Ala. governor resigns
Robert Bentley resigned Monday rather than risk impeachment over allegations he abused his powers to cover up an extramarital affair. Story,
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley resigned Monday rather than face impeachment and pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor campaign violations that arose during an investigation of his alleged affair with a top aide.
The 74-year-old Republican and one-time Baptist deacon stepped down as the scandal gathered force over the past few days. Legislators turned up the pressure by opening impeachment hearings Monday. Last week, the Alabama Ethics Commission cited evidence that Mr. Bentley broke state ethics and campaign laws and referred the matter to prosecutors.
“There’ve been times that I let you and our people down, and I’m sorry for that,” Mr. Bentley said after he pleaded guilty.
The violations were discovered during the investigation of his affair but were not directly related to it.
One misdemeanor charge against him stemmed from a $50,000 loan he made to his campaign in November that investigators said he failed to report until January. State law says major contributions should be reported within a few days. The other charge stemmed from his use of campaign funds to pay nearly $9,000 in legal bills for political adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason last year.
Also, the Alabama Ethics Commission recommended Wednesday the governor be charged with four felonies related to campaign finance and ethics fraud tied to his affair.
The plea agreement specified that Mr. Bentley must surrender campaign funds totaling nearly $37,000 within a week and perform 100 hours of community service as a physician. The dermatologist also cannot seek public office again.
Mr. Bentley’s successor is Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey, who became Alabama’s second female governor and the first Republican woman to occupy the office.
“The Ivey administration will be open. It will be transparent. And it will be honest,” said Ms. Ivey, who was first elected as lieutenant governor in 2010 and also served two terms as state treasurer.
Mr. Bentley’s resignation follows the ouster of former House Speaker Mike Hubbard, who left office in 2016 after being convicted on ethics charges, and former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was suspended from his post last year over an order opposing same-sex marriage.
Mr. Bentley, a staunch family-values conservative who won two terms partly because of his reputation for moral rectitude, was first engulfed in scandal last year after recordings surfaced of him making sexually charged comments to the 45-year-old Ms. Mason.
An investigative report prepared for the House Judiciary Committee and released last week said Mr. Bentley encouraged an “atmosphere of intimidation” to keep the story under wraps and directed law enforcement officers to track down and seize the recordings. The report portrayed the governor as paranoid and obsessed with trying to keep the relationship secret.
The committee on Monday started what was expected to be days of hearings.
The investigative report contained text messages that the governor sent to Ms. Mason. They were intercepted by Mr. Bentley’s then-wife, Dianne Bentley, who was able to read the messages because they also showed up on the governor’s state-issued iPad, which he had given her. Ms. Bentley divorced her husband in 2015 after 50 years of marriage.