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DENIED: House panel rejects Bentley’s request to suspend impeachment proceedings

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley

Gov. Robert Bentley’s latest attempt to end his impeachment ordeal has failed.

State Rep. Mike Jones (R-Andalusia), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has denied the governor’s request to suspend the impeachment proceedings, as well as the request that certain committee members be recused from the hearings.

“After careful consideration and a close examination of constitutional law and other reference sources, the motions are denied,” said Rep. Jones.

Articles of impeachment were first filed on April 5 in the wake of revelations that the governor may have misused state resources to facilitate and cover up an affair with his top political advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason. House members levied four articles of impeachment against the governor: neglect of duty, corruption, incompetency, and offenses of moral terpitude.

Gov. Bentley’s attorneys in mid-August contended that the accusations of “willful neglect of duty” and “corruption in office” violated his right to due process because he did not have enough time to mount a defense. They also requested that three Judiciary Committee member recuse themselves from the impeachment proceedings, contending that Reps. Mike Ball (R-Madison), Allen Farley (R-McCalla) and Mike Holmes (R-Wetumpka) should recuse themselves because they signed the original articles of impeachment, along with twenty other House members.

In his eight page response to Gov. Bentley’s filings, Rep. Jones said those complaints are “premature and erroneous,” and that committee members are not required to recuse themselves since “the governor has no legal or political authority to dictate to the House of this Committee” which members can sit on the committee.

“It is entirely proper for a legislator both to sponsor a resolution and to sit on a committee to which it is referred,” he said.

Jones, who has earned a reputation for being extremely thorough in his role as House Judiciary Committee Chairman, also cited rules of the Alabama House of Representatives, reports from the U.S. House Judiciary Committee prepared during the impeachment of then-President Richard Nixon, and printed works by constitutional and impeachment scholars.

The committee has also asked for the governor to turn over information, including communication between Gov. Bentley and Mrs. Mason, transportation and calendar records, and more, and has warned that not complying with the committee’s requests could itself be an impeachable offense.

The committee investigation into the articles of impeachment continues and no date has been set for the next committee meeting.

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