Steven Branchflower – Nails Palin by Who’s Orders?

Steven Branchflower, special prosecutor who found Sarah Palin guilty of “abuse of power” (and this was a stretch), yesterday, may have had a personal and political stake in his findings.

From Steven Branchflowers
Barackbook Profile (courtesy of the RNC) connecting the dots is rather simple.

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Steve Branchflower
Who Am I?
Branchflower Spent 28 Years As A Prosecutor In Anchorage, Returning To Public Life In 2002 To Head The Alaska Office Of Victim's Rights. "Branchflower was an Anchorage prosecutor for 28 years and returned briefly after retirement in 2002 to run the Legislature's newly created Office of Victims' Rights. For much of his time in the Anchorage District Attorney's office, he ran the intake unit, evaluating cases submitted by police and troopers for prosecution. He also occasionally tried cases, generally high-profile murders." (Megan Holland, "Branchflower Will Investigate Monegan Case," Anchorage Daily News, 8/2/08)
Branchflower Is The Special Counsel Appointed To Review The Dismissal Of Former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. "Steve Branchflower, a retired prosecutor, was named Friday as special counsel to the Legislature to investigate Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. 'Alaskans are calling for a complete and fair investigation into why Walt Monegan was fired and if it had anything to do with trooper Mike Wooten,' Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau, said in a press release." (Megan Holland, "Branchflower Will Investigate Monegan Case," Anchorage Daily News, 8/2/08)
• Branchflower Was Made Special Counsel To Investigate Sarah Palin On August 1. "Steve Branchflower, a retired prosecutor, was named Friday as special counsel to the Legislature to investigate Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan." (Megan Holland, "Branchflower Will Investigate Monegan Case," The Anchorage Daily News, 8/2/08)
• Branchflower Asked To Be Named Special Counsel On The Case. "Branchflower has the experience to sift through the evidence and see if there is anything there, Elton said. Branchflower asked for the job, along with several others, Elton said." (Megan Holland, "Branchflower Will Investigate Monegan Case," Anchorage Daily News, 8/2/08)
Branchflower And Walt Monegan Were Colleagues. "If Plummer and his troops can make it happen, these warmed-up cases may be only the beginning. [Anchorage Police Chief] Monegan has 'given us the time, and we're going to give him the results,' Plummer said. As head of the new unit, Plummer is following a department legend. In 1984, Sgt. Mike Grimes, along with Gifford and former prosecutor Steve Branchflower, developed a team approach to working homicides that proved successful into the 1990s, attracting praise from the FBI among others." (Sheila Toomey, "Cold Cases Brought To Front Burner," Anchorage Daily News, 5/5/02)
• Walt Monegan Joined The Anchorage Police Department In 1974. "In January of 1974, Walt was hired as a patrolman with the Anchorage Police Department." (Municipality Of Anchorage, Alaska Web site, www.muni.org, Accessed 9/15/08)
• Steve Branchflower Became An Assistant District Attorney For Anchorage In 1974. "Assistant District Attorney-Anchorage District Attorney Office-1974-1998." (Alaska Senate Web site, www.aksenate.org, Accessed 9/15/08)
Branchflower And Democrat Hollis French Are Former Colleagues. "French will supervise Branchflower. French, also a former prosecutor and colleague of Branchflower, has told the council that the investigator will go to work gathering evidence and could come back to lawmakers if 'some people just won't talk.' The House and Senate Judiciary Committees could then issue subpoenas to compel testimony." (Megan Holland, "Branchflower Will Investigate Monegan Case," Anchorage Daily News, 8/2/08)
Branchflower Deferred Questions Regarding The Subpoena List To Obama Partisan, French. “Rep. David Guttenberg (D.) asked Branchflower why he was requesting subpoenas for only those people attending the meeting and not Tibbles himself. Branchflower said he would ‘have to defer that question to Mr. French.’ ’I put the list together with, talking to Mr. French,’ Branchflower added. Sen. Gene Therriault (R.) told Branchflower, ‘I don’t understand why you would have to defer that question to Sen. French. If it’s your list you’re in complete control of the list, then why can’t you answer the question?’ Branchflower had no explanation.” (Amanda Carpenter, “Obama Partisan Tampers With Palin Subpoena List,” Townhall, 9/13/08)
In 2003, Branchflower Was Criticized For His Investigation Of A Delay Of Police Response For A 911 Call Of A Homicide. "At the August press conference, police released an audiotape and transcript of Godfrey's 911 call for help. She was shot four times, and her husband, retired Public Safety Commissioner Glenn Godfrey, was killed on Aug. 3 by a woman with whom he had had an affair. The woman then killed herself. Police had the Godfrey address, linked to their phone number, as soon as Patti Godfrey made the call. But faulty information in a dispatch computer sent police to an address that didn't exist." (Lisa Demer, "Godfrey Case Opens Police, Agency Rift," Anchorage Daily News, 1/23/03)
• Deputy Police Chief Mark Mew Criticized Branchflower's "Scathing Report" That Released Private Information. "Mew said he urged Gerad and Glenn Godfrey Jr., the couple's sons, to contact the victims' rights office for help in dealing with a situation in which reporters were clamoring for information. But he didn't anticipate the advocates' scathing report, issued Nov. 26, which said police had violated Godfrey's rights through a delay in medical treatment and also by releasing private information." (Lisa Demer, "Godfrey Case Opens Police, Agency Rift," Anchorage Daily News, 1/23/03)
• "911 Task Force Co-Chairman Steve McAlpine Said He Believed The Advocates Had Overreached With Some Conclusions." "At Thursday's meeting, 911 task force co-chairman Steve McAlpine said he believed the advocates had overreached with some conclusions about stress and overwork in the dispatch center. The report said a shortage of dispatchers contributed to the delay, and that the need to work excessive overtime resulted in avoidable errors." (Lisa Demer, "Godfrey Case Opens Police, Agency Rift," Anchorage Daily News, 1/23/03) "

The entire report (the section provided to the press) is available in pdf - Here It is abundantly clear after reading this report (all 243 boring pages); it is much ado about nothing. The only purpose served by this report is the deflection of criticism aimed at the Obama campaign. When one compares the reports offered by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and every media outlet, without few exceptions, the language used in the media reports bears little resembles to that used in the actual documents. Does this change anything at all in regards to Palin? Possibly with committed Democrats. Will this be enough to take the heat off Obama? There are still several weeks to go before the election, and this is no October Surprise.