Rep. Ed Henry: Impeach Bentley; Local legislators weigh in on Governor scandal

Published 5:45 am Friday, March 25, 2016

A day after Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley admitted to inappropriate contact with a female political advisor, members of the Cullman area legislative delegation shared their opinions on whether — and how — lawmakers should react.

None was more forceful in his opinion than Rep. Ed Henry (R-Hartselle), whose response was unequivocal: Bentley should resign, or else he should be impeached.

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“The only thing I can see that he can do to rectify this would be to resign,” said Henry. “If he doesn’t, I’m perfectly willing to participate in the impeachment process, or to bring recall legislation that would allow the people of Alabama to remove him.”

Henry is prepared to defend that position on the statutory basis of moral turpitude.

“I absolutely would [be willing to] do it,” he said. “We won’t be back in Montgomery until April 5, but yes, I would.”

Impeach or recall: the former is a statutory option; the latter would have to be made law.

Alabama currently doesn’t have a legislative provision allowing its citizens to petition for a recall election of state officials. But Henry said the scandal highlights the need for such a law.

“Even if we can’t impeach him, we need recall legislation to allow the citizens of Alabama the opportunity to reach out and touch elected officials who mislead, or blatantly lie, to them,” said Henry. 

“We don’t have a way to do that now. But I believe this [scandal] is grounds enough to start. We’ve needed recall legislation in the past, but the Democrats would never do it. Now the Republicans are in charge — with a quasi-Republican governor — and it’s time to pass some recall legislation.”

Other legislators were disturbed by the Bentley scandal, but were more measured in their immediate reaction.

“It is sad for Alabama, and I do not condone what I am hearing,” said Rep. Randall Shedd (R-Fairview). 

“However, Governor Bentley has been good to my district and a friend to me. I will not kick a friend when he is down. But I do have some advice that I will give to him in private.”

Rep. Corey Harbison (R-Good Hope) said Bentley should have done a better job of getting in front of a scandal whose warning signs had been visible for months.

“Honestly and truthfully, no man is exempt from sin,” said Harbison. “Everybody makes poor choices. Whether you go to church every Sunday or don’t go at all, temptation is everywhere. I think the way that he’s handled it is unfortunate.

“The way you handle adverse situations makes you the person you are. To receive forgiveness for our wrongdoings, you have to first admit and confess — and I think the way he’s handled it, after the fact, has made the people of Alabama feel that he’s less trustworthy. That’s a shame.”

In a state dominated by one-party politics, elected officials’ alleged missteps and peccadilloes have the potential to reveal hidden intra-party fault lines. One day after his public confession, much of the disgust and outrage against Bentley was coming from fellow Republicans.

But local officials don’t believe the Bentley scandal will do much additional damage to GOP dominance in a decidedly red state — in part because the relationship between Bentley and Republican lawmakers has long been an openly fractious one.

“I don’t see how he hurts our brand, because he never strongly represented our brand,” said Henry.

“This is an individual acting purely out of selfishness — an individual who, on his best day, was a weak Republican. In his first term, he did nothing that the legislature didn’t force him to. Then in his second term, he came out bold and brash, and was going to do things his way and show the legislature how ‘powerful’ a man he is. Now we see what was bolstering his ego.”

“I don’t think it hurts the party,” Harbison agreed. “When these type of things happen, people view it as a personal decision; not a party thing. It’s sad for the Bentley family, everything that’s happened. But they can’t control his personal decisions, just like the party can’t. I think the people of Alabama and across the nation understand that.”

“When you have one dominant party, there are always a lot of factions, and that’s what we’re seeing now,” added Shedd. “You always see that; even the minority party has factions. 

“But I think there would be a bigger fallout, among Republicans, from something like the national party doing something to keep [Donald] Trump from being the [presidential] nominee, when he gets what appears to be most of the votes. I think that would create a lot more political fallout than something like this.”

Long-brewing allegations that Bentley had been involved in an unethical relationship with Rebekah Caldwell Mason — his former communications director and current senior political advisor — came to a head Wednesday. 

That’s when Bentley held a press conference to address a leaked audio recording of a 2014 phone conversation that appears to document the governor making sexually frank comments to a woman.

Spencer Collier — whom Bentley had fired two days earlier from the directorship of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency — released the recording, telling the press the woman on the other end of the phone conversation is Mason. Mason is never explicitly named in the recording. 

Bentley’s press conference was short on clarifying such details, but the governor did not directly deny that allegation. Similarly, a statement Mason released Wednesday also did not attempt to refute the claim.

“I listened to the recording last night on the way home from Montgomery,” said Henry. “Once was enough. It’s pathetic. It’s pitiful. It’s sad, when you listen to it and you think, ‘This is our governor.’” 

Harbison said he’s skeptical of Collier’s reasons for coming forward, two days after being fired, with an incriminating recording that dates from 2014.

“I’m questioning Spencer Collier’s motives as to why he’s just now coming out with this,” he said. “As for whether the governor should resign, I think that’s the kind of question that people have to decide for themselves.”