Another of Governor Bentley’s media availability sessions turned into a circus when he refused to answer questions about the ongoing effort to impeach him. Bentley (R-Ala.) was out celebrating the opening of the new I22/I65 interchange, but reporters on the scene wanted to direct their lines of questioning to the ongoing drama in Montgomery.
“We have a beautiful highway right here today, and this is what we’re talking about and we’re going to talk about improving the lives of the people of this state,” Bentley said. “And as I cross the state of Alabama, I know more about how people feel about this state than anybody does, because I have talked to more people in this state, and what they’re interested in is making their lives better, educating their children, creating jobs and opening up new highways just like this.”
When continually pressed, the governor only doubled down, saying outright that Alabamians do not care about the articles of impeachment that have been filed against him.
“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.”
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. But State Rep. Ed Henry (R-Hartselle) — a leading proponent of impeachment — argues Bentley’s “betrayal of the public trust” began with his incessant attempts to raise taxes after running for re-election on a “No New Taxes” pledge.
House members levied four articles of impeachment against Bentley: neglect of duty, corruption, incompetency, and offenses of moral terpitude. A special meeting of the Judiciary Committee is currently in an ongoing examination of the articles.
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.
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Despite the governor’s desire to focus on economic development, business leaders have warned that the governor’s actions may now be impacting the state’s ability to attract jobs.
“We’ve got all this momentum with aerospace and Airbus suppliers are moving in and Google’s coming to the state and fiber broadband is going in and then boom — just like that the momentum is stopped by a scandal that none of us can do anything about,” one local economic developer told Yellowhammer. “To say it is frustrating would be understating it.”
RELATED: Economic developers frustrated as Bentley scandal chases away companies, jobs
Bentley has insisted that nothing he has done is ground for impeachment and has accused his detractors in the legislature of political grandstanding.
“There are no grounds for impeachment, and I will vigorously defend myself and my administration from this political attack,” he said.
The articles of impeachment, which function as the charges against the accused, must be passed by a simple majority in the Alabama House of Representatives. Once the house impeaches the governor, he stands trial before the Alabama Senate in a trial presided over by the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court.
If the governor is convicted, he would be removed from office and replaced by the current Lieutenant Governor, Kay Ivey.
