MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Following the findings of the Alabama Ethics Commission, the leaders of the Alabama State Senate and House of Representatives are calling for Gov. Robert Bentley (R-Ala.) to resign.
Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) announced this morning that he believes Bentley must resign “for the good of the state.” He also met privately with the governor this morning where he told Bentley that he should step down face-to-face.
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Del Marsh (R-Anniston) said that the Bentley scandals have gone on long enough, and it is time for him to resign. “We’ve got a lot of important issues with the state, from education, to prison reform,” Marsh said in a press conference. “I would only ask that I hope that at the end of the day the governor would do what’s best for the people of Alabama.”
The governor reiterated again today that he has no intention of leaving office.
Earlier this week, the Alabama Ethics Commission referred the case against Gov. Robert Bentley (R-Ala.) to the Montgomery Country District Attorney after finding probable cause that he broke various state ethics and campaign laws.
The AEC found there was probable cause that Bentley used public resources for personal interests, received campaign donations outside of restricted time frames, and used campaign funds to pay for the legal fees of former advisor Rebeckah Caldwell Mason.
Bentley denies each allegation.
The governor’s administration has been mired in scandal since Yellowhammer first released audio of him allegedly making sexual advanced towards Mason in 2014. He has repeatedly denied any wrong doing, both moral and legal. Since that time, he has faced state and federal investigations, along with an ongoing impeachment effort by members of the State House of Representatives.
In articles of impeachment filed last year, members of the House charged the governor with neglect of duty, corruption, incompetency, and offenses of moral turpitude. The articles never made it out of the House.
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