Just last week we brought you the story of a sex scandal here in my home state of Alabama. Our governor, Robert Bentley, was caught on tape making sexual comments to one of his top aides, Rebekah Mason. The former law enforcement secretary, Spencer Collier, was the one who accused Bentley of having a relationship with Mrs. Mason (yes, she is married). Collier was conveniently fired last Tuesday due to “a number of issues.”
The Montgomery County Republican Executive Committee was trying to get Bentley to resign a few days ago. They passed the following resolution at their monthly meeting:
“Therefore be it Resolved; The Montgomery County Republican Executive Committee hereby calls upon Governor Bentley to resign his office immediately to avoid bringing further embarrassment and disgrace upon himself, the great State of Alabama, and the Republican Party of Alabama which could result from pending investigation by the Attorney General and/or Impeachment proceedings.”
The state has filed an ethics investigation against Bentley. Mrs. Mason was paid by the Alabama Council For Excellent Government. The Auditor, Jim Zeigler has initiated an official investigation into the governor’s actions:
“It is clear that he is misleading the people of the state about the nature of his relationship, but it is also clear that Ms. Mason is required to either be classified as a public official, or file as a lobbyist, in her capacity as an advisor who is paid by an outside source.”
Bentley and Mason have also been accused of using state money to further their relationship. Others are asking the state to initiate a legal investigation.
Both Bentley and Mason are saying that they are not going to resign from their posts. Bentley doesn’t deny that it was his voice on the audio recordings of the incident, but he still refuses to resign.
Featured image by Stuart Seeger via flickr, available under Creative Commons 2.0 license.
