MONTGOMERY, Ala. — After speculation that Gov. Bentley’s former advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason could return to her previous post arose this week, Gov. Bentley went on the defensive when asked by a Raycom political reporter about Mrs. Mason’s future employment status and refused to answer his questions.
Michael Doudna asked Bentley a series of questions surrounding Mrs. Mason’s employment at a news conference Thursday morning. “Governor, after a lot of the stuff centering around your impeachment has died down, would you ever consider rehiring your former staff member, Rebekah Mason?” Dounda said.
Bentley was puzzled at the question and wondered aloud why Dounda would ask about Mason. Dounda responded by saying he believed the people of Alabama would be interested if Bentley was indeed considering Mason back onto his staff. “Well, I don’t really think that the people really care as long as I’m helping them,” Bentley said.
Such responses have been typical of Bentley throughout the course of his administration’s scandals. At an event celebrating the opening of the new I22/I65 interchange last June, reporters wished to discuss the ongoing possibility of impeachment, but Bentley refused to discuss the subject. “The people of Alabama, and I know them better than anybody else because I’ve traveled this state so many times, I’ve seen them through difficult time and hard times, so I know how they think,” he told reporters. “They’re not interested in impeachment; they’re interested in jobs, and that’s what we are talking about today.”
The Bentley administration has been mired in scandal since late March when Yellowhammer exposed the existence of audio recordings that captured sexually charged conversations between Bentley and Mrs. Mason. State and federal authorities have also launched criminal investigations into possible wrongdoing that stemmed from their inappropriate relationship. 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.
