The Governor Bentley scandal saga took a dramatic turn last Friday in a report that includes several connections to The University of Alabama.
The submission of the special counsel investigating allegations of improper conduct by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley contains 131 pages of investigative reports on the actions of Gov. Bentley in relation to his affair with Rebekah Caldwell-Mason. In the report, issued by the House Judiciary Committee of the Alabama House of Representatives, events included detail Gov. Bentley’s use of career law enforcement and state funds to hide his alleged affair.
According to investigators, both Bentley and Caldwell-Mason attempted to obstruct the investigation.
“Governor Bentley directed law enforcement to advance his personal interests and, in a process characterized by increasing obsession and paranoia, subjected career law enforcement officers to tasks intended to protect his reputation,” states the report, which was obtained through AL.com.
Cooper Shattuck, former General Counsel for The University of Alabama and former Chief Legal Adviser for Gov. Bentley, was mentioned in the investigation due to his role as a legal adviser; a role which investigators claimed he continued to serve in after going to serve as General Counsel at The University of Alabama.
Shattuck sent emails to the press regarding the Alabama Council for Excellent Government, which was allegedly used to distribute money to Caldwell-Mason’s consulting firm.
In emails obtained by investigators, comments by Shattuck concerning individuals and entities paid by ACEGov to the press were heavily redacted, as were many communications that Bentley’s administration provided for the investigation. Shattuck was involved with Bentley’s office from 2012-2016, while also serving on The University of Alabama Gulf Improvement Project.
Additionally, Bryant-Denny Stadium itself was caught up in the scandal. At the Republican Primary victory party on June 3, 2014, hosted in Bryant-Denny Stadium, Ray Lewis of Gov. Bentley’s staff and Heather Hannah of Mrs. Bentley’s staff discussed the existence of tapes proving the existence of Gov. Bentley’s affair.
Hannah had testified in front of the Ethics Committee stating that she felt Gov. Bentley attempted to intimidate her after discovering the existence of the tapes, which he blamed partially on her.
Their conversation took place in the parking lot of the stadium, where Lewis told Hannah to destroy the tapes.
“I was told that if I had access to [the tapes] to destroy them, get rid of them, make sure they weren’t on my computer, make sure I had no access to them because I could ultimately be in trouble and be punished for having those,” Hannah testified. “They felt that I was going to be harmed if I had it. However, as the conversation progressed, I felt that it was more out of protection and loyalty to the governor and less out of protection and concern for me.”
The same day as that conversation, Lewis reportedly told Gov. Bentley that Hannah was “his problem,” a statement which he later told the investigators he made in an attempt to bring the governor out of his obsession with the tapes.
The impeachment report also mentions that Gov. Bentley directed staff at his disposal, including law enforcement, to hide evidence of the affair. The report stated that impeachment served as a check against chief executives whose prior actions had displayed unfit behavior for office.
Gov. Bentley has not yet responded to request for comment on the release of the investigative report.
