MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Governor Robert Bentley on Tuesday defended himself in the wake of a lawsuit filed by former Alabama Secretary of Law Enforcement Spencer Collier that alleges Bentley terminated Collier’s employment because Collier refused to lie to a prosecutor from the Attorney General’s office.
“Mr. Collier was terminated of his duties at ALEA for cause,” Bentley said in response to the lawsuit. “Once the facts and circumstances become public, I am confident that the justification for terminating him will be shown. We will aggressively defend this lawsuit.”
Collier’s lawsuit further accuses Governor Bentley, his former senior advisor and mistress Rebekah Mason and ALEA Secretary Stan Stabler of purposefully planting false stories with the media accusing Collier of misappropriation of funds.
A press release sent out by Mr. Collier’s legal counsel Tuesday morning laid out the following scenario:
Within hours of placing Collier on medical leave to recover from back surgery, Bentley granted an interview to AL.com’s Chuck Dean where he indicated that Collier would be “dealt with” for disobeying a direct order. Bentley, Mason and Stabler then planted a story with Dean accusing Collier of misusing funds. Collier alleges that all three individuals were aware or should have been aware of the recently completed audit which indicated that there was no evidence of financial misappropriation in the state’s law enforcement agency when it was under Collier’s command.
Stabler then placed his name on an editorial that called into question Collier’s credibility. That op-ed was distributed to media outlets statewide on April 15.
RELATED: Former Alabama Secretary of Law Enforcement files civil suit against Bentley, Mason, Stabler
Collier has also been at the center of the Bentley-Mason affair scandal.
According to Collier, Stabler, who was at the time a member of Governor Bentley’s security detail, inadvertently saw a sexually explicit text from Mrs. Mason to Governor Bentley and brought it to the attention of his superior. As the information worked its way up the chain of command, Collier was alerted and made the decision to confront the Governor.
“I told Governor Bentley there was no need to try to explain it,” he recalled. “It was very obvious it was sexual in nature. Governor Bentley just hung his head and asked for advice on how to get out of it.”
Collier says he told Governor Bentley it would be a crime if he had used state or campaign resources to facilitate the affair. Governor Bentley then told Collier he would end the relationship with Mrs. Mason, but changed his mind the following morning.
“From 2014 to the present it has come apparent to me that Mrs. Mason wields a level of influence over state government that I have never seen before,” he said. “I have received complaints from law enforcement, other government officials and members of Governor Bentley’s family.
“He made it clear to me that anyone that questioned Rebekah Mason’s influence would be terminated,” Collier emphasized. “Less than a month ago the Governor told me he was still madly in love with Rebekah Mason but that he’s a man of honor and wouldn’t ask her to divorce her husband.”
Collier continued in his job until last month, when he says he found out via social media that he had been fired and replaced by Stan Stabler, the individual who he says saw the initial text.
In response to Collier’s comments, Mr. Stabler said, “The allegation and implication from Mr. Collier is completely false and without merit.”
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