Making Sense of the Tangled Web: Explaining the Impeachment Actions Against Governor Robert Bentley

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (Photo: Governor’s Office, Daniel Sparkman)

In the next few days, there will be a flood of media coverage concerning the impeachment of Alabama’s Governor, Robert Bentley. Because many of the issues related to this matter are quite technical, the purpose of this article is to explain the big picture in the simplest possible terms.

First, it’s helpful to know that the Alabama Ethics Commission and the State Attorney General’s office are also investigating the Governor. However, those investigations have nothing to do with the Governor’s impeachment. Impeachment is an action taken only by the Alabama legislature.

With that in mind, it’s helpful to know what impeachment is and what it’s not, and in this case it is not a criminal proceeding.

Jack Sharman, Special Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, released a report today that explains what impeachment does mean in this instance:

Impeachment is the people’s check against political excess.

As his report explained, impeaching the Governor is not the process of trying or convicting him of a crime. Rather, it’s a remedy to the citizens of Alabama to unseat a governor who proves unfit for office.

From there, it’s helpful to return to where this all started.

One year ago, Yellowhammer released an audio recording of the Governor “speaking proactively” with his chief advisor, Rebekah Mason. In other words, in a heartbreaking phone call, he made highly inappropriate, sexually charged comments to a married woman nearly half his age, who happened to be one of his top aides.

Shortly thereafter, on April 28, 2016, the Alabama House of Representatives proposed impeachment proceedings against Governor Bentley based on two questions:

To start the impeachment process, the House Judiciary Committee appointed a highly qualified “Special Counsel” to conduct a thorough investigation into the Governor’s actions. As noted above, that person is Mr. Jack Sharman, a prominent Birmingham attorney with tremendous depth in this area of the law. Mr. Sharman recently concluded his investigation and documented his findings in the aforementioned report: “The Impeachment Investigation of Governor Robert Bentley—Pre-Hearing Submission of the Special Counsel.” This report was released this afternoon.

So what’s next? The House Judiciary Committee will now consider the findings in Mr. Sharman’s report and decide if they warrant further action. If they decide to move forward (which most suppose they will), there will be one vote to determine if the full House should consider impeachment. If that measure passes, the entire House of Representatives will vote on the actual impeachment of Governor Bentley. If a simple majority of House members vote yes in that second vote, the Governor must temporarily step down while the Alabama Senate takes up the matter. In the Senate, it’s presumed a two-thirds vote is required to impeach the Governor. Should that happen, he’ll be permanently removed from office.

It’s worth mentioning here that no constitutional officer in Alabama has faced impeachment since 1915 when Secretary of State John Purifoy was accused of bribing his opponent to quit the election. Even then, however, the House voted to leave him in office. The point is, the House of Representatives, as the people’s chamber, has a high calling (and a constitutional one) to protect those who elected them from “political excess” but they only do so after careful consideration. That careful consideration commenced with Mr. Sharman’s investigation and today’s report.

In other words, the process is just getting started, and it’s a historical one, so we ask that you stay tuned to Yellowhammer as we cover that process each step of the way.

At the same time, we ask that you understand that while it’s our job to do so, it’s not one in which we take pleasure. These proceedings are the result of a tragedy that victimized a faithful wife of fifty years, loving children, and innocent grandchildren in the Bentley family. Likewise, Mrs. Mason is a wife and a mother. Each of these people must deal with the fallout from these heartbreaking actions.

As House Judiciary Committee Member Paul Beckman also pointed out, there are other victims as well. In addition to the citizens of Alabama, Mr. Beckman said, this tragedy is also hurtful to “the dignified Alabamians that were appointed to serve at the will of the Governor and who have done so honorably and faithfully.”

When we consider all these victims, it’s natural to want justice. Nevertheless, we hope you’ll pray for mercy for everyone involved. At the same time, the legislature is rightfully charged with protecting the citizens of Alabama for the good of this great state, and it’s those actions on which we’ll report.