ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Legislature is hastening its ethics investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner, making it far more likely it will be completed before November's election.

State Sen. Hollis French said Friday that seven witnesses told the Legislature's investigator they will refuse depositions and canceled their meetings. French, who is overseeing the investigation into whether Palin abused her power, said the Legislature will subpoena these witnesses, who do not include the governor.

Lawmakers say they have put the investigation on a fast track now that Palin is Republican John McCain's running mate. The investigation previously was expected to end on Oct. 31. French said the new target date for investigator Stephen Branchflower to complete the report is Oct. 10.

"It's just basic fairness to the governor," said French, an Anchorage Democrat who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee. "We started to focus on Oct. 31 because that's the end of Mr. Branchflower's contract, but our motion says prepare a report in a timely manner."

In July, a state oversight committee approved $100,000 for an investigation into whether Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan because he would not dismiss a trooper, Mike Wooten, who went through a messy divorce with her sister before Palin's election as governor.

"I would like to put this behind me and move on with my life," Wooten said in an interview with The Washington Post, published on its Web site Friday night. "I don't wish ill will on anyone. I think that the nomination that Sarah got is great for the state of Alaska. I wish her good luck and the family good luck. I honestly think that everyone involved in this wanted to put this beyond us."

Wooten said he was proud he had once been part of the Palin family, but he contradicted Palin's statement that she overheard him in 2005 threaten her father during an argument with Palin's younger sister, Molly McCann, Wooten's wife at the time. Wooten noted that an internal investigation failed to sustain the death-threat allegation.

"That did not happen," Wooten said. "There was obviously arguments between Molly and I, but there were no confrontations where I threatened to kill her father. I haven't threatened to kill anyone in that family."

Wooten said he had no direct information about efforts to have him fired after Palin became governor in 2006.

French and Branchflower, both former Anchorage prosecutors, said the state's Legislative Council has the right to authorize the investigation.