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.
Alabama’s prison population sees troubling growth in latest DOJ report
For the first time in nearly a decade, U.S. prison populations are trending up. Alabama's numbers are a part of troubling gains across the Gulf South.
A narrowing Republican presidential field will debate in Tuscaloosa Wednesday
Four candidates will be on stage at the University of Alabama for their last scheduled meeting before the Iowa caucuses kick off the presidential nominating season next month. Former President Donald Trump, the race’s clear front-runner, will not be among them.
Place, Erased: A virtual listening session with the Gulf States Newsroom; RSVP now
Join us as we listen to the recent series about towns transformed by major environmental shifts and talk with the reporters about what they learned.
Tuberville is ending blockade of most military nominees
Tuberville’s blockade of military promotions was over a dispute about a Pentagon abortion policy. The Alabama Republican said Tuesday he’s “not going to hold the promotions of these people any longer.”
Man featured in ‘S-Town’ podcast shot and killed by police during standoff, authorities say
Joseph Tyler Goodson was shot by officers after he barricaded himself inside a home and “brandished a gun" at officers early Sunday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. Bibb County Coroner Patrick Turner said that Goodson was pronounced “brain dead” Tuesday night at a hospital.
The next Republican debate is in Alabama, the state that gave the GOP a road map to Donald Trump
The state that propelled George Wallace, a Democrat and four-term governor, into national politics is now dominated by Republicans loyal to Donald Trump, another figure who leans heavily on grievance and white identity politics.
