By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on September 13, 2015
State of the Union
The state of Alabama is flat broke. The Legislature is in the midst of the second special session that was called to pass a general fund budget for 2015-2016, having failed the task during both the regular session and the first special session.
Alabama has been named one of the most corrupt states in America by researchers at Harvard University.
Mike Hubbard, Alabama's speaker of the house, is currently under indictment for twenty-three felony counts of ethics law violations.
Former Montgomery federal judge Mark E. Fuller was forced to resign August 1st because he was arrested last year for viciously beating his second wife Kelli. He also cheated on Kelli with his young female law clerk.
Governor Robert Bentley’s wife Dianne, 72, is suing him for a divorce after 50 years of marriage because of his illicit love affair with senior political advisor/paramour Rebekah Caldwell Mason. Dianne is seeking title to their home, alimony, and the payment of her attorney’s fees. The governor’s handpicked judge has sealed the divorce records from public view.
The governor is also estranged from his four sons because of his betrayal of their mother. In essence, the governor has betrayed his entire family, not to mention the 4.8 million people in the state of Alabama, in a selfish act of lust and love.
Up until July 24th, the night when Dianne spent her 50th wedding anniversary alone, she thought there was a glimmer of hope that the governor would come to his senses and return to his marriage and family. She was wrong.
Wendell Ray Lewis, the former head of the governor’s security detail, took an early retirement from his job because he could no longer, in good conscience, watch and facilitate Bentley’s betrayal of Dianne as he romanced Rebekah. In the end, Lewis was loyal to Dianne.
Bentley’s close personal friends in Tuscaloosa think he has lost his mind over Rebekah. Friends, including fellow University of Alabama trustee Paul Bryant, Jr., have ended their friendship with the governor over his love affair with Rebekah.
The carefully crafted “Christian” image developed for the governor by Rebekah during the 2010 campaign has been shattered. Bentley’s self-portrait as a philanderer and home-wrecker has emerged publicly in the aftermath of Dianne’s divorce filing.
In a cunning move, the governor stashed away $500,000 of cash from the marital estate, saving it for his life with Rebekah after the divorce. He laundered this money in a series of structured transfers, starting with a personal loan to his campaign account. Following that, he transferred the money from his campaign to his newly formed non-profit organization, the Alabama Council for Excellent Government, which promptly made concealed payments to Rebekah Mason for “services” rendered. The loan can be repaid to Bentley after his divorce has been finalized.
The governor has secured the legal services of Joe Espy, a Montgomery attorney and fellow University of Alabama trustee, to handle his potential criminal exposure for using state resources to carry out his illicit love affair. This arrangement may well violate Section 36-25-13(e) of the Alabama Code because Espy serves as UA trustee, along with Bentley. Espy cannot sit on the UA board as an agent of the state and represent Bentley in a legal matter in which the state has a direct and substantial interest. In Bentley’s case, the state is a white-collar crime victim. Bentley’s use of state resources and campaign funds to romance Rebekah for personal gratification is illegal under state and federal law, just as his hiring of Espy is prohibited under state law.
Furthermore, Bentley’s case is dripping with evidence of criminal conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and racketeering violations under federal law. At the end of the day, Robert Bentley is nothing more than a marital cheater and “run-of-the-mill” crook who sponsored his illicit love affair with Rebekah using taxpayers' dollars and campaign donations.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange is too weak and scared to handle a criminal case of this magnitude.
Montgomery U.S. Attorney George L. Beck, Jr., has a conflict of interest because of his close personal relationship with David Byrne, the governor’s chief legal advisor.
Bentley’s marital infidelity is an embarrassment to the state of Alabama. It is one thing for Bentley, 72, to make a fool out of himself by romancing Rebekah, 43, with his own money; it is criminal for him to do it with taxpayers’ money.
However, hope is not lost. The U.S. has a new Attorney General, Ms. Loretta Lynch, who seems willing and capable of taking on the big-name white-collar criminals. All of the information and evidence gathered during the course of our year-long investigation will be sent to the Attorney General in Washington, along with a request for a thorough criminal investigation by seasoned federal prosecutors.