In the latest scandal to mar Alabama’s scandal-ridden governor’s office, Governor Robert Bentley has been booked into county jail on misdemeanor charges related to his allegedly trying to cover up an extramarital affair with a woman who was allegedly the “power behind the throne” at his office.
Shortly after his arrest and booking on Monday, Bentley resigned from the governorship.
Impeachment proceedings started earlier this Monday in Alabama’s state capitol after Bentley, 74-year-old a grandfather of six, accidentally sent a text message to his now ex-wife Dianne intended for his mistress—former adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason.
“I love you Rebekah,” he wrote in the text message to Dianne Bentley, his wife of 50 years. She has since divorced him.
Bentley denied having an affair with Rebekah Mason, despite routinely calling her pet names like “baby” during government meetings. Investigators compiled documented correspondence between Bentley and Mason, indicating that the two had a sexual affair.
Bentley is also accused of creating a hostile climate in the governor’s office. Last Friday, the Alabama House Judiciary Committee released a 130-page report compiling Bentley’s alleged impropriety and abuse of power. The author of the report, Jack Sharman, states that Bentley ordered police officers to “advance his personal interests, and in a process characterized by increasing obsession and paranoia, subjected career law enforcement officers to tasks intended to protect his reputation.”
The investigative report, compiled with the support of Dianne Bentley, who could read the messages that appeared on both his personal account as well as his state-issued iPad contained messages like:
“I sure miss you. I need you. I want you. You are the only one.”
The governor ordered the head of his security detail to retrieve the iPad from his son, Paul Bentley, who rejected the request.
Dianne Bentley’s chief of staff charges that Bentley threatened her job because he believed she helped his wife compile incriminating evidence against him.
The governor has been mired in scandal since Alabama’s former Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Spencer Collier publicly accused Bentley of having an affair with a staffer on March 23, 2016. Bentley admitted to making inappropriate comments but denied that the two had a physical relationship.
Following the allegations, Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler filed an ethics complaint against the governor on March 25, 2016. The state’s Ethics Commission found probable cause against Bentley, alleging that he violated ethics laws and campaign finance laws.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
