Flap Over Cop's Job Ensnares Alaska Gov.

Alaska's governor, a longshot possibility as John McCain's running mate, is under scrutiny in the wake of allegations she had the state's public-safety commissioner fired as part of a personal vendetta, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Walt Monegan says Sarah Palin pressured him to fire her sister’s state trooper ex-husband, and thinks his refusal led to his own dismissal.

“I'm fairly confident at this point that what we're going to see is the appointment of an independent investigator,” said the chairman of the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee. Palin denies all wrongdoing and says she welcomes the investigation. “The proof is in the pudding," she said. "He didn't fire anybody. The trooper is still a trooper." (More Alaska stories.)