Politics

Parnell, Walker dispute governor's first response to Guard scandal

Gov. Sean Parnell claims Bill Walker is lying about how the governor responded to the first allegations concerning the scandal within the Alaska National Guard four years ago.

In a debate broadcast statewide on public television Wednesday, Parnell said he wanted to "address Mr. Walker's assertion that I did not act immediately and just call it what it is — it's a bald-faced lie."

"And I will not allow you to continue to say that," Parnell said, repeating a line he has used in other debates.

Walker continued to say it.

"That is not a lie. You need to review the interview you did with Channel 2 when you said the first thing you did was you went back to Gen. (Thomas) Katkus, rather than do an investigation," Walker said.

"You always say you did something. You did something. You did the wrong thing. So it's not a lie and the evidence is in the record," Walker said. "And when you release the 8,000 emails, maybe that will be further emphasis of the truth in this matter."

The Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Public Media have sued the state seeking the release of documents related to the situation.

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Parnell said he acted promptly after hearing from the chaplains who contacted the governor's office in 2010 with reports of sexual abuse and other crimes. He asked Katkus to check into complaints and was assured that processes were in place to deal with those issues, Parnell has said.

"The bottom line is when a victim comes to my office, I believe them and I move immediately. Yes, with the chain of command to check to make sure that they have moved that case to the police department," he said during the debate.

Beyond that, he said, there were five investigations between 2010 and 2013, including one by the FBI, that "all found, as I did, that the processes were in place."

Parnell said he was the person who called for a "deep dive" look early this year by the National Guard Bureau that led to different conclusions. In September, Parnell fired Katkus after that report was finished.

Two weeks ago, Parnell said it was early this year when he realized "I could not trust the head of the National Guard to tell me all the facts." But he continued to make positive public statements about Katkus in the weeks and months that followed.

Walker said the chaplains risked their military careers by going around the chain of command, yet the governor went back to Katkus to ask about their complaints.

Walker said Parnell should have called for an independent investigation in 2010 and that a special prosecutor should be appointed now.

Dermot Cole

Former ADN columnist Dermot Cole is a longtime reporter, editor and author.

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