Calls for Governor Bentley’s Resignation Continue to Grow
It’s just under a week since scandal rocked Montgomery. Last Wednesday, Alabama’s former top cop told the media about an affair between Governor Robert Bentley and an advisor and a phone sex tape surfaced online. While Bentley apologized for inappropriate comments and continues to deny any “physical affair” with Senior Political Advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason, calls for his resignation have only gotten louder among state leaders.
It’s time for Gov. Bentley to step down, and for Spencer Collier and the other fired law enforcement officers to be reinstated #alpolitics
— Craig Ford (@RepCraigFord) March 24, 2016
Legislators claim Bentley can no longer be an effective governor and that he has embarrassed the state. The College Republican Federation of Alabama issued a resolution today requesting Bentley step down. Last week, the Montgomery County Republican Executive Committee recently issued a similar resolution. The resolution says Bentley’s actions have caused the state to see, “Statewide and national exposure in print, broadcast, internet, and social media, embarrassing not only himself and his family, but also the State of Alabama and the Republican Party of Alabama.”
Representative Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham) tells WBHM she agrees. She says Bentley should resign, not for the affair, but for the lying. “The issue of the affair is not an impeachable offense to me,” Todd tells WBHM. “He can do whatever he wants but tell the truth.”
Todd says what concerns her most is that Mason, who is not paid or employed by the state, has full access to the governor’s office. Todd says no one knows who pays Mason’s salary, and that makes her skeptical.
“What I have learned in Montgomery is, you follow the money. It’s always about money. So somebody is profiting from that arrangement, from her being in the governor’s office.”
Mason is employed and paid by the non-profit, The Alabama Council for Excellent Government, which was set up by Bentley to support his policy agenda. As a non-profit, the group does not have to identify its donors.
Please see the Press Release regarding the resolution passed by the College Republican Federation of Alabama. #ALpolitics
Posted by College Republican Federation of Alabama on Monday, March 28, 2016
Rachel Osier Lindley contributed to this report.
United Nations nuclear agency again condemns Iran for failing to fully cooperate
The resolution comes after the agency said Iran has defied demands to rein in its nuclear program and has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Alabama carries out nation’s 3rd nitrogen gas execution
An Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden shortly before he was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas.
Trump names former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his new pick for U.S. attorney general
After former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration, President-elect Donald Trump named Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his next pick for U.S. attorney general.
Police report gives details, timeline of the sexual assault claim against Pete Hegseth
The woman who accused then-Fox News host of sexual assault in 2017 said that she "remembered saying 'no' a lot," according to a police report. Hegseth is President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense.
Alabama Black Belt’s sewer crisis a tougher fix for residents in manufactured homes
Poor sanitation has long plagued residents in Alabama’s Black Belt. For people with manufactured houses, finding a solution has been more challenging.
In Birmingham, Black men’s groups work to save young men from the cycle of gun violence
As the city inches closer to its homicide record, community members are trying to address a sense of fatalism and lack of opportunity felt by some young men.
