARAH has been mean since one of MCCAIN'S houses fell on her sister

[K8-EEE]

3. Here's what I don't understand....

The RWers are making it like, 'OH HE'S THIS DANGEROUS PERSON....HE WAS THREATENING TO KILL THE FATHER" BLAH BLAH>>>

But how does FIRING him make the father or anybody else safer? If he's really a threat, go through the proper channels, if he's really not suited for that job, have his superiors address that. How does that make her back-door actions OK?

[mrJJ]

4. Lets see the results

Troopergate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOBWZ7Jocc8

[truthisfreedom]

7. Ouch!

[Straight Shooter]

9. LOL! Are those salmon earrings she's wearing?

My neighbor would like those

Monegan is ever so careful and diplomatic in choosing his words. I wonder what he's really thinking ...

[thecrow]

15. I think they're killer whales

[Straight Shooter]

18. I wouldn't doubt it.

Suits her persona.

[ticked]

13. Ouch....

This is definately going to bite her

[sattahipdeep]

14. Palin aide bails on talking to Legislature

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/515508.html

[benld74]

6. Hey! y'all watch this!!!!

[marshall]

8. Somebody got to him!

He's backtracking on the story, deflecting blame from Palin. What happened?

[Zuiderelle]

10. He's just explaining what happened. Doesn't sound like anyone got to him, or that he's deflecting

blame. Sounds more like he's saying that what he did was stupid but is nowhere near the evil thing that the Palin publicity machine is making it out to be.

[marshall]

11. I guess I expected him to come out swinging

I thought there would be more of a smackdown. He ends the interview by saying how great it is for Alaska that she got the nomination--which at least stops short of an all out endorsement. But then I suppose he could be getting advice from attorneys so he may not be speaking "from the heart".

[Zuiderelle]

12. Ah, I didn't get to the last line.

That is disappointing.

[struggle4progress]

19. It's ancient history for him: all the allegations came out in a divorce proceeding,

completed some time ago, and he was subsequently disciplined by the state agency after an investigation (which confirmed some but not all the allegations). The investigation of Palin centers around the fact that, after becoming governor, she continued to press to reopen all these old wounds and in particular tried to get him fired, even though the matters in question had already been administratively resolved: when she failed at that, she fired a higher level state employee whom she had earlier pressured, offering him no severance compensation, and replaced him with another person (who lasted only a few weeks, due to a history of sexual harrassment, and who was granted something like $100 000 severance)

[sattahipdeep]

16. "Mike Wooten is not accepting those offers,"

John Cyr, executive director of the Public Safety Employees Association, said Thursday a British media organization has offered Wooten $30,000 for an interview.

"Mike Wooten is not accepting those offers," Cyr said.

But Wooten did an interview Thursday for CNN television anchor Anderson Cooper for a story to air soon, and that's the only interview Wooten plans to do, Cyr said.

[sattahipdeep]

17. Anderson Cooper?

Mike Wooten on CNN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7YWNKj3Y50