Sarah Palin's husband campaigned for years to help get his former brother-in-law kicked off the state police force, newly released affidavits show.

The documents were released as part of the so-called Troopergate Scandal, in which it is alleged the Republican vice presidential nominee abused her position as Governor of Alaska to settle a long-standing family feud

Walter Monegan, Alaska's public safety commissioner, says he was dismissed by Mrs Palin, after refusing to fire Mike Wooten, a trooper involved in a bitter divorce and child custody battle with her sister.

The 52-page document reveals the extraordinary level of access Todd Palin, nicknamed the 'First Dude of Alaska ' , had to top state officials, more than a dozen of whom he contacted directly to complain about the trooper.

In his sworn statement to legislative investigators, released yesterday, Mr Palin is unapologetic about his efforts to get Mr Wooten fired, but denied his crusade had anything to do with the dismissal of Mr Monegan.

He described his former brother-in-law, Mr Wooten, as a violent, unstable man who threatened the family's safety, used a stun gun on his stepson and unfairly collected disability benefit.

He said he was frustrated that Wooten kept his job and complained to senior officials in his wife's administration. He complained to his wife so much, he said, she told him to drop it.

He said: “I had hundreds of conversations and communications about Trooper Wooten over the last several years with my family, with friends, with colleagues and with just about everyone I could - including government officials."

"I talked about Wooten so much over the years that my wife told me to stop talking about it with her."

Describing talks he had with one of his wife’s aides, Mr Palin said: “We had a lot of conversations about a guy who threatened my family and verbally assaulted my daughter. We talked about my concerns. We talked about Wooten possibly pulling over one of my kids to frame them, like throwing a bag of dope in the back seat just to frame a Palin."

However, he insisted that by taking his concerns to Mr Monegan he was simply following the regular instructions for making a complaint about troopers.

"There is absolutely nothing improper about lodging concerns about Trooper Wooten with Monegan or his predecessor - complaints about State Troopers are supposed to go to the Commissioner," he said.

"I make no apologies for wanting to protect my family and wanting to publicise the injustice of a violent trooper keeping his badge and abusing the worker compensation system. The real investigation that needs to be conducted for the best interests of the public at large is the Department of Public Safety's unwillingness to discipline its own.

"Anyone who knows Sarah knows she is the governor and she calls the shots."

Mrs Palin had been resisting a subpoena by lawmakers looking into Mr Monegan's firing since mid-September. She initially said she would co-operate with the investigation, but changed her mind after being announced as the surprise running mate on the McCain ticket.

However, her husband agreed to answer written questions submitted through his lawyer.

The Alaska Governor insists she fired Mr Monegan over a budget dispute.

Nevertheless, the investigation has been a distraction for the Arizona senator’s presidential campaign. Republican efforts to halt the investigation were thwarted last night by Alaska State's Supreme Court and the report on the case will be released today.

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