Troopergate Firing Tied to Anti-Sexual Violence Trip

So Sarah Palin is saying that she fired Walt Monegan for taking an unauthorized trip to Washington, D.C. to seek funding for an anti-sexual violence program. According to ABC News, the program, expected to cost $50-100 million dollars over five years, would have been the first of its kind in Alaska, which leads the nation in forced rapes.

She fired the guy for seeking funding for a program to help end forcable rape in the state with the worst rates for that crime in the nation?

I consider the lack of support for Mr. Monegan's trip to be nearly as criminal as her unjust firing of him. However, she may well have shot herself in the foot on this one, because apparently her chief of staff approved the trip. Last I heard, perjury is a felony.