AK AG: Subpoenaed State Employees Will Refuse to Testify

Less than a week after the Alaska State Senate Judiciary Committee voted to issue subpoenas in the investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin, those state employees who were ordered to testify won’t be honoring the subpoenas, the Alaska attorney general said yesterday.

In a letter to Sen. Hollis French (D), who is overseeing the investigation, Attorney General Talis Colberg requested the subpoenas be withdrawn and spoke for the employees, stating their refusal to testify unless compelled by the full state Senate or the entire legislature.

From the AP:

Colberg, who was appointed by Palin, said the employees are caught between their respect for the Legislature and their loyalty to the governor, who initially agreed to cooperate with the inquiry but has increasingly opposed it since McCain chose her as his running mate.

“This is an untenable position for our clients because the governor has so strongly stated that the subpoenas issued by your committee are of questionable validity,” Colberg wrote.

The legal action surrounding the investigation into Palin’s firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, known as Trooper-Gate, has markedly increased since Palin was named the Republican vice-presidential nominee. When the investigation began just two months ago, Palin pledged the full-cooperation of herself and her staff.