Bentley resigns amid sex scandal; Ivey becomes governor

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley resigned Monday after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of campaign finance law violations, ending six years in office and giving a dramatic ending to a sex scandal that consumed his administration for more than a year.

In a finish to a political career almost as surprising as its beginning, Bentley pleaded guilty to charges of failing to file a major campaign finance report and converting campaign funds for personal use.  He was sentenced to a 30-day suspended jail sentence and 12 months of probation; ordered to surrender all campaign funds ($36,912) and about $16,000 in other fines; and ordered to serve 100 hours of community service. Bentley also gave up his right to seek public office again, the ability to appeal and all retirement benefits.

"There have been times when I have let you and our people down, and I’m sorry for that," Bentley said in the Old House Chamber in the State Capitol. "The consequences of my mistakes have been grievously unfair to you, my dedicated staff and my cabinet."

The misdemeanor sentence means Bentley, a dermatologist by trade, will be able to keep his medical license. He intends to serve his 100 hours of community service performing dermatological work in rural Alabama counties.

Former Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey was sworn in as governor shortly after 6 p.m. Monday, and promised a break with scandals that engulfed the state.

Bentley's governorship became increasingly overshadowed by allegations he pursued an affair with former staffer Rebekah Caldwell Mason and attempted to use state resources to pursue it, and state law enforcement to cover it up. The allegation led Monday to an unprecedented impeachment hearing into the governor.

"Robert Bentley, governor of Alabama, directed law enforcement to advance his personal interests over those of the state," Jack Sharman, special counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, told representatives Monday afternoon. "In timelines characterized by increasingly desperate conduct, he subjected honest career law enforcement to tasks to protect his reputation, both political and personal."

It was the first impeachment considered by the Alabama House of Representatives since 1915, and the first ever directed at an Alabama governor.

An impeachment report released Friday accused Bentley of becoming obsessed with recovering recordings of conversations between him and Mason made by Dianne Bentley, who divorced the governor in 2015 after 50 years of marriage. According to the report, Bentley threatened staffers who knew or who he thought knew about the affair, and sent law enforcement to recover the recordings or question those he thought might know about them. Bentley is also accused of using a security member to try to break up with Mason on at least two occasions.

The report also alleges Bentley brought Mason with him in state vehicles and aircraft, at times overriding his security detail to do so. Sharman said he only received pre-edited flight logs upon request.

The impeachment report was one of a host of struggles faced by the governor. Two days prior, the Alabama Ethics Commission found probable cause that the governor violated ethics and campaign finance laws, and forwarded their findings to Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey for further prosecution. Bailey sent those findings Monday to Ellen Brooks, serving as acting attorney general in a probe that office is conducting into Bentley's conduct. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, appointed by the governor in February, recused himself from the investigation shortly afterward.

Legislative leaders had been carefully noncommittal about impeachment since House members first pushed a resolution through last year, but the Ethics Commission report, combined with the impeachment proceeding, pushed Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston and House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, both called for Bentley's resignation last week. Bentley called an impromptu presser on Friday to say he would not.

“Once again, let me say I do not plan to resign,” the governor said Friday. “I have done nothing illegal. If the people want to know (whether) I misused state resources, the answer is simply no, I have not.”

In a statement Monday evening, McCutcheon said he was "grateful that Governor Bentley has seen the writing on the wall."

"When I met with him on Friday, I told him I would be praying for him," the statement said. "I will continue praying for him as he adjusts to the next chapter in his life and reflects upon the legacy he leaves behind."

Marsh called Monday "a sad day for Alabama."

"I believe the Governor’s resignation was the only way for the state and the Legislature to move forward and once again function normally,” the Senate leader said in a statement.

Bentley was the third major state official in the last year and a half to leave office. House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, was convicted of 12 felony ethics charges last June, leading to his removal from office. Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended for the remainder of his term in September for directing probate judges to disobey an order of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Democrats noted those disruptions in statements Monday night. House Minority leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said Alabama was in "a cycle of cronyism and abuse of power."

These politicians recklessly put themselves, their bank accounts, and their egos before their duty -- working on behalf of the people of Alabama," Daniels said in the statement. "This abuse of power has consumed our state government for far too long and wasted money that could have been used for any number of vital state needs."

Bentley took no questions at Monday's press conference and did not say what led him to change his mind. A Montgomery County Circuit Judge Friday blocked the impeachment process Friday, but the Alabama Supreme Court allowed it to proceed Saturday. Bentley, not addressing his plea deal, said he realized there were "things more important than a political office" and said he hoped to find a way to continue service in the state.

"Thank you," Bentley said at the end of his speech, becoming emotional. "Good bye, and I love this state from the bottom of my heart."