Just a few days after he said he did not plan to resign from office, former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) did just that, stepping down on Monday in order to avoid impeachment amid a sex scandal.
Bentley pleaded guilty to charges of knowingly converting campaign money to personal use and failing to report campaign contributions. For more than a year, allegations that he used state resources to hide an affair he was having with a top adviser, Rebekah Mason, swirled around Bentley, and last week, the state's Ethics Commission announced it had found enough evidence to conclude that Bentley had committed four felonies. The state Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Saturday that Bentley's impeachment hearing could begin Monday.
After announcing his resignation, Bentley told the people of Alabama during a press conference he "always believed the honor of serving as your governor is a calling that God placed on my life." He admitted that at times he "failed," but he always "tried to live up to the high expectations that people place on the person who holds this esteemed office. There have been times that I have let you and our people down, and I'm sorry for that. I can no longer allow my family, my dear friends, my dedicated staff, and cabinet to be subjected to the consequences that my past actions have brought on them. I want you to know, I love our people with all my heart." He was replaced by Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey (R), Alabama's second female governor.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
September 6 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include profiting from authoritarianism, and the National Guard entering the CDC
-
Should Britain withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights?Talking Point With calls now coming from Labour grandees as well as Nigel Farage and the Tories, departure from the ECHR 'is starting to feel inevitable'
-
5 outspoken cartoons about Epstein survivors taking center stageCartoons Artists take on cover-ups, Trump surrounded, and more
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
-
Florida aims to end all state vaccine requirementsSpeed Read Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to cut vaccine access and install anti-vaccine activists at the FDA and CDC
-
US kills 11 on 'drug-carrying boat' off VenezuelaSpeed Read Trump claimed those killed in the strike were 'positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists' shipping drugs to the US
-
Trump vows to send federal forces to Chicago, BaltimoreSpeed Read The announcement followed a California judge ruling that Trump's LA troop deployment was illegal
