The attorney hired by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Republican Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential running mate, has quietly launched an investigation into the official selected by Alaska’s Legislature to conduct an ethics probe into Palin’s decision to fire the state’s public safety commissioner, The Public Record has confirmed.

The Associated Press first reported this story Wednesday evening.

Separately, documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal show that before she was selected as McCain’s running mate, Palin was advised to apologize for the way in which she handled the commissioner’s firing before the scandal erupted into something much bigger. 

Palin’s attorney,Thomas Van Flein, contacted the Alaska Attorney General’s office last week and requested documents that he believes could show that the hiring of retired prosecutor Steve Branchflower was a partisan move by Hollis French, the Democratic state senator overseeing the Palin investigation.

Van Flein has asked the Alaska Attorney General’s office for documents about Branchflower’s investigative duties and correspondence between lawmakers on the Legislative Council where the Palin investigation was discussed.

The state legislature decided to investigate Palin’s possible abuse of power and appointed Branchflower independent counsel.

Since he was hired late last month, Van Flein has tried to derail the investigation into possible ethics violations by Palin. He has challenged the constitutionality of the probe and has refused to allow Palin to be interviewed by Branchflower even though Palin had said before she was chosen as McCain’s running mate that she would cooperate.

On Tuesday, Van Flein went even further. He sent Branchflower a letter accusing him of acting unethically by failing to disclose that he allegedly has a friendship with Walt Monegan, the public safety commissioner, whose abrupt dismissal by Palin on July 11 is at the center of the inquiry.

Van Flein also claims that French has a friendship with Monegan. He said both men failed to disclose their friendship with Monegan to the Legislative Council, calling into question the integrity of the probe in Palin’s behavior.

Van Flein sent a letter to Branchflower Wednesday accusing him of conducting a biased probe and demanded he stop interviewing witnesses. Van Flein also complained about the way the probe has been conducted in a separate letter he sent to Democratic Sen. Kim Elton, the head of the state’s Legislative Council. Van Flein maintains that Alaska’s Personnel Board, whose members are appointed by Palin, should conduct the probe.

Though Palin vehemently denied that she was involved in the pressure campaign, a review by the Attorney General’s office found that half a dozen state officials had made about two dozen phone calls regarding Wooten.

Monegan said his relationship with the governor deteriorated when he refused to comply with requests from Palin’s associates to oust Mike Wooten from the state troopers. Wooten was married to Palin’s sister and was involved in a bitter divorce and child custody dispute with her that has lasted more than three years.

Monegan went public with his account of the mounting campaign against Wooten from the governor’s family and staff. Monegan told the Anchorage Daily News that Todd Palin showed him the work of a private investigator, who had been hired by the family to dig into Wooten’s life and who was accusing the trooper of various misdeeds, such as drunk driving and child abuse.

Initially, Palin said she would be “happy to comply, to cooperate” with the investigation, but now – after becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee – she, her husband and several of her top aides are resisting requests for depositions.