Alabama lawmaker moves forward with plan to impeach governor
Gov. Robert Bentley speaks during Alabama Community College Day Tuesday in Montgomery, Ala.
Gov. Robert Bentley speaks during Alabama Community College Day on the Alabama Capitol lawn on Tuesday, in Montgomery, Ala. Republican Rep. Ed Henry says he is filing an impeachment resolution against Gov. Bentley in the wake of a scandal involving one of the governorís top aides, who has since resigned. The resolution will likely be sent to the House Rules Committee for consideration.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A Republican Alabama lawmaker said Tuesday he is filing an impeachment resolution against GOP Gov. Robert Bentley in the wake of a scandal involving one of the governor’s top aides, who resigned.
The resolution by Rep. Ed Henry of Hartselle will likely be sent to the House Rules Committee for consideration, and it’s not clear if it will enough support to move forward. Some lawmakers said impeachment discussions are premature until investigations into Bentley’s conduct have been done.
“We are looking at this governor who has essentially betrayed the trust of the people of Alabama through actions and lies that have caused us to have some doubt about his leadership,” Henry said during a news conference.
Bentley lashed out at the effort, saying he would vigorously defend himself.
“Today’s press conference is nothing more than political grandstanding intended to grab headlines and take the focus away from the important issues the Legislature still has to address before the end of the session,” Bentley said in a statement .
Henry and Bentley clashed previously, most recently over the governor’s push to raise taxes in the face of a budget shortfall.
The Alabama Constitution lays out a loose procedure for impeachment for offenses including moral turpitude, willful neglect of duty and corruption, among other things. Henry said his filing accuses Bentley of all those things, as well as incompetence.
He added later: “If he truly loves the people of this state, he’ll step down.”
Bentley last month admitted making inappropriate remarks to his former senior political adviser, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, 44, but denied accusations of an affair. The admission came after Bentley’s former law enforcement secretary, Spencer Collier, accused the governor of having an inappropriate relationship with Mason. Collier said he heard a recording of an overtly sexual conversation between the governor and a woman he presumed was Mason. Collier also accused the governor of interfering with law enforcement investigations.
Dianne Bentley, the governor’s ex-wife, filed for divorce in 2015 saying their 50-year marriage suffered an irreparable breakdown.
Recordings obtained by the Associated Press purportedly show the governor – before his divorce – professing love to someone named Rebecca or Rebekah and telling her how much he enjoyed kissing and touching her breasts.
“I love you so much; I worry about loving you so much,” Bentley said on the call.
The governor in a news conference last month said he did not have a “physical affair” with Mason and there was no “sexual activity.”
The scandal engulfed Bentley, a mild-mannered dermatologist and former Baptist deacon whose political ascendency was based partly on his morally upright, honest reputation.
Mason played a key role in Bentley’s administration but was not on state payroll. She was paid with the governor’s leftover campaign funds and also did work for a nonprofit organization formed to promote Bentley’s agenda.
House Minority Leader Craig Ford, the ranking Democrat in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, appeared with Henry at the press conference in support of the effort.
Ford said the impeachment effort had nothing to do with Bentley’s personal behavior with Mason, but he was concerned about Collier’s allegations of interference with law enforcement business.
The impeachment resolution faces stark odds with only 11 meeting days remaining in the 2016 legislative session. But its introduction is indicative of Bentley’s transition from lame duck to political punching bag.
Rep. Mac McCutcheon, chairman of the Rules Committee, said Henry’s impeachment resolution would be accompanied by a resolution establishing an investigatory commission, which would examine if there are grounds for impeachment. He doubted the issue would be resolved before the end of the session next month.
Republican Rep. Will Ainsworth said Bentley needed to be held to the same standard as other government employees.
“Could someone else talk inappropriately or touch inappropriately someone that’s in their chain of command and not get fired? I think the answer is no, and I think that’s the big problem we have to look at,” Ainsworth said.