Since the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, controversy has enveloped the Palin administration. Speculation over the incident has led many to the conclusion that the matter may be personal, and may involve the Palin family.

Unnamed sources have suggested that Palin fired Monegan because the commissioner was unwilling to fire State Trooper Michael Wooten, the ex-husband of Palin's sister. According to the governor, that is absolutely not the case.

At a Public Safety Employees Association press conference on Thursday, the union said that it would continue to support Wooten. Although Wooten was not present at the proceedings, he has reportedly asked the public to read his investigative papers and judge the matter for themselves.

Included in the packet issued by Wooten is a letter written by the governor. In the letter Palin suggests that many consider Wooten a ticking time-bomb. She goes on to implicate the trooper in several unethical instances, from abusing his then wife and shooting a taser gun at his 11-year-old boy, to threatening the life of his wife's father.

Palin maintains that her claims that several of her family members were threatened by Wooten have not played a role in Monegan's firing.

Now the administration, which continues to back Charles "Chuck" Kopp, is coming into conflict with the union that supports Wooten.

The governor explained her decision to appoint Kopp, "There was nothing to those allegations and we did look into that and are very confident that the allegations were unfounded and we didn't hesitant to appoint him as D-P-S commissioner."

Union leader John Cyr defended Wooten, "I don't paint a picture here that Mike is necessarily without some blemish but I think that clearly he has had more than his share of problems here over this."

Stirring the pot of controversy, Andrew Halcro issued a post on his blog which listed several reasons the blogger believed to be the cause of Monegan's firing. According to the blog, the Palin and Heath families deployed a series of bullying tactics, to dissuade Wooten from pursing child custody.

Halcro also makes specific mention of a warning given by Monegan pertaining to future problems that "shouldn't be ignored," including the state's rural economy, which is being affected by a poor fishing season.

Setting aside all this speculation, one question still remains. Why was Walt Monegan fired via an intermediary while the governor was at a meeting in Philadelphia?

It is the job of the Chief of Staff to be "informed and prepared" for changes that are expected to come, said the governor. Although she has expressed disappointment with Monegan's turning down the demotion offered by the administration, she did state the Public Safety Commissioner position needed new "energy."

Palin said she wants to fill vacant trooper posts, while increasing the department's budget.