HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

11 South Union Street

Montgomery, Alabama 36130

Members

Mike Jones, Chair

Jim Hill, Vice Chair

Marcel Black, Ranking

Minority Member

Mike Ball

Paul Beckman

Merika Coleman

Dickie Drake

Chris England

Allen Farley

David Faulkner

Matt Fridy

Juandalynn Givan

Mike Holmes

Thad McClammy

Phillip Pettus

THE IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATION

OF GOVERNOR ROBERT BENTLEY

PRE-HEARING SUBMISSION OF SPECIAL COUNSEL

April 7, 2017

Jack Sharman

Special Counsel

Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC

400 20th Street North

Birmingham, Alabama 35203

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................1

THE IMPEACHMENT RESOLUTION, HOUSE RULE 79.1, AND THE

COMMITTEE RULES ............................................................................................4

THE INVESTIGATION ......................................................................................................6

Preliminary Considerations ..........................................................................6 I.

A. No Preconceptions. ..........................................................................6

B. No Time or Subject-Matter Limits. .................................................6

C. The Committee Is Not A Court. .......................................................7

D. The Committee Retained Professional, Disinterested Staff To

Conduct the Investigation: The Role of Special Counsel. ...............8

E. Institutional Limitations on Legislative Investigations. ...................9

Due Process Considerations .........................................................................9 II.

A. Governor Bentley Has Had Fair Notice. ........................................11

B. Governor Bentley Will Have the Opportunity To Be Heard by

the Committee. ...............................................................................13

C. Federal Constitutional Concerns Are Without Merit. ....................13

The Office of Governor is not private property. ................14 1.

By any standard, the Committee has afforded 2.

Governor Bentley due process. ..........................................16

The Committee’s Subpoena Authority ......................................................18 III.

A. Why Subpoenas Were Necessary. .................................................18

B. The Committee Has Subpoena Power. ..........................................19

This Committee has broad power to investigate. ...............19 1.

This Committee has been provided by the House full 2.

investigative authority to investigate the impeachment

charges. ..............................................................................21

The fact that the subpoena is directed at the Executive

does not lessen its force. ....................................................22

C. Whether Styled a “Subpoena” or Otherwise, the House Can

Demand Documents in the Discharge of its Constitutional

Duties. ............................................................................................23

The Committee’s Investigation: Documents and Witnesses .....................24 IV.

A. Preservation Letters. ......................................................................24

B. Document Requests. ......................................................................26

C. Subpoenas. .....................................................................................26

D. Transcribed Interviews Under Oath. ..............................................27

E. Witnesses Who Declined to Provide Information. ........................27

Non-Cooperation By Governor Bentley ....................................................28 V.

A. Refusal to Meaningfully Produce Documents. ..............................28

B. Refusal to Comply With the Committee’s Subpoena. ...................28

Governor Bentley asserted privilege in response to the 1.

subpoena. ...........................................................................30

Blacked-out portions of documents produced. ..................31 2.

a. Timeline created by Governor Bentley and

Mason is blacked out. ............................................31

b. Text messages between Governor Bentley and

ACEGov are blacked out. ......................................32

c. Emails regarding Mason’s compensation are

blacked out. ............................................................32

Cell phones, state phones, and “burner” phones. ...............32 3.

Mason’s state email account. .............................................32 4.

Governor Bentley’s email accounts. ..................................33 5.

Visitor Logs to the Governor’s Mansion. ..........................33 6.

Mason’s compensation information. ..................................34 7.

iii

Unedited State aircraft records...........................................34

Refusal to testify under oath. .............................................34 9.

C. Governor Bentley’s Candor Towards the Committee. ..................35

D. Governor Bentley’s Written Submissions to the Committee. ........35

E. Lack of Cooperation as a Potential Ground For Impeachment. .....37

The Alabama Ethics Commission ..............................................................39 VI.

THE LAW OF IMPEACHMENT .....................................................................................41

Impeachment is the People’s Check Against Political Excess ..................41 I.

Impeachment Under the Alabama Constitution .........................................44 II.

A. Separation of Powers: The Legislature Has Exclusive, Non-

Reviewable Power to Impeach and Remove from Office. ............44

B. Grounds for Impeachment. ............................................................47

C. Burden of Proof..............................................................................50

Four standards of proof: probable cause; reasonable 1.

satisfaction/preponderance of the evidence; clear and

convincing evidence; and beyond a reasonable doubt. ......50

What standard should apply to impeachment? ..................52 2.

THE FACTUAL RECORD ...............................................................................................55

The Organizational Structure of the Office of the Governor .....................55 I.

A. The First Term. ..............................................................................55

B. The Second Term. ..........................................................................56

Key changes to staff and structure. ....................................56 1.

Confidentiality agreements. ...............................................57 2.

C. Rebekah Mason’s Employment and Compensation. .....................58

D. Other Relevant Bentley Associates. ...............................................61

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency ...................................................62 II.

A. Secretary Collier’s Leadership Team.............................................62

B. Dignitary Protection. ......................................................................62

The Evolution of the Bentley-Mason Relationship ...................................63 III.

A. Alabama’s Unlikely Governor .......................................................63

B. Rebekah Mason’s Ascent and Development of the Bentley-

Mason Relationship. ......................................................................64

Ms. Bentley’s suspicions. ..................................................64 1.

The suspicions of Governor Bentley’s staff. ......................67 2.

The effect of the Bentley-Mason Relationship on the 3.

operations of Governor Bentley’s Office. ..........................69

The Second Inauguration: Contingency plans. ..................70 4.

The Bentley-Mason Recordings ................................................................70 IV.

A. The Creation of the Recordings. ....................................................70

B. Governor Bentley’s Reaction to the Recordings. ..........................72

Heather Hannah. ................................................................73 1.

a. The Kitchen Confrontation. ...................................73

b. The Parking Lot Confrontation. .............................73

c. Unexplained Vandalism of Heather Hannah’s

Vehicle and House. ................................................73

i. The Vehicle Incident. .......................................74

ii. The House Incident. ...........................................74

Ray Lewis. .........................................................................74 2.

The Use of Law Enforcement as a Tool in the Bentley-Mason Affair ......76 V.

A. Governor Bentley’s Misuses of Ray Lewis. ..................................77

Governor Bentley asks Ray Lewis to break up with 1.

Rebekah Mason for him. ....................................................77

Ray Lewis attempts to retrieve the tapes. ..........................78 2.

Governor Bentley directs Ray Lewis to visit Mason in

Gulf Shores. .......................................................................78

Requests for surveillance sweeps of Mason’s vehicle. ......79 4.

Governor Bentley demands that Rebekah Mason travel 5.

on state transports. .............................................................79

B. Law Enforcement’s Intervention with Governor Bentley:

“From Contrite to Angry” Again. ..................................................81

Ray Lewis reports suspicious text messages to Spencer 1.

Collier. ...............................................................................81

Spencer Collier’s knowledge of the recordings. ................82 2.

Intervention and renewed contrition. .................................82 3.

C. Governor Bentley Uses Law Enforcement to Find the Tapes. ......83

Governor Bentley’s suspicion of Heather Hannah. ...........84 1.

Governor Bentley sends Collier to confront Linda 2.

Adams. ...............................................................................85

D. Governor Bentley’s “Special Investigations.” ...............................86

Scott Lee. ...........................................................................87 1.

a. Governor Bentley initiates investigation into

letter to Mason. ......................................................87

b. Governor Bentley asks Special Agent Lee to

investigate Heather Hannah. ..................................88

Jack Wilson. .......................................................................89 2.

Other discussions with law enforcement related to the 3.

affair. ..................................................................................91

Acting Secretary Stan Stabler eliminates the function 4.

of “Special Investigator.” ...................................................91

Governor Bentley’s Reordering of State Law Enforcement Personnel. ....92 VI.

A. Ray Lewis’s Demise. .....................................................................92

B. Governor Bentley promotes Stan Stabler. .....................................93

Detail Leader. .....................................................................93

Chief of Dignitary Protection Services. .............................95 2.

The ALEA Integrity Unit Investigation .....................................................96 VII.

A. The Background: Governor Bentley Grows Suspicious of

Collier. ...........................................................................................97

B. Governor Bentley Punishes Spencer Collier..................................99

C. The Integrity Unit Investigation...................................................100

ALEA accounting complaints. .........................................101 1.

Stabler reports to Governor Bentley. ...............................101 2.

The Investigation is opened. ............................................102 3.

a. Assignment. .........................................................102

b. The Office of the Governor coordinates a press

release. .................................................................104

c. Governor Bentley requests a briefing. .................105

d. Criminal Referral. ................................................105

D. The Interim Case Report, and Spencer Collier Fired. ..................106

E. Governor Bentley’s Release of the Incomplete Integrity Unit

Report. ..........................................................................................108

Governor Bentley’s 11th hour selective compliance 1.

with the Committee’s Document Request. ......................108

The timing of the conclusion of the Integrity Unit’s 2.

internal investigation. .......................................................109

Governor Bentley publicly releases ALEA’s internal 3.

investigation Case Report. ...............................................110

The Results of the Integrity Unit Investigation................111 4.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On April 28, 2016, twenty-three Members of the Alabama House of

Representatives introduced HR367, which proposed two articles of impeachment

against Governor Robert Bentley: (1) “Willful Neglect of Duty” and (2) “Corruption

in Office.” By operation of House Rule 79.1, those proposed articles of impeachment

were referred to the House Judiciary Committee (“the Committee”), which has been

directed to investigate those allegations and to make a recommendation to the

House of Representations as to whether cause exists to impeach Governor Bentley.

The Committee then retained Jack Sharman of Lightfoot, Franklin & White,

LLC to serve as Special Counsel. According to this Committee’s Amended Rule

13(b), Special Counsel and his staff “shall conduct the investigation, shall assist the

Chair in the conducting of hearings as required, and shall draft the report required

from the Committee pursuant to House Rule 79.1.” This submission contains the

results of Special Counsel’s investigation. As a guide to the reader, we have

prepared this Executive Summary, which highlights portions of the submission but

is not a substitute for the entire document.

Despite Governor Bentley’s obstructive tactics, the investigation has been

objective and thorough. This Committee directed Special Counsel to gather

any

evidence relevant to the articles of impeachment – not just evidence tending to

establish cause to impeach. Operating under that directive, Special Counsel

approached this investigation with neutrality. To that end, Special Counsel and his

staff have interviewed more than 20 witnesses – many of whom are current and

former law enforcement officers and public servants – and have reviewed more than

10,000 pages of documents.

Although many witnesses have been candid and forthcoming, Governor

Bentley and his associates, including Rebekah Mason, refused to cooperate in any

meaningful sense and, indeed, obstructed this investigation. When confronted with

official demands for documents from the Committee, Governor Bentley refused to

recognize the Legislature’s prerogative to investigate official misconduct. The Office

of the Governor selectively produced just a few thousand pages of documents and

improperly limited the scope of the requests. Governor Bentley personally and his

campaign committee, Bentley for Governor, Inc., produced nothing. To the extent

that there remain investigative uncertainties, those uncertainties are the result of

Governor Bentley’s refusal to produce copies of documents that belong, not to him,

but to the State of Alabama and its citizens. This Committee is under no obligation

– constitutional, political, or otherwise – to reward Governor Bentley's efforts to

hold responsive information hostage or to rebuff questions regarding his activities

in office. The Committee may consider the Governor’s non-cooperation as an

independent ground for impeachment.

Impeachment is a remedy, not a punishment. Impeachment is the people’s

check against political excess. Although impeachments of some officials in Alabama

constitute a criminal proceeding, an impeachment investigation of a governor is not

one. The criminal standard of proof (“beyond a reasonable doubt”) does not apply.

Impeachable offenses may include but are not limited to crimes. Impeachment is

not punitive as to an individual; rather, it is a remedy for the State. The purpose of

impeachment is to rid the government of a chief executive whose past misconduct

demonstrates his unfitness to continue in office. An impeachment investigation has

a constitutional and legal mandate different from that of the criminal justice

system.

Governor Bentley’s due process objections are meritless. Rather than

cooperate in the investigation, Governor Bentley has chosen to object. Setting aside

that Governor Bentley has no constitutional standing to demand that the

Legislature discharge its constitutional duties according to his wishes, he has

complained generally and repetitively to the Committee that he has been denied

due process. Governor Bentley is wrong. Governor Bentley has enjoyed more

procedural safeguards than the average citizen who is the target of a grand jury

investigation. Unlike a grand jury investigation, the Committee process grants

Governor Bentley notice of hearings and permits him to receive evidence; to cross-

examine testifying witnesses; and to submit written commentaries on Special

Counsel’s investigative report. These protections are unavailable to a target of a

grand jury investigation facing significantly more severe consequences than

Governor Bentley is here. The Committee should be mindful that any decision by

the House could result in Governor Bentley’s temporary suspension. Equally

important, though, is that neither the United States Constitution nor the Alabama

Constitution demands that a governor receive more due process protection than the

average citizen facing potentially worse consequences than a temporary suspension

from public office.

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.

Witnesses and documents have confirmed that an inappropriate relationship

developed between Governor Bentley and his chief advisor, Rebekah Mason. Within

his inner political circle, Governor Bentley made little effort to mask the

relationship. When his wife, with technical assistance from her chief of staff,

covertly recorded Governor Bentley speaking provocatively to Mason, Governor

Bentley’s loyalty shifted from the State of Alabama to himself.

Concerned that those recordings could become public, Governor Bentley

directed law enforcement officers to perform tasks that had no law enforcement

justification. For example, Governor Bentley directed law enforcement officers to

(1) end his relationship with Mason on his behalf; (2) drive to Tuscaloosa to recover

a copy of the recordings from his son; (3) drive to Greenville to confront a longtime

public servant about whether she had a copy of the recordings; and (4) investigate

who had a copy of the recordings and identify potential crimes with which they

could be charged. To ensure the silence of his staff, Governor Bentley encouraged

an atmosphere of intimidation. Concern over the recordings appears to have

become an obsession. Meanwhile, Mason enjoyed a favored spot among his staff,

exercising extraordinary policy authority while receiving hundreds of thousands of

dollars from Governor Bentley’s campaign account and from an apparently lawful

but shadowy non-profit.

By early 2016, Governor Bentley’s paranoia escalated. After directing

Secretary of Alabama Law Enforcement Spencer Collier not to provide an affidavit

to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, Governor Bentley terminated Secretary

Collier for his refusal to follow his order. As a potentially-disgruntled former

employee, Secretary Collier posed a threat to the continued suppression from public

knowledge of Governor Bentley’s relationship with Mason. Governor Bentley

prematurely and publicly accused Secretary Collier of criminal conduct and, during

the course of this investigation, publicly released an incomplete investigative report.

The likely purpose of the report was to further demonize Secretary Collier, who first

publicly confirmed the existence of a relationship between Governor Bentley and

Mason. Since the release of that report, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office has

cleared Secretary Collier of any wrongdoing associated with Governor Bentley’s

accusations.

Campaign funds. We note, without drawing further conclusions, that the

Alabama Ethics Commission found probable cause to believe that Governor Bentley

violated the Alabama Ethics Act and the Fair Campaign Practices Act (“FCPA”).

Governor Bentley has denied any violations took place. Each of the matters

referred is potentially a Class B felony under Alabama law.

THE IMPEACHMENT RESOLUTION, HOUSE RULE 79.1,

AND THE COMMITTEE RULES

On April 28, 2016, twenty-three members of the House introduced HR367

proposing two articles of impeachment against Governor Bentley. Proposed Article

I, “Willful Neglect of Duty,” states that Governor Bentley has “willfully neglected

his duty as Governor by failing to faithfully execute the laws of this state and by

refusing to perform his constitutional and statutory duties.”

Proposed Article II,

“Corruption in Office,” states that Governor Bentley has “unlawfully misused state

property, misappropriated state resources, and consistently acted in violation of law

to promote his own personal agenda.”

Pursuant to House Rule 79.1,

upon the filing of the proposed articles of

impeachment, they were “referred to the House Judiciary Committee” for two

express purposes:

(1) To investigate the allegations asserted in the Articles of

Impeachment, as provided in Section 173 of the Constitution of

Alabama of 1901.

(2) To make a recommendation to the body as to whether cause exists

to impeach the official.

Upon referral of proposed articles, House Rule 79.1 further instructs the

Committee to:

 “adopt rules to govern the proceedings before it in order to ensure

due process, fundamental fairness, and a thorough investigation,”

 “gather information … relating to the question of whether cause

exists to impeach the official,” including testimony if desired,

and

 after its investigation, “submit its report and recommendation

regarding impeachment to the Clerk of the House for consideration

by the body,” including amendments to the proposed articles of

HR367 at 2.

Id.

House Rule 79.1 was adopted on April 26, 2016, two days before HR367 was proposed. Three

weeks earlier, on April 5, 2016, eleven members of the House had proposed HR226 setting forth four

proposed articles of impeachment, including, in addition to those in HR367, Incompetency and

Offenses of Moral Turpitude. House Rule 79.1(a), however, requires that “at least 21 members” co-

sponsor articles of impeachment in order to refer them to the Committee.

House Rule 79.1(a)(1), (2).

. 79.1(c).

. 79.1(d). The Committee “may hear testimony” but is not instructed to do so by Rule 79.1.

Id.

impeachment, if any.

Rule 79.1 also expressly instructs that the

minority prepare a report to accompany the Committee Report.

The Committee has carried out its obligations under Rule 79.1. The

Committee promptly adopted rules to govern the impeachment investigation. On

June 15, 2016, the Committee adopted the Committee Rules of the House Judiciary

Committee for the Impeachment Investigation of Governor Robert Bentley. On

September 27, 2016, the Committee adopted the Amended Committee Rules of the

House Judiciary Committee for the Impeachment Investigation of Governor Robert

Bentley (“the Committee Rules”).

The Committee Rules meet the requirements of Rule 79.1. They require that

all hearings must be open to the public and that Governor Bentley shall receive at

least 24-hours’ notice. As discussed further below, the Committee Rules provide

ample procedural protections to Governor Bentley, including, at Governor Bentley’s

request, the right to cross-examine witnesses at hearings and to request that the

Committee receive testimony or other evidence. The Committee Rules instruct that

Governor Bentley shall be given access to any interviews under oath taken by

Special Counsel during the course of the investigation. The Committee Rules also

expressly allow Governor Bentley to respond to Special Counsel’s presentation of

evidence after any hearing.

The Committee Rules authorize the Committee to retain Special Counsel to

aid in the Committee’s investigation, including to interview witnesses and gather

documentary evidence pursuant to subpoena or otherwise. On July 15, 2016, after a

search process, the Committee retained Jack Sharman with Lightfoot, Franklin &

White, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama, to serve as its Special Counsel.

As House Rule 79.1 and the Committee’s Rules make clear, the Committee’s

role is

investigatory

and

advisory

only

. The outcome of the Committee’s process is

“a report and recommendation,” proposed amended articles of impeachment, if any,

and a minority report. The Committee is not impeaching Governor Bentley. As

discussed below, the House as a whole is constitutionally charged with preferring

articles of impeachment. Neither House Rule 79.1 nor the Committees Rules usurp

or interfere with that power.

. 79.1(f).

See

Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure (National Conference of State Legislators: Denver

and Washington, D.C. 2010) (“Mason’s”) § 518 at 354 (“The power of any Legislative body to . . . take

final action requiring the use of discretion cannot be delegated to a minority, to a committee, to

officers or members, or to another body.”).

THE INVESTIGATION

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS I.

A. No Preconceptions.

Special Counsel and his staff brought no preconceptions to the investigation

of Governor Bentley, an approach that was endorsed by the Chairman and by the

Committee as a whole. Despite the heated and sometimes ill–considered discussion

in the media or the public about Governor Bentley and a variety of issues, the

Committee’s investigators took a thorough, skeptical approach. The Committee’s

investigation, like the Committee’s hearings, is not bound by the rules of evidence

that govern in Alabama state courts or in federal court. On the other hand, the

Committee’s investigatory staff made customary evidentiary judgments both about

witness statements and about documents.

B. No Time or Subject-Matter Limits.

Given the important constitutional issues at stake, the Committee instructed

Special Counsel to proceed with diligence but did not impose any particular

deadlines, nor did the Committee declare any subject matter off-limits.

In an

impeachment investigation, no other approach is constitutionally robust or

logistically possible. Unlike a criminal investigation that involves specific statutes

or detailed regulations sitting atop a body of well-developed case law, impeachment

does not require a specific violation of law, nor is there a neatly defined set of

doctrines applicable to every impeachment investigation. Indeed, as here, articles

of impeachment can be drawn broadly, and the Committee’s approach must not be

rigid: “As the factual investigation progresses, it will become possible to state more

specifically the constitutional, legal and conceptual framework within which the

staff and the committee work.”

In addition, “impeachable offenses cannot be

defined in advance of full investigation of the facts.”

Indeed, “specific charges are

Investigatory Powers of the Committee of the Judiciary With Respect to Its Impeachment Inquiry,

Report, Together With Additional and Dissenting Views, 2d Sess., 105th Cong., House Committee

Print, at 4 (October 7, 1998) [hereinafter, the “Clinton Investigatory Powers Report”] (“[T]he

Committee determined not to establish a deadline for its final action. The Committee concluded that

it is not now possible to predict the course and duration of its inquiry and that establishment of

dates would be artificial and unrealistic and thus misleading.”).

Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment, Report by the Staff of the Impeachment

Inquiry, 2nd Sess., 93rd Cong., House Committee Print, at 2 (February 22, 1974) [hereinafter the

“Nixon Constitutional Grounds Report”]. The Nixon Constitutional Grounds Report was prepared by

the staff of the House Judiciary Committee as the Committee conducted its inquiry into the

impeachment of President Nixon.

Clinton Investigatory Powers Report,

supra

note 9, at 27;

see also Ex parte Gradford

, 699 So. 2d 149, 151 (Ala. 1997).

199

McCaa v. Thomas

, 92 So. 414, 417 (Ala. 1922) (quotation marks, emphasis, and citation omitted).

200

Guyoungtech USA, Inc. v. Dees

, 156 So. 3d 374, 387 (Ala. 2014) (quoting Ala. Code § 6-11-20(e)).

201

Ala. Code § 25-5-81(c).

202

Connecticut Standards Report,

supra

note 193, at 19.

What standard should apply to impeachment?

The absence of defined guidance on that question has led many Legislatures

to conclude that “the burden of proof a House member employs” is “left to the

individual judgment of the member.”

203

As part of its impeachment investigation

into then-Governor Blagojevich, the Special Investigative Committee of the Illinois

House of Representatives offered the following summary:

As already explained, the Illinois Constitution places no

constraints on a House member’s determination of whether

“cause” exists to justify impeachment. The question of the

burden of proof a House member employs, not answered by the

Constitution, is thus left to the individual judgment of the

member. In fact, if anything is clear on this issue, it is that the

“appropriate” standard for proof is left to an individual

member’s determination.

. . . .

Whatever level of proof is necessary to satisfy a member

that “cause” exists to impeach is a personal determination.

Each member may consider all of the evidence, attach whatever

weight he or she deems appropriate to that evidence, and

ultimately reach a conclusion according to the member’s

individual judgment and conscience.

204

Likewise, the Congressional Research Service (“CRS”) analyzed which

standard of proof should guide the Senate in determining whether the evidence

justified removal from office. It is likely that the decision to remove should require

a more rigorous standard of proof than the decision to impeach – as the former is

merely accusatory and temporary whereas the latter is adjudicatory and

permanent

205

– yet the CRS noted that “the Senate has traditionally left the choice

of the applicable standard of proof to each individual Senator.”

206

The CRS reached

that conclusion based on historical precedent as well as the writings of Professor

Charles L. Black, Jr., who offered the following observation in anticipation of a

203

Illinois Final Report,

supra

note 151, at 7 (rejecting an argument that a “clear and convincing”

standard should apply because a ten-member committee in a prior impeachment inquiry had settled

on that standard).

204

Id.

at 7-8.

205

A parallel to the criminal justice system confirms that conclusion. An indictment, which is

analogous in manner to articles of impeachment but carries with it penalties significantly more

severe, may issue based simply on probable cause, but in order to convict and, consequently, deprive

a citizen of his life, liberty, or property, the State must establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

206

Ripy,

supra

note 190, at 6.

potential impeachment trial against President Nixon: “Of course each Senator must

find his own standard in his own conscience, as advised by reflection.”

207

Although we concur that each Member must select the appropriate standard

of proof to apply, there are prudential reasons for a Member to apply a more

rigorous standard of proof than probable cause or even simple preponderance. In

Alabama, the Governor is suspended from office upon impeachment by the House

until he or she is acquitted by the Senate.

208

Impeachment, therefore, effectively

overrides electoral judgment, even if temporarily, which counsels in favor of a

higher standard of proof. The State of Connecticut has a similar constitutional

provision whereby impeachment results in suspension pending the Senate’s

adjudication. Given that potential consequence, while investigating then-Governor

John G. Rowland, the Special Counsel to the Select Committee of Inquiry of the

Connecticut House of Representatives recommended application of the “clear and

convincing evidence” standard of proof:

Under our analysis, “preponderance of the evidence” and “clear

and convincing evidence” are the two burdens of proof that the

Committee should consider applying, and we believe it would be within

the discretion of the Select Committee to apply either. While we think

both burdens have something to recommend, we suggest that the

Committee adopt the higher burden of proof for these proceedings.

. . . .

[A] “clear and convincing” evidence burden of proof, which would

require a conclusion that the facts supporting an article of

impeachment are “highly probable true,” has the advantage of being

more protective of the separation between the Executive and

Legislative Branches of government. . . . We also believe that a

requirement of clear and convincing proof is justified by the fact that,

upon impeachment, the Governor must relinquish the powers of his

office pending trial in the Senate. In the end, while the issue is not

free from doubt, we find these concerns to be persuasive and

recommend the Special Committee require clear and convincing

proof.

209

Notwithstanding that recommendation, Connecticut’s Special Counsel

concluded: “[W]e must repeat that the matter lies in the sole discretion of the Select

Committee’s members and that requiring a lesser standard of proof” – such as, for

example, preponderance of the evidence – “would fall comfortably within

207

Id.

(quoting Charles L. Black, Jr., Impeachment: A Handbook 17-18 (1974)).

208

Ala. Const., art. V, § 127.

209

Connecticut Standards Report,

supra

note 193, at 20-21.

Connecticut’s constitutional traditions.”

210

In its Final Report, which issued after

Governor Rowland resigned but before a vote could be taken on impeachment, the

Select Committee of Inquiry endorsed the Special Counsel’s approach: (1) the

standard of proof should be determined by each Member’s conscience and (2) the

appropriate standard of proof – even if impeachment results in the Governor’s

temporary suspension – is, at most, “clear and convincing evidence” but perhaps

even some less-demanding standard, such as simple “preponderance of the

evidence.”

211

In contrast, Governor Bentley urges the House to evaluate the evidence

against the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard when determining whether to

impeach. Like Governor Bentley, other governors subject to impeachment

investigations have made similar pleas. We are unaware of any Legislature,

however, formally adopting the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard at this stage

of the process. Indeed, other Legislatures have expressly rejected it. For example,

in Connecticut, the Select Committee of Inquiry’s Special Counsel observed that

“application of the ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard in these proceedings

quickly can be dismissed” because “[t]hat is the burden applicable at the guilt or

innocence phase of a criminal trial, and we see little justification for applying the

most exacting burden in law at what can be equated to the ‘charging’ stage of the

this inquiry.”

212

Connecticut’s Select Committee of Inquiry concurred.

213

Similarly,

in Illinois, although the Special Investigative Committee entrusted the appropriate

standard of proof to the judgment of each Member of the House, the Committee did

note that, “[h]owever unfavorable it may be to be impeached,” “[a]n impeached

official in Illinois does not lose his life or liberty.”

214

Thus, the standard is an open one. Each member of the Committee must

determine, individually, what constitutes “cause” for Governor Bentley to be

impeached. That said, like Connecticut’s Special Counsel, we recommend that the

Members of the Committee in their referral decision and, if necessary, the Members

of the House in an impeachment decision, consider whether there exists “clear and

convincing” evidence that warrants impeachment of Governor Bentley. That

standard balances (1) the presumption against overriding voter judgment and (2)

the House’s constitutional obligation to safeguard against abuses of office by a

governor.

On the other hand, and also like Connecticut’s Special Counsel, we agree that

application of a less demanding burden of proof, including “preponderance of the

evidence” or “reasonable satisfaction,” would also properly strike that balance and

discharge the Member’s constitutional duties. Indeed, were one to view the House’s

210

Id.

at 21.

211

Connecticut Final Report Final,

supra

note 193, at 6-7.

212

Connecticut Standards Report,

supra

note 193, at 20.

213

Id.

at 6-7

214

Illinois Final Report,

supra

note 151, at 7.

function as roughly analogous to that of a grand jury, even a “probable cause”

standard would be defensible, though perhaps less sensitive to the Alabama

constitutional regime of the suspension from office upon impeachment.

THE FACTUAL RECORD

THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR I.

The organization of the Office of the Governor (“the Office” or “Governor’s

Office”) outlined here is not meant to be comprehensive of Governor Bentley’s entire

time in office. Rather, we focus on the roles of key staff and personnel most

relevant to the Committee’s consideration of the Impeachment Resolution passed by

the House. For the same reason, we focus on events that occurred between the fall

of 2013 and the fall of 2016. Governor Bentley’s initial election and the majority of

his first term, though important for the introduction of key individuals and facts,

will not be dealt with in exhaustive detail. The structural overview set out below

traces the evolution of the Office’s structure and operations from the first term to

the second, but delves into significantly more detail from the fall of 2013 onward.

A. The First Term.

Throughout Governor Bentley’s two terms, the Office has operated with a

chief of staff managing day-to-day operations through key personnel, who in turn

has management responsibility for the Office’s various policy and administrative

functions. After Governor Bentley’s inauguration in 2011, Chuck Malone served as

Chief of Staff until Governor Bentley appointed him to fill a vacancy on the

Alabama Supreme Court in August 2011. David Perry took over as Chief of Staff

and served in that capacity until he resigned in May 2014. Governor Bentley then

selected former Alabama Speaker of the House Seth Hammett as “interim Chief of

Staff.” The organizational structure of the Office is reflected in the chart provided

as Exhibit 5-H at 3.

Rebekah Caldwell Mason served as the Press Secretary for Governor

Bentley’s first campaign. She then joined the Administration as the Director of

Communications immediately after the inauguration and served through July 2013,

according to publicly-available State payroll records. At that time, she left to

handle communications for the Bentley for Governor, Inc. re-election campaign

through her company, RCM Communications. Jennifer Ardis, a holdover from the

Administration of Governor Bob Riley, worked under Mason as Governor Bentley’s

press secretary and succeeded Mason as Governor Bentley’s Director of

Communications.

Other key personnel during Governor Bentley’s first term included: Chief

Legal Adviser David Byrne, the former general counsel of Colonial Bank; Governor

Bentley’s Executive Assistant Wanda Kelly, who had worked for Governor Bentley

in his medical practice in Tuscaloosa; and Director of Scheduling Linda Adams, who

had worked in the offices of several Alabama elected officials during the previous

two decades. Wesley Helton and Zach Lee were young staffers who have been with

the Bentley operation from the inception of his Republican Primary bid in 2010.

Both joined his Administration in 2011. Lee left the Administration to work on

Governor Bentley’s re-election campaign throughout 2013 and 2014 and rejoined for

the second term. Both Helton and Lee have ascended through the ranks, and now

Helton serves as Director of Legislative Affairs and Lee is Director of Federal &

Local Government Affairs.

First Lady Dianne Bentley maintained a small staff throughout her time as

First Lady. Her primary assistant for the majority of that time was Heather

Hannah, who served in the roles of Executive Assistant and then Director of

Mansion Operations and First Lady Affairs (effectively, Chief of Staff) until June

2014. During Hannah’s tenure with Ms. Bentley, Collier Tynes was hired as the

First Lady’s Initiatives Coordinator and then became the First Lady’s Chief of Staff

after Hannah left. Tynes served in that capacity until the time of the Bentleys’

divorce, which concluded Dianne Bentley’s term as First Lady, in approximately

September 2015. Hannah and Tynes worked for Ms. Bentley in the Governor’s

Mansion.

B. The Second Term.

Key changes to staff and structure. 1.

There were a number of key staff changes that occurred at the end of

Governor Bentley’s first term and during the course of his re-election campaign.

Most of the staff who came on board during this time served in the Office of the

Governor well into the second term. The most significant change in the structure of

the Office resulted from Governor Bentley’s decision to replace David Perry as Chief

of Staff with former Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Seth

Hammett in May 2014.

Hammett restructured the office, narrowed the chain of command, and

limited the number of personnel who had access to information. After Hammett

assumed the role of Chief of Staff, he managed the Office’s operations through two

Deputy Chiefs of Staff who reported directly to him. Those deputies were John

Barganier and Blake Hardwich. Beginning in June 2014, Barganier served as the

Deputy of Chief of Staff for Policy, and in July 2014 Blake Hardwich began serving

as Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration. David Byrne, who remained as

Governor Bentley’s Chief Legal Adviser, reported directly to Governor Bentley. The

organizational structure of the Office during the second term is reflected in the

chart at Exhibit 5-H at 2.

Barganier and Hardwich oversaw all personnel who fell within their areas of

responsibility. Broadly, Barganier’s responsibilities included supervision of the

policy and legislative functions of the Office. In her role, Hardwich oversaw the

day-to-day administrative operations of the Office, and she also oversaw

appointments to state offices by Governor Bentley. The personnel within

Hardwich’s supervisory function included, among others, Linda Adams and Collier

Tynes.

In addition to implementing the deputy chief of staff reporting chain,

Hammett changed the way meetings were conducted in the Office. Previously,

meetings had been conducted as general staff meetings and attended by a large

number of personnel. Attendees had included all staff in the position of director or

above, policy advisors, the entire legal team, the entire legislative team, and

Rebekah Mason. Early in the second term, the staff-meeting model was replaced

with “Leadership Team” meetings, which Hardwich was responsible for organizing.

The Leadership Team included Hammett, Barganier, Hardwich, Byrne, Lee,

Director of Legislative Affairs Ross Gunnells, and Mason. These meetings did grow

to include additional staff but remained a much smaller collection of personnel.

Confidentiality agreements. 2.

Shortly after Hammett joined the Bentley Administration, he required all

personnel within the Office of the Governor to sign confidentiality agreements. The

agreements began: “You are appointed and serve in your position at the pleasure of

the Governor. At all times during and after the date hereof, Appointee shall keep in

confidence and trust all non-public information which may have been communicated

to, acquired, or learned by Appointee in the course of or as a result of his/her

employment with the Office of the Governor.” A copy of the confidentiality

agreement signed by Seth Hammett is at Exhibit 10-A. The agreements required,

in essence, that all personnel in the Office of the Governor treat all information or

documents that they received during the course of their employment as confidential.

The agreements further required that personnel not disclose any such confidential

information or property without prior written consent.

A number of law enforcement personnel and other staff members we

interviewed were suspicious that the confidentiality agreements were designed to

conceal the Bentley-Mason relationship. On the other hand, Seth Hammett

maintains that the agreements were not intended for that purpose and resulted

entirely from his concern that the Office of the Governor did not adequately control

who attended meetings, or the flow of information in those meetings. Hammett was

concerned that this lack of information control could result in the leak of sensitive

information from the Office. He claims the agreements were specifically designed to

address that concern. Information security was a consistent theme of the changes

Hammett made after he took over as chief of staff, and according to him, such

concerns were his primary motivation for the structural changes he implemented in

the Office.

Hammett left the Administration in October 2015, at which time Barganier

and Hardwich served essentially as co-chiefs of staff, maintaining their pre-existing

roles and responsibilities. Hardwich and Barganier continued to manage the office

through the structural model established by Hammett. Hardwich left the

Administration in July 2016. Barganier took on sole responsibility for the role of

Chief of Staff at that time, and he is still serving in that position.

C. Rebekah Mason’s Employment and Compensation.

As noted above, Rebekah Mason joined Governor Bentley’s 2010 campaign

and then transitioned into his Administration, first as Communications Director

and later as Communications Advisor. Beginning February 2011, she was paid a

salary of approximately $98,000 per year, which was reduced after March 2012 to

approximately $48,000 per year.

In July 2013, Mason left formal employment with the Office of the Governor

to begin work on Governor Bentley’s re-election campaign, although she was at the

Capitol in Governor Bentley’s office on a regular basis, having maintained a parking

space and keycard access. While working on the campaign, Mason was paid

through her company, RCM Communications, Inc., which was incorporated on July

19, 2013. A review of publicly-available campaign finance records reveal that RCM

Communications received money from Bentley for Governor, Inc., and was not paid

by any other political candidate in Alabama. Bentley for Governor, Inc.’s publicly-

available filings reflect that RCM Communications was paid monthly for

“Consultants/Polling” and received reimbursement for transportation, lodging, food,

and administrative expenses. From July 31, 2013, through November 13, 2014,

Bentley for Governor, Inc. paid RCM Communications $426,978.43, which included

$184,515.00 for “Consultants/Polling” and $220,346.00 for “Advertising.”

It is clear from several Bentley affiliates we interviewed that plans were

made in late 2014 for Mason to return to the Bentley Administration in the second

term. In November or December 2014, Governor Bentley presented Blake

Hardwich with a handwritten job description of roles and responsibilities for Mason.

In the typed version, the job title is “Senior Political Advisor” with the assigned

“mission” “to advise the Governor on a wide range of issues” and to “provide the

Governor with the most effective options for decision-making.” The detailed listing

of responsibilities included:

 Assist and interact with Policy Advisors on new ideas and projects, i.e.,

Healthcare

 Outline and moderate new projects as directed by the Governor

 Writing major speeches, including the State of the State and the

Inaugural Address

 Advising the Governor on political ramifications of Legislative issues

during Legislative Sessions.

 Spokesperson on political issues at staff meetings.

(Ex. 5-Z).

At the first staff meeting after the second inauguration, Mason was present,

and Governor Bentley announced that she was rejoining his staff as Senior Political

Advisor. She was given an office in the lower level of the Capitol. She was not,

however, put back on the State payroll. Instead, in March 2015, Bentley for

Governor, Inc. resumed paying RCM Communications for “Consultants/Polling” at

the rate of $5,000 per month, which was increased to $8,000 per month for January

through April 2016, plus lodging and transportation reimbursements.

215

After

significant media interest in her compensation, on March 25, 2016, Mason publicly

disclosed that she also had been paid $15,000 in 2015 by the Alabama Council for

Excellent Government (“ACEGov”).

216

At around the same time that Governor Bentley was outlining Mason’s new

position in his Administration, he devised the idea of a nonprofit to support his

agenda, something he had learned about from other governors. He turned to

Cooper Shattuck, his former legal adviser, to form the entity and personally

recruited Marquita Davis, the former State Finance Director, and R.B. Walker, an

Alabama Power lobbyist who planned Governor Bentley’s second inauguration, to

be involved with the new entity. Governor Bentley said that this new entity would

focus on (1) rural healthcare, (2) economic development, (3) small businesses, and

(4) foster care, an issue important to Dianne Bentley.

On February 15, 2015, ACEGov was incorporated with Shattuck, Davis, and

Walker listed as the board of directors. Two days earlier, ACEGov’s attorney, Greg

Butrus of Balch & Bingham LLP, sent a letter to the Alabama Ethics Commission

asking whether the entity was “adopting the appropriate measures and safeguards

to ensure that it operates in a manner that is consistent with the Ethics Act.” (Ex.

5-X). On February 26, 2015, “based on the facts as provided” by Butrus, Hugh R.

Evans, III – General Counsel for the Alabama Ethics Commission – responded that

he was “very comfortable with the way Governor Bentley plan[ned] to establish this

215

There also was one payment of $6,450 on January 5, 2015.

216

Tim Lockette,

Mason claims getting $15,000 from governor’s nonprofit

, The Anniston Star, March

25, 2016, available at http://www.annistonstar.com/news/mason-claims-getting-from-governor-s-

nonprofit/article_70faab00-f2d2-11e5-bb30-abe8a84b962c.html.

non-profit,” but he cautioned that his letter was “merely [his] informal opinion,”

which “does not carry the weight of law a formal opinion rendered by the

Commission carries.” (Ex. 5-W). In response to this Committee’s request, the Office

of the Governor produced approximately six pages of text messages between

Governor Bentley and Butrus, presumably concerning ACEGov. (Ex. 5-CC at

009349-009355). Those text messages, however, have been heavily redacted by the

Office of the Governor, and their substance is unknown.

Shortly after ACEGov was formed, Governor Bentley revealed that Mason

was going to be involved in it. One Bentley staff member reported that Mason said,

“I will be running ACEGov.” Available information supports her statement. In July

and August 2015, ACEGov conducted polls that Mason provided to Governor

Bentley’s staff for review and dissemination to the Legislature. Mason recruited

members of Governor Bentley’s staff to attend events supported with ACEGov

funds. Although ACEGov’s website, www.acegov.com, was pulled down in early

2016, its webpage content remained accessible via Squarespace, a website

development and management platform, through a URL associated with Mason.

217

ACEGov is tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(4)

218

and by law

is not required to identify its donors. We requested information from ACEGov,

including the identity of the donors and attempted to serve ACEGov through its

counsel but service was refused. We were advised through counsel for ACEGov

that its president, Cooper Shattuck, asked the donors if they would voluntarily

consent to a disclosure of their identity and contribution information, and was

provided with no such authorization. ACEGov’s counsel asserted Constitutional

protections of the identity of its donors on First Amendment grounds, and a concern

that disclosure could expose ACEGov and its board members to civil liability to

those donors. Also through counsel ACEGov stated the following:

[E]ven though we believe that Mr. Sharman is without the

authority to issue subpoenas (and no subpoena has been

formally served), I have provided answers to the questions

propounded a few weeks ago, confirming that there is no

correspondence between ACEGov and any public official; there

were no payments made by ACEGov to or on behalf of any public

official; there were no funds received by ACEGov from or on

behalf of any public official; ACEGov did no business with the

State of Alabama and received no state funds; and ACEGov has

no documents relevant to the impeachment of Governor

Bentley.

217

https://rebekah-mason-ed3r.squarespace.com.

218

26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(4).

It is known that ACEGov’s 2015 tax return reported $90,600 in contributions.

219

The Office of the Governor produced a “Suggested ACEGov Call List” that Randy

Wilhelm, one of Governor Bentley’s chief fundraisers, emailed on July 19, 2015, to

Governor Bentley (at his personal email address), Mason, Shattuck, Davis, and

Walker. (Ex. 5-CC at 5221-22). Wilhelm described it as “a list of solid prospects

who can provide $100,000 to ACEGov.” It identifies eleven contacts and some of

their associated companies.

220

It is important to note that our investigation has

found no evidence to indicate that any of these individuals or associated entities

made any donations to ACEGov or agreed to do so.

D. Other Relevant Bentley Associates.

As is the case with many governors, the Bentley Administration maintained

relationships with advisers who did not occupy formal positions within state

government. Two such individuals in the orbit of the Bentley Administration were

Clay Ryan and Cooper Shattuck, both of whom are well-known attorneys in

Alabama.

Ryan’s role in the Administration was always on a volunteer basis. During

the campaign and into the first term he provided legal and political advice, but

worked under the title of “Special Counsel.” In that role, he served as Governor

Bentley’s transition coordinator in the first term and also served as counsel for

Governor Bentley’s relief fund in the aftermath of the 2011 tornado outbreak in the

state. However, according to individuals we interviewed, Ryan remained relevant

to the Bentley operation, and as described below, played a role in the Bentley-

Mason relationship once it became known within the Administration and to the

Bentley family in 2014.

Shattuck began his service in the Office of the Governor as Governor

Bentley’s first Chief Legal Advisor. He left that position in 2012 when he was hired

as the General Counsel for the University of Alabama System. While serving in the

latter capacity, Shattuck continued to work on matters for the State of Alabama.

219

ACEGov also reported $63,574 in expenses on its 2015 tax return, including $22,500 for “Web

development, social media content & consulting”; $28,000 for “Polling and surveys”; and $10,099 for

“Fundraising.” The Alabama Electronic Campaign Practices Act Reporting System reflects a

contribution of $2,500 by ACEGov to the Alabama Executive Committee in August 2015. Payments

to Mason are not broken out on the tax return.

220

Angus Cooper; Rob Burton; Abe Mitchell; Jim Wilson/Will Wilson; Jim Proctor – McWane

Industries; Garry Neil Drummond; Clay Ryan – Maynard Cooper & Gale; Eason Balch, Jr.; and

Grayson Hall/Jeff Rabren – Regions Bank. It further states that Cooper and Burton had “pledged

$10,000” and instructs to ask the others for $10,000. We have been provided no evidence that any of

these individuals or companies were contacted on behalf of ACEGov or that they made any

contribution to ACEGov.

From 2012 to 2016, he served as Special Counsel to Governor Bentley and for the

Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill Matters for the State of Alabama. Shattuck also

served as the Executive Director of the University of Alabama System Gulf State

Park Project from 2014 to 2016. As noted above, Shattuck also played a key role as

incorporator and director of ACEGov.

THE ALABAMA LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY II.

In 2013, the Legislature voted to combine twelve state law enforcement

agencies into one department, and set January 1, 2015, as the deadline for

implementation. Governor Bentley announced that his Homeland Security Director

Spencer Collier would be appointed to the new position of Secretary of Law

Enforcement. Collier was a former state trooper and state representative from

Mobile County who served with Bentley in the House of Representatives. The

Bentley administration set an internal deadline of October 1, 2014, for

implementation, and achieved that goal.

A. Secretary Collier’s Leadership Team.

Collier asked his retiring Homeland Security deputy J.T. Jenkins to return to

Montgomery to become Collier’s point-man in the ALEA consolidation effort. For

much of 2015, Jenkins remained on task, trouble-shooting implementation problems

and serving as Secretary Collier’s “facilitator.” Collier appointed Hal Taylor as

ALEA Chief of Staff. Taylor had worked on Governor Bob Riley’s security detail as

his “body man” and later had been a captain with the Alcoholic Beverage Control

Board.

B. Dignitary Protection.

The new ALEA structure moved the Chief of Dignitary Protection Services to

report directly to the Secretary of Law Enforcement. Dignitary Protection Services,

also known as the “Dignitary Protection Unit” or “DPU,” was responsible for the

Capitol Police, as well as dignitary protection for five statutory dignitaries:

Governor Bentley, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of

Representatives, the President

pro tem

of the Senate, and the Attorney General.

Governor Bentley’s dignitary protection detail leader had been Wendell Ray

Lewis since Election Day 2010. Lewis started his career in law enforcement as a

State Trooper Cadet in 1989 and advanced through a variety of leadership roles

within State law enforcement agencies. In the fall of 2010, he was the Sergeant in

charge of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation in Tuscaloosa. Lewis had served as

the protective detail leader for the Chancellor and President of the University of

Alabama and spent the football season of 2010 protecting Coach Nick Saban.

Lewis had never met the dermatologist from Tuscaloosa who was on the

verge of becoming Governor that November, but he accepted an offer from the

commander of the DPU to serve as Dr. Bentley’s protective detail leader should he

be elected Governor. Lewis met Dr. Bentley and his family on Election Day and

was immediately impressed. Lewis saw Dr. Bentley as a family man and recalled

that “he just expected us to handle things above board, to be responsible in what we

did. And, you know . . . he was a religious man. He was a Christian, and he had

that reputation already so you knew that you had to toe the line when you were

around him.” (Ex. 9-B).

After Robert Bentley was elected Governor, the relationship between the two

men grew close. Lewis recalls: “[T]he governor was like a father figure to me when

we first started. We’re very close. We would talk about anything.”

As Governor Bentley’s affair with Mason evolved, Lewis noticed that

Governor Bentley “started to change.” Lewis’s relationship with Governor Bentley

soured, and Lewis ultimately came to distrust Governor Bentley. He noted: “I knew

that if the governor would betray his own family, there’s nothing to stop him from

coming at me.”

During the ALEA consolidation process, Governor Bentley appointed Lewis to

the additional role of Chief of Dignitary Protection Services. Lewis held both

roles—DPU Chief and Governor Bentley’s Detail Leader—until August 2014, when

he relinquished his Detail Leader position and served solely as DPU Chief. Lewis

retired on March 31, 2015, and was succeeded by Stan Stabler, who had also

replaced Lewis as Governor Bentley’s Detail Leader. Both of Stabler’s promotions—

from Governor Bentley’s “body man” and driver to his Detail Leader, and from

Detail Leader to Chief of DPU—were preceded by brief two-to-three-month periods

of service by another appointee. Billy Ervin served as Detail Leader briefly before

Stabler was promoted to that role; and Jack Clark served as Chief of DPU briefly

before Stabler succeeded to that office.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BENTLEY-MASON RELATIONSHIP III.

A. Alabama’s Unlikely Governor

The genesis of Governor Bentley’s rise to Alabama’s highest office has

modest, and indeed wholesome, roots. The campaign was initially run out of the

Bentleys’ kitchen with Dianne Bentley baking cookies for the group of college

students and volunteers who made up the entirety of the campaign staff. This

group of volunteers included individuals such as Heather Hannah, Zach Lee, and

Wesley Helton, who would go on to play important roles in the Administration of

Governor Bentley. At the time, however, they were a group of political novices

managing every conceivable task for the fledgling campaign. Despite the

considerable odds, Bentley’s team pushed him to a surprising performance in the

June 2010 Republican Primary and managed to force a runoff with frontrunner

Bradley Byrne.

As the runoff approached, Dr. Bentley believed he needed to develop a more

sophisticated operation and to add someone to his campaign with experience

dealing with the news media. At the same time, one of the married couples in the

Sunday School class he taught at First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa included a

former news reporter named Rebekah Mason, who was looking for work. Mason

was not an immediately obvious choice for a position on the campaign. She once

expressed her doubts about Dr. Bentley’s gubernatorial prospects directly to him

during a ride on the church elevator. Her reported comments to Dr. Bentley were

that he had “no chance” of being elected and she only hoped he did not “embarrass

the City of Tuscaloosa.” Putting her skepticism aside, Mason interviewed for the

position of press secretary and was hired to fill that role for the remainder of the

first campaign.

After the first inauguration in January 2011, Mason transitioned from press

secretary for the campaign to the Director of Communications in Office of the

Governor. She worked closely with Governor Bentley while serving in that capacity,

but neither Governor Bentley’s staff nor his family members appeared to have had

any concerns over the nature of their relationship at that time. In June 2013,

Bentley for Governor, Inc. began to raise money for Governor Bentley’s re-election

campaign and had amassed a war chest of over $2 million by August. Mason was

by then serving as Governor Bentley’s primary spokesperson for the re-election

campaign.

B. Rebekah Mason’s Ascent and Development of the Bentley-Mason

Relationship.

Ms. Bentley’s suspicions. 1.

By all accounts, the Bentleys brought with them to Montgomery a love for

one another and a bond forged by their decades of marriage and shared faith. In

addition to Governor Bentley’s past as a Sunday School teacher, Ms. Bentley

conducted daily devotions and scripture readings, and she wrote her daily prayer

requests for her husband on sticky notes that she kept in her personal devotional.

Ms. Bentley’s staff recalled that in the early years of the Administration, Governor

Bentley frequently displayed outward signs of affection toward his wife. He would

walk into to the Mansion after work and announce loudly and excitedly, “I’m home!”

They also remember him gushing about the benefits of marriage to the younger

staff and specifically telling male staff members that they would be lucky to marry

a woman like Ms. Bentley. However, as Governor Bentley’s re-election campaign

progressed throughout 2013, so did his relationship with Rebekah Mason, and the

outward signs of affection between the Bentleys began to dissipate.

By September 2013, First Lady Dianne Bentley began to have concerns about

Mason. At that time, Rebekah Mason’s family was still living in Tuscaloosa, so she

was spending her nights in the pool house at the Governor’s Mansion.

221

Ms.

Bentley’s worries, however, arose from her perception that Mason was frequently

texting her husband on weekends with unnecessary “emergencies” or simply about

football games. In October 2013, Ms. Bentley’s Chief of Staff, Heather Hannah, had

what was, for her, the first “red flag” in the Bentley-Mason relationship. Mason

was at the Mansion working on a speech with Governor Bentley when Hannah

walked into the room. They seemed to jump at Hannah’s presence as if they were

uncomfortable with someone seeing them.

Ms. Bentley had a similar experience at around the same time when

Governor Bentley was at their home in Tuscaloosa recovering from hernia surgery.

Ms. Bentley returned from a trip to the grocery store to find Mason sitting with

Governor Bentley, and the pair reacted awkwardly when Ms. Bentley came into her

home.

Over the next few months, Ms. Bentley and others on her staff and within the

Administration observed that the Bentley-Mason relationship was becoming much

closer. Staffers noticed that Mason had supplanted other “insiders” within the

Office of the Governor. Heather Hannah had noticed that Governor Bentley was

leaving the Mansion earlier in the mornings and returning later, and she recalls a

particular day when Governor Bentley had makeup on his shirt when he came

home. Around the same time, Ms. Bentley had begun to record in her journal the

absence of affection from her husband. She noted there was no physical affection,

no suggestions of intimacy, and that he had not so much as said “I love you” in quite

some time.

By the time of the State of the State address in January 2014, the Bentley-

Mason relationship had blossomed to the point that Mason was dictating the

seating arrangements at the event. Ms. Bentley’s staff made known to their boss

their suspicions of an affair. The tipping point was Mason’s failure to seat one of

the Bentley children near Ms. Bentley during the speech and Governor Bentley’s

defense of Mason when it was brought to his attention. Shortly thereafter, Ms.

Bentley directly confronted her husband about Mason. He denied an inappropriate

relationship.

Despite Governor Bentley’s denial, more signs emerged when a large

contingent from the Administration traveled to Washington, D.C. in February 2014

221

The pool house and garage on the grounds of the Mansion served as guest quarters for the

Bentley Administration at various times.

for the National Governor’s Association (NGA) meeting. The majority of the

entourage, including both Mason and Ms. Bentley, attended a dinner at the Old

Ebbitt Grill, a well-known local restaurant. Throughout the dinner, Ms. Bentley

was able to read text messages being exchanged between Governor Bentley and

Mason, who was seated directly across from the Bentleys. Those text exchanges

included Governor Bentley stating, “I can’t take my eyes off of you.” Later that

evening at a D.C. bar, Mason bragged that Governor Bentley had called and told

her that he had opened his hotel room door to hotel staff while clad in boxers,

believing Mason was on the other side.

After the NGA trip, signs that the Bentley-Mason relationship had become

romantic in nature occurred with greater frequency. There were less obvious

incidents such as Ms. Bentley finding towels in the dryer of the couple’s beach house

when it was supposedly unoccupied, or Governor Bentley’s refusal to hold his wife’s

hand as they descended the steps of the State Capitol for the National Day of

Prayer.

222

Then there were more glaring indicators, many of which came from

Bentley-Mason text exchanges: for example, in the spring 2014, Governor Bentley

mistakenly sent to Ms. Bentley a text message that stated, “I love you Rebekah”

and was accompanied by a red-rose emoji.

On other occasions, Ms. Bentley was able to read text messages sent by her

husband to Mason because he had given Ms. Bentley his state-issued iPad, not

understanding that it shared the same “cloud” as his state-issued iPhone and

granted equal access to all message functions. It was through such text messages

that other members of the Bentley family first learned of the affair.

223

If Governor Bentley meant to hide his affair from his wife, he did not do it

well. On one occasion Governor Bentley’s scheduler, Linda Adams, was interrupted

from a meeting and told that Ms. Bentley was in Adams’s office. Adams left the

meeting and found the Ms. Bentley descending the stairwell from an upper floor

holding her cell phone. Ms. Bentley told Adams that she had gone up to “take a

picture of the love bench.” The “love bench,” as Capitol employees had taken to

222

According to Ray Lewis, Governor Bentley’s refusal to hold his wife’s hand was a significant

departure from the obvious signs of affection he saw from them when he became then Dr. Bentley’s

detail leader on Election Day in 2010. He testified that they often held hands in public at that time.

He also testified to an occasion when Governor Bentley advised him that he was no longer going to

hold his wife’s hand in public because it “made him look weak.”

223

It has been widely reported that Governor Bentley purchased multiple pre-paid cell phones, or

“burner” phones, in 2015. This fact was corroborated by two employees at the Best Buy in

Tuscaloosa, each of whom told the media they had sold Governor Bentley such a phone in the

reported timeframe. Pre-paid cell phones are not connected to a “cloud” with other phones, and are

designed for temporary use. Thus, they provide greater security and leave less of a digital footprint

for typical cell phone data such as text messages, call history, and phone records. It is surmised by

many that Governor Bentley began purchasing cell phones once he discovered that his wife and

others were aware of his communications with Mason.

calling it, was a bench in a courtyard garden in a corner of the grounds, in full view

of office windows, where Governor Bentley and Mason would sit together.

Adams replied to the troubling comment from Ms. Bentley: “oh, Ms. Bentley.”

Ms. Bentley confided in Adams “how she was praying that God would prick his

heart to change his mind to get him back to his senses.” Adams continued:

And I tried to talk to her. And she said I didn’t want anybody to

know I was here. Somebody saw me there. I said that’s fine,

Ms. Bentley. I said do you want to go back up to my office

because she got loud. She was getting very emotional. And she

said no, no, no. She said I’ve got to go. I don’t want him to know

I’m here.

(Ex. 9-C).

On August 28, 2015, Ms. Bentley filed for divorce. Although it seems to have

been without prior notice, Linda Adams was not alone in expressing that “[i]t

happened much later than I thought it should have.”

On September 19, 2015, ten days before the divorce was finalized, Mason sent

Governor Bentley an email attaching a draft “Bentley Joint Statement,” apparently

meant to be released on the occasion of Ms. Bentley’s departure as First Lady. (Ex.

5-CC at 5199, 5201). According to Mason’s draft, Ms. Bentley would announce her

gratitude to “the kind and good-hearted people of Alabama” for allowing her to serve

as their First Lady and then pronounce that

The erroneous and unsubstantiated media reports of the last few

weeks have been very hurtful to our family and to [the Caldwell and

Mason Families] [others families] as well. We ask for your continued

prayers in the days and weeks to come. It has been an honor to serve

this great state as your First Lady.

Ms. Bentley never delivered that statement.

The suspicions of Governor Bentley’s staff. 2.

Over time, the nature of the Bentley-Mason relationship also became more

obvious to the Governor’s staff. Zach Lee reported to Heather Hannah during the

re-election campaign that Governor Bentley had begun to call Rebekah Mason

“baby” in meetings and that Governor Bentley and Mason frequently went to lunch

together by themselves. Similar reports came to Linda Adams from members of the

press office.

Adams, who controlled Governor Bentley’s calendar, related that throughout

2014, Governor Bentley personally set aside large blocks of time on his calendar as

“hold.” Adams and others within the office became aware that these hours-at-a-

time were spent by Governor Bentley and Mason in his office. Eventually, Governor

Bentley began restricting access to his calendar to limit who could see how he used

his time. In particular, Ms. Bentley and her staff were denied all access to

Governor Bentley’s calendar by mid-2014.

The staff frequently observed Mason go into Governor Bentley’s office and

shut the door where they would remain for long periods of time. Ray Lewis, the

leader of Governor Bentley’s security detail, had an office in the same area and once

observed Mason leaving Governor Bentley’s office with tousled hair and making

adjustments to her wardrobe.

Mason also often came into Governor Bentley’s office without the staff’s

knowledge. It is believed this occurred because she was allowed to maintain

keycard access to the capitol even though she was no longer a State employee. It

was also reported that she was able to arrive in Governor Bentley’s office through

an unobserved elevator that moved directly between Governor Bentley’s personal

office on the first floor of the capitol and the press office in the basement. (Ex. 5-I at

3-4). This elevator was put in by Governor George Wallace after he was shot and is

referred to as the “Wallace Elevator.”

One day in late 2013, Governor Bentley told his Executive Assistant, Wanda

Kelly, that Mason was coming to his office and that he was going to “lock the door”

because he did not want Chief of Staff David Perry to bother them. Kelly responded

that she did not think that was a good idea and that there were other ways to keep

Perry out of the office. Governor Bentley shut the door and locked it. Kelly later

voiced concerns to DPU Chief Ray Lewis due to the security implications.

Days later, Governor Bentley called Linda Adams at home on a

Saturday morning and said he was going to “fire Wanda.” He referenced Mason,

saying that Kelly did not understand that Mason was “like a daughter” to him.

Adams pleaded with him and suggested that he instead move Kelly, whose desk

was in the anteroom outside his office, to a desk in the larger reception area off the

main hallway. Governor Bentley relented and had Kelly moved. Soon thereafter,

Governor Bentley instructed Ray Lewis to address Kelly, Adams, and another

woman in his office suite, Julie Lindsey, about what he described as their

gossiping. This event is described further below concerning Governor Bentley’s use

of law enforcement in connection with his relationship with Mason.

The import of all of these events for Kelly, Adams, Lewis, and others was that

Governor Bentley’s relationship with Mason was taking center stage in his

Administration and that he intended to suppress speculation and discussion about

the relationship. Many of them felt uneasy during this time period and describe a

difficult work environment. The common refrain was that they would just “keep

their head down.” Ultimately, Kelly determined she could no longer work for

Governor Bentley and voluntarily resigned in July 2014. Around the same time,

Adams was asked to move upstairs, out of the Governor’s suite of officers where she

had been for more than three years. And, as discussed further below, Lewis was

forced to give up his role as head of Governor Bentley’s security detail and later

decided to retire.

The effect of the Bentley-Mason Relationship on the operations of 3.

Governor Bentley’s Office.

Multiple witnesses reported that the growth in intimacy of the Bentley-

Mason relationship coincided with her increasing influence upon, and at times

control over, Governor Bentley’s decision-making. Seth Hammett related that this

dynamic made his job of managing the Office difficult. Although Hammett had

implemented changes to tighten the chain of command, he complained that Mason’s

individual access to Governor Bentley frequently upended his efforts to impose

discipline on the Office’s operations. Hammett stated that Governor Bentley tended

to make decisions in the morning, and those decisions often changed overnight from

where the discussion had ended the previous day. The only person in the

Administration with regular access to Governor Bentley after hours was Mason.

Similarly, Jennifer Ardis, who had succeeded Mason as Governor Bentley’s press

secretary, stated that the Bentley-Mason relationship evolved to the point that

nothing could be done in the Office without Mason’s sign-off. She stated that

Governor Bentley’s typical reaction to any advice given without Mason present was,

“What does Rebekah think about it?”

A stark example of Mason’s control was her role in State budget negotiations in

2015. Spencer Collier told us that in years past, the budget process was initiated by

a meeting with State Finance Director Bill Newton and his staff. At the conclusion

of that meeting, Collier would meet with Governor Bentley to discuss strategies for

addressing any potential cuts. However, in 2015, ALEA was required to meet with

Mason and Jennifer Ardis to set budget priorities.

As instructed, Collier and the senior leadership at ALEA subsequently met

with Mason and Ardis. Collier reported that Mason proposed closing multiple

driver’s license offices throughout the State and asked ALEA to put together a plan.

It was Collier’s understanding that Mason intended the plan to be rolled out in a

way that had limited impact on Governor Bentley’s political allies. Collier claims he

reported this to the Attorney General’ s office because he was concerned about a

Voting Rights Act violation.

Collier ultimately assented to the closure plan, but through the use of an

objective metric based on processed transactions per year to determine which offices

to close. Collier estimated the ultimate savings to have been just $200,000, which is

consistent with media reports. We were told that Governor Bentley approved this

approach except that he wanted the office in Senator Gerald Dial’s district to be

removed from the closure list. Ultimately, the decision to close the offices was

reversed, in part, after the state litigated the issue with the U.S. Department of

Transportation, which had claimed that the closures had a disproportionate impact

on minority communities.

The Second Inauguration: Contingency plans. 4.

Planning for Governor Bentley’s second inauguration began months in

advance of the November 2014 election. Mason was the liaison between Bentley for

Governor, Inc. and the Governor Bentley Inaugural Foundation. After Governor

Bentley was re-elected and details of the second inauguration were being finalized,

however, Mason removed herself from the process. During this time, Governor

Bentley was in negotiations with Ms. Bentley and his family about whether they

would attend the event at all. Ms. Bentley had essentially moved out of the

Governor’s Mansion months earlier. She threatened not to attend. Governor

Bentley pleaded with her to attend and assured her that Mason would not be

involved in his second term.

In light of these uncertainties, the inauguration planning team developed

contingency plans based on whether Ms. Bentley and the family would attend –

which was not known with certainty until the day of the event. These included

details such as seating arrangements and who would hold the Alabama State Bible.

The DPU team also developed alternate plans, including a plan to extricate Ms.

Bentley and her family in the midst of the festivities if they decided to leave. On

the morning of the inauguration, Ms. Bentley confirmed that she and the family

would attend.

THE BENTLEY-MASON RECORDINGS IV.

A. The Creation of the Recordings.

While the Bentley-Mason relationship was causing problems within the

Bentley Administration, the public was largely unaware that anything was amiss.

Yet, there was another secret that even those witnessing the daily dissolution of the

Bentleys’ marriage and the upheaval in the Office of the Governor did not know. As

of March 2014, Ms. Bentley had made recordings that captured her husband,

Governor Bentley, expressing both his passionate love for Mason and describing in

detail the pleasure he drew from fondling her breasts.

The recording came about through Ms. Bentley’s collaboration with her chief

of staff Heather Hannah. Ms. Bentley had asked Hannah to help her make a

recording that she could use to “catch” her husband and Mason in their affair. They

had discussed various options, including ordering a miniature recording device over

the Internet. That thought was dismissed, primarily due to concerns with having

the device securely delivered to Ms. Bentley. Ultimately, Ms. Bentley came up with

the idea to use her cell phone’s recording feature but asked Hannah to show her

how to operate it.

Ms. Bentley made several efforts to capture Governor Bentley on the phone

with Mason at the Mansion, but those efforts failed. The successful recordings were

made during the Bentleys’ trip to their beach house in March 2014.

224

Ms. Bentley

captured the first of two recordings by turning on the phone’s recording device,

placing it in her purse on the sofa, and then announcing to her husband that she

was taking a long walk on the beach. Promptly upon her departure—within

approximately 59 seconds—Governor Bentley was on the phone with Mason.

225

The conversation begins with discussions of the weather but quickly moves to

capturing Governor Bentley agreeing to extended commentary by Mason. Of

particular note, prior to the conversation becoming more intimate in nature, is an

extensive discussion about moving Wanda Kelly’s desk and rearranging the office.

About halfway through the conversation, Governor Bentley engages in the now-

infamous monologue about how much he enjoys feeling Mason’s breasts and their

need to lock the door to his office when engaging in certain activities.

It is the above recording that led to the controversy that now surrounds

Governor Bentley, but, as indicated, this was only one of two recordings made by

Ms. Bentley. The second conversation was captured in the same timeframe as the

first, and is far less salacious (and far less reported on), but still relevant for the

Committee’s purposes here. The general tenor of the conversation is that Governor

Bentley is attempting to pacify Mason regarding the amount of time they are

spending together. To achieve that end, Bentley expresses annoyance that his

official duties are preventing him from spending time with her. Specifically, Bentley

complains that his upcoming calendar includes an hour of time devoted to his legal

staff and a discussion of bills he needs to sign.

After Ms. Bentley successfully made the recordings, she enlisted Heather

Hannah’s help to extract them from her phone. Hannah did so by transferring the

recordings to a laptop and burning them onto a disc. She made a copy of the disc to

keep for her own protection and gave the original to Ms. Bentley. Ms. Bentley

played the disc for her son Paul and his wife Melissa, but this was not the first time

that Paul and Melissa Bentley had seen evidence of an affair between Mason and

224

Where the second of the two recordings was made is not known, exactly. The first recording,

which received the most attention, was clearly recorded during the March 2014 beach trip. The

content of the second recording indicates it may have been made during the same trip, but some of

the media reports indicate it was recorded shortly after the Bentleys returned from the beach.

225

Transcripts of the two recordings are at Exhibits 9-A at Exhibit 4.

their children’s grandfather. They had first learned of the romantic nature of the

Bentley-Mason relationship after Melissa observed Ms. Bentley become emotionally

distraught during a shopping trip. The cause of that emotion was Ms. Bentley’s

interception of one of the red-rose text messages intended for Mason that were

common in the Bentley-Mason exchanges.

Throughout the relationship, Paul Bentley was the primary spokesman for

the Bentley family. He had reportedly confronted his father earlier in 2014 about

Mason, but was met with a flat denial. Heather Hannah told us that in the late

Spring of 2014, Paul traveled to Montgomery and forced his father to listen to the

recordings that had been captured by Ms. Bentley.

226

At that point, Governor

Bentley stopped denying the relationship to his family. He also, for the first time,

showed signs of contrition, as related through Ray Lewis’s interaction with

Governor Bentley, which is set out in detail below. It was also reported to us that

Paul Bentley later had a separate conversation with Mason, during which she also

admitted to an affair with Governor Bentley.

227

It is our understanding that the remainder of the family found out about

their father’s relationship with Mason piecemeal. Reportedly, the family’s instinct

was to surround Ms. Bentley with protection, but several witnesses also told us that

there was a belief among the Bentley children that their father may have been

suffering dementia or other health problems. Witnesses also told us that there was

an effort by the Bentley children to have their father evaluated by medical

specialists outside of Alabama. Such a medical intervention never came to fruition.

B. Governor Bentley’s Reaction to the Recordings.

Governor Bentley’s knowledge of the recordings was a watershed moment.

Seemingly, it was the recordings—the “tapes” as they were often called—that took

away Governor Bentley’s ability to deny the affair to his family and served as a

pointed demonstration that the image he portrayed to the people of Alabama was

untrue. It was the tapes that led to the moments of contrition by Governor Bentley.

Most relevant to the Committee’s consideration of the proposed Articles of

Impeachment, however, is the fact that Governor Bentley became obsessed with the

existence of the tapes and a desire to prevent them from becoming public.

226

The exact sequence and manner of Governor Bentley becoming aware of the recordings and their

content is unknown. Ray Lewis advised that Paul Bentley had told him that he had not listened to

the entire recording because he could not bear to hear the things his father was saying. However,

from Ray Lewis’s deposition testimony, there is evidence to indicate that as of May 7, 2014, Governor

Bentley knew two things about the recordings: 1 – they existed; and 2 – Paul Bentley had them.

227

We have been advised that this conversation was recorded by Paul Bentley, but we have been

unable to obtain it. All requests by Special Counsel to conduct interviews of the Bentley family

members have been refused.

Heather Hannah.

The first evidence of this obsession occurred in the Spring of 2014 and

involved Heather Hannah. At the time the recordings were made, Hannah was just

a few months shy of her departure from Ms. Bentley’s staff, which occurred after the

Republican Primary in June. As Hannah describes it, Governor Bentley blamed

Hannah for the existence of the tapes because he believed there was no possible way

Ms. Bentley could have made them without her help. As the existence of the

recordings became known, Hannah began to hear through other staff members and

officials that Governor Bentley perceived her as problematic due to the existence of

the recordings.

a. The Kitchen Confrontation.

Hannah testified that Governor Bentley’s suspicion of her was so great that

he personally confronted her on two occasions at the Governor’s Mansion. One

confrontation took place in front of a wall of refrigerators in the kitchen of the

Mansion. Governor Bentley pointed his finger in Hannah’s face and threatened,

“You will never work in the State of Alabama again if you tell anyone about this

(the affair).” Hannah relates that she was not intimidated by this encounter but

believes intimidation was Governor Bentley’s intent. She described his demeanor

as angry and that he was speaking to her in a loud tone of voice.

b. The Parking Lot Confrontation.

The second Bentley confrontation of Hannah occurred shortly thereafter

when she came face-to-face with Governor Bentley in the parking lot of the

Mansion. Then, Governor Bentley confronted her about his suspicion that she had

bugged his office to listen to conversations between him and Mason. Hannah

relates that Governor Bentley warned her to “watch herself,” that she “did not know

what she was getting into,” and that because he was the governor, people “bow to

his throne.”

c. Unexplained Vandalism of Heather Hannah’s Vehicle and

House.

In June 2016, Heather Hannah provided deposition testimony to the

Alabama Ethics Commission regarding her knowledge of the Bentley-Mason

relationship. In that same month, she was the victim of two separate incidents of

vandalism at her residence. She related that the first incident occurred before her

testimony to the ethics commission and the second occurred shortly

thereafter. Both incidents were reported to law enforcement after the second

incident and are described in detail below. (Ex. 9-A at 232-235, Police Report)

i. The Vehicle Incident.

Within a few days of Hannah’s deposition, she believes on or about June 6,

2016, Hannah was outside of her new home watering plants when she heard what

sounded like her bushes rustling. Unsure of the source of the noise, she walked to

the front of her house where she noticed “scribbles” on the windows of her vehicle.

She stated that at the time she could tell the scribbles were some sort of writing,

but she had difficulty reading it. She took photographs of the writing on her

windows, and it showed up much clearer in the pictures. Hannah provided the two

pictures to Special Counsel, which are attached to this report and contained in

Exhibit 9A at 217-218. The first photograph is of writing on what appears to be the

driver side windows of her vehicle, and it appears to read, “Bitch Die.” The second

photograph is of writing on the windshield, and it appears to read, “You will fucking

die.”

ii. The House Incident.

On June 15, 2016, Hannah was at her home preparing for bed. She turned

off the light in her kitchen and was walking to the back of her house when she

heard the sound of breaking glass. She walked back to her kitchen where she

believed the sound originated and saw a rock lying on the floor. She also observed a

broken panel in a large window on the front of her house. Hannah immediately

called the police, who came to her home and took a police report at twenty minutes

after midnight. At that time, Hannah also advised the officers of the vandalism of

her vehicle. The police report reflects that Hannah told the officers at the time that

she believed both incidents were related to her recent deposition.

Hannah testified during her deposition by Special Counsel that she believed

both incidents were related to her testimony before the Alabama Ethics

Commission. She based that belief on two facts. First, she could recall no personal

or business conflicts outside of her service in the Office of the Governor. Second, her

residence was located in a Birmingham suburb with an exceptionally low crime

rate. It is also important to note that she had recently moved to the residence, and

to her knowledge, her address had not been officially changed. However, she had

sent a text message to a number of friends, updating her address. She stated that

the distribution list of her text would have included friends with “pretty strong

connections to the capital.”

Ray Lewis. 2.

Like so many others caught in the web of the Bentley-Mason affair at this

time, Hannah also had a conversation with Ray Lewis. The conversation occurred

at the Republican Primary victory party, which was held at Bryant-Denny Stadium

in Tuscaloosa on June 3, 2014.

228

This conversation occurred on the same evening

that Lewis told Governor Bentley that Hannah was “his [Governor Bentley’s]

problem” in relation to the recordings. Ray Lewis told us that the precise moment

of this warning to the Governor was fortuitously captured in the below media photo

taken during coverage of Governor Bentley’s primary victory party that night.

This was, of course, not the only time that Lewis was used by Governor

Bentley in an effort to control the fallout of his relationship with Mason. As

alluded to above, Lewis, following Governor Bentley’s orders, once admonished

Governor Bentley’s support staff not to discuss what they saw in the office.

However, the acute cause of this instruction from Lewis was concerns by Wanda

Kelly that Governor Bentley and Mason should not be in his office with the door

locked. Lewis described this meeting as “with the ladies,” a group that included

Linda Adams, Julie Lindsey, Wanda Kelly, and Wes Helton. Lewis instructed the

staff that “what happens in the Governor’s office stays in the Governor’s office.”

228

The details of the conversation related by Hannah are on page 85. Ray Lewis does not specifically recall a

conversation with Hannah on this occasion, but he does not deny that one occurred.

Wanda Kelly described the atmosphere of this meeting as “uncomfortable,”

believing it to have been in response to her report to Lewis about Governor Bentley

and Mason spending time behind locked doors. Linda Adams believes that Ray

Lewis was an honorable person and that he conducted this meeting out of his duty

to follow orders, but she also believes Governor Bentley’s intent was to use Lewis to

intimidate the staff.

Lewis related that at the time he genuinely believed the meeting was

necessary to squelch the spread of gossip, and that he reminded them that people

would believe them because they work in the Governor’s office. Lewis testified that

he was professional, but stern, during this meeting. He further testified that, in

hindsight, he believes Governor Bentley took advantage of him on this occasion and

used him in an effort to intimidate staff members discussing his relationship with

Mason. Governor Bentley relocated Kelly

229

after this incident, and she retired soon

thereafter.

THE USE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AS A TOOL IN THE BENTLEY-MASON AFFAIR V.

As Governor Bentley’s affair with Rebekah Mason evolved and grew, and

especially after he learned that the recordings existed and were at large, he

repeatedly exercised his influence and control of the law enforcement officers who

were closest to him to prevent and contain any possibly personal and political

damage. Notably, Governor Bentley:

- Directed DPU Chief Lewis to confront the female staff in Governor Bentley’s

office whom Governor Bentley believed were gossiping about his relationship

with Mason;

- Directed DPU Chief Lewis, twice, to break off the relationship with Mason;

- Ordered DPU Chief Lewis to travel to Tuscaloosa to attempt to convince

Governor Bentley’s son, Paul Bentley, to turn over the recordings;

- Marginalized DPU Chief Lewis after he tried to manage Governor Bentley’s

use of state assets for facilitating his relationship with Mason;

- Ordered Secretary Collier to research criminal law and to be prepared to

arrest Heather Hannah, whom Governor Bentley believed had made the

recordings and possessed copies;

- Ordered Secretary Collier, on election night 2014, to travel to Greenville to

question Director of Scheduling Linda Adams about whether she knew about

the recordings;

229

“Wanda’s desk,” of course, became on object of media speculation and intrigue due to its

discussion in the Bentley-Mason recordings. Those recordings capture Bentley discussing the need

to move the desk to cure Wanda Kelly’s proximity to his office and strongly suggest the reason was to

alleviate interference with his interactions with Mason. However, Seth Hammett told us that he

was responsible for relocating Kelly and the purpose was to increase the security of information

within the Office of the Governor.

- Attempted to use “special investigators” to conduct investigations into

various “threats” against Mason and into whether Hannah possessed the

tapes.

A. Governor Bentley’s Misuses of Ray Lewis.

Governor Bentley asks Ray Lewis to break up with Rebekah 1.

Mason for him.

On May 4, Ray Lewis flew with Governor Bentley, Ms. Bentley, and their son

Paul Bentley to Talladega Superspeedway where Governor Bentley was to serve as

grand marshal. Paul sat next to Lewis on the plane and said he needed to talk to

him when he had some time. Paul said his mother was “seeing ghosts” and believed

that her husband was having an affair with Rebekah Mason. Lewis had come to

know Paul well during Lewis’s service under Governor Bentley and was surprised

by this encounter.

Three days later, on the morning of May 7, 2014, Lewis stopped by Governor

Bentley’s office as he normally did to start his day. Governor Bentley seemed

shaken and told Lewis that he had some problems and that he might ask Lewis to

come back later. At about 11:00 a.m., another member of Governor Bentley’s

protective detail hurried from the Capitol to ALEA headquarters and interrupted a

meeting to retrieve Lewis. Lewis had left his cell phone on his desk and had missed

multiple calls from Governor Bentley. Lewis was told that Governor Bentley

needed to see him right away, and there was no time even for Lewis to get in his

own vehicle.

When Lewis arrived at the Capitol, Governor Bentley met him at the door to

his office and seemed to Lewis to have been crying. Lewis went into the office with

Governor Bentley to see Rebekah Mason, who also seemed to have been crying.

Governor Bentley told Lewis that Ms. Bentley thought he and Mason were having

an affair and that someone had made an audio recording of him and Mason talking

on the phone. Governor Bentley thought his son, Paul, had the recording. Governor

Bentley asked Lewis to go to Tuscaloosa to meet with Paul and to try to get Paul to

hand it over.

Lewis recalls that he responded to Governor Bentley: “[A]re you telling me

this is true, the affair is true?” Governor Bentley admitted the affair to Lewis and

told him there were things on the recording he would not want anyone to hear.

230

Governor Bentley then sent Mason out of the room and asked her to wait in

the Lieutenant Governor’s conference room on the second floor of the Capitol. With

230

Lewis does not know whether Governor Bentley had actually heard the tapes at this point.

Mason out of the room, Governor Bentley and Lewis discussed the situation. Lewis

says he expressed to Governor Bentley that the affair was wrong and had to end.

Lewis says he told Governor Bentley that the affair would be an embarrassment to

him, his family, and the State of Alabama. Governor Bentley agreed with Lewis.

Lewis was disappointed and “shocked” by the realization that Governor Bentley had

had an affair with Mason. Governor Bentley was embarrassed and asked Lewis to

go upstairs to meet with Mason and end the relationship.

Lewis did as he was told and went to meet with Mason in the conference

room upstairs. He describes an emotional meeting alone with Mason, lasting

around an hour, in which he expressed to her that the affair needed to end, and that

Governor Bentley wanted it to end. Mason agreed, and they both thought that the

timing was perfect since she would be leaving the next day to go to the beach at

Gulf Shores with her family. Before Lewis left Mason, however, Governor Bentley

walked into the conference room. Lewis recalls that Governor Bentley tried to

comfort Mason, touching her shoulders and hair and telling her “it’s alright, baby.

It’s going to be alright.” Lewis recalls thinking at that point that his efforts to end

the affair were out the window.

Ray Lewis attempts to retrieve the tapes. 2.

Lewis left the Lieutenant Governor’s conference room and immediately drove

to Tuscaloosa, on Governor Bentley’s orders, in his state vehicle, to try to retrieve

the tapes from Governor Bentley’s son, Paul Bentley. Lewis called ahead, and Paul

invited him to his office. When Lewis arrived, he asked Paul if he had the tapes.

Paul replied: “Yes, and you ain’t getting it.” Paul told Lewis that he could not bring

himself to listen to the full recording, but that his wife Melissa had a copy.

Lewis reported the results of his Tuscaloosa mission to Governor Bentley over

the phone and told him that the tapes existed.

Governor Bentley directs Ray Lewis to visit Mason in Gulf Shores. 3.

In that same phone conversation, Governor Bentley told Lewis that Rebekah

Mason was just not getting it and directed Lewis to drive to Gulf Shores in the

morning to break up with her again. He instructed Lewis to leave early so that he

could reach Mason before her husband arrived. Lewis prepared to depart on the

mission in his state vehicle the next morning, but Governor Bentley called him and

told him not to go. Lewis cannot remember for certain whether he had already

departed on the mission when Governor Bentley called him off.

Requests for surveillance sweeps of Mason’s vehicle.

Heather Hannah testified that Paul Bentley, after learning of the affair and

hearing the tapes, met alone with Rebekah Mason in a car. Hannah says that Paul

placed his phone on the dashboard, told Mason he was recording their conversation,

and then confronted her about the affair. According to Hannah, Paul said that

Mason admitted to the affair in tears and admitted that it was wrong. Hannah

believes that Paul Bentley played this recording for his father while Governor

Bentley was at the beach. She believes that Paul and Melissa Bentley extracted the

recording from Paul’s phone and retained it.

231

Corporal Nance Bishop of ALEA recalls that relatively early in the re-election

campaign of 2014, he was asked to perform a sweep of Rebekah Mason’s personal

vehicle for bugs or listening devices. Bishop could not recall specifically who made

the request, except that it came from a group of Governor Bentley’s officers that

included Collier and Stabler. Bishop refused the request because it was campaign-

related and not related to government work.

Ray Lewis says that Bishop told him about this request soon after it was

made. Lewis said he discussed this request with Bishop because, at the time,

“everybody was concerned about what was going on” with Rebekah Mason.

Governor Bentley demands that Rebekah Mason travel on state 5.

transports.

Rebekah Mason ceased to be an employee of the Office of the Governor in

July 2013 when she began working for Governor Bentley’s re-election campaign.

She did not surrender her security credentials for access to the Capitol, however, as

other staff members were required to do upon transitioning to the campaign. Ray

Lewis testified that he is not aware of any other staff member who was permitted to

retain security access in this way.

Furthermore, it was Lewis’s understanding that Mason, after leaving the

employ of the State, could not accompany Governor Bentley on official

transportation, including flights on State planes or movements in State vehicles.

Lewis frequently found himself in the awkward position of addressing this with

Governor Bentley.

Lewis says he told Governor Bentley several times of the need to keep

Mason’s movements separate from Governor Bentley’s official movements, and that

he could not provide security services to non-state personnel. Lewis testified that

231

Hannah testified that she discussed this recording, and the circumstances surrounding it, with

Paul and Melissa Bentley, together with Ms. Bentley, at the Bentleys’ home in Tuscaloosa.

Governor Bentley indicated that he knew and understood this. In fact, Lewis

testified, this rule was consistently applied to others, like Zach Lee, who had left the

Office of the Governor for the campaign.

Lewis believed that keeping the campaign separate from state assets and

movements was a legal requirement. Furthermore, based on his years of experience

in dignitary protection, he believed it was a necessity. Lewis explained that, in the

event of an emergency situation, the presence of non-official personnel could impede

his primary duty of protecting Governor Bentley. In reference to Mason, Lewis

related that he once told Governor Bentley: “Sir, she can be in the street screaming,

if there’s a situation, I will leave her.”

Nonetheless, on multiple occasions, and with a frequency that increased as

the relationship between Governor Bentley and Mason grew, Lewis found himself

overruled by Governor Bentley. Lewis recalls one occasion when he instructed

Governor Bentley’s Director of Scheduling Linda Adams, while planning for a trip,

not to put Mason on the State plane. Later that day, Governor Bentley called Lewis

and ordered him to put Mason on the flight. Lewis recalls telling Governor Bentley:

“Sir, I disagree with that, but you’re the governor and I will respect your wishes.”

Lewis believes this conversation was the beginning of the deterioration of his

relationship with Governor Bentley.

On another occasion, Governor Bentley travelled by state helicopter to Wilcox

County for a plant grand opening. When Governor Bentley and Lewis arrived at

Patterson Field in Montgomery to board the state helicopter, Mason was there

waiting. Lewis reminded Governor Bentley that Mason should not board the

helicopter. Governor Bentley overruled Lewis, and Mason flew with Governor

Bentley. As Lewis recalls, Governor Bentley’s Director of Communications Jennifer

Ardis, a state employee, drove to the event. Governor Bentley’s publicly-available

flight logs indicate this trip was on May 28, 2014. After that date, Mason’s name

does not appear on the flight logs for the remainder of 2014.

In 2014, Bentley for Governor, Inc. leased a plane from a company based near

Atlanta. Lewis testified that Governor Bentley told him that he had leased the

plane so that Mason could travel on it. The company used private pilots, and Lewis

was limited in his ability to vet them. For State recordkeeping purposes, Linda

Adams attempted to find out and document basic information about flights that

Governor Bentley took on the leased campaign plane. Governor Bentley has not

made any of these records available.

On August 4, 2014, the day before Lewis and Collier confronted Governor

Bentley about the tapes (described in detail below), Governor Bentley told Lewis

and other staff members that he wanted Mason on the leased plane with him.

Lewis recalls Governor Bentley telling him: “She’s needs to be able to do her job, so

she will be on the airplane.”

Lewis was becoming increasingly worried during this period that he would

lose his job because of Rebekah Mason. He looked back with the benefit of

hindsight on the occasion when Governor Bentley had asked him to confront the

female staff in Governor Bentley’s office for gossiping about an affair that (Lewis

now knew) had actually been happening. Lewis realized that Governor Bentley had

used him as a tool and that he could not trust Governor Bentley. Lewis said:

“[A]fter seeing how the governor was dealing with his family situation and he really

didn’t care what Ms. Bentley thought or anybody else thought, I knew that if I were

putting people on the plane like Ms. Mason, that I felt like he wouldn’t take

responsibility for it. He would simply say I didn’t do that, Ray Lewis did it.”

Lewis testified that it was for this reason that he began making a record of daily

events in his personal calendar. (Ex. 9-B).

B. Law Enforcement’s Intervention with Governor Bentley: “From Contrite

to Angry” Again.

During the month of August 2014, Governor Bentley’s protectors attempted

to intervene and put an end to the Bentley-Mason relationship. The intervention

was brought about generally by the increasing evidence of the inappropriate nature

of the relationship and specifically by Spencer Collier’s knowledge of the Bentley-

Mason recordings. As the evidence increased, however, Governor Bentley’s attitude

changed from contrition to anger. Ray Lewis’s impression about Governor Bentley’s

attitude during the spring and summer was typical. Lewis said: “I believe that the

governor wanted to intimidate anybody that had that recording because he would

say that what they did was wrong and that it was a violation of the law.”

Collier and Lewis, who had been Governor Bentley’s most trusted law

enforcement advisors, led the intervention, and it initially showed signs of bearing

fruit. However, Governor Bentley again swiftly shifted from initial contrition to a

posture of reactionary anger, and his relationships with both Lewis and Collier

deteriorated to the point of enmity.

Ray Lewis reports suspicious text messages to Spencer Collier. 1.

In the first few days of August, Lewis reported to Collier that Mason was

inappropriately text-messaging Governor Bentley. Stan Stabler, who served as a

“body man” for Governor Bentley on Lewis’s detail, says he began to notice that

Governor Bentley was developing new text-messaging habits. He would frequently

see in passing, or reflected on Governor Bentley’s passenger window in the vehicle,

emojis in Governor Bentley’s text messages. He thought this strange behavior for a

gentleman in his seventies. He says he probably saw a couple of these, and recalls

language like: “I’m glad you’re my friend” or “you’re handsome.” He says he

assumed these were communications with Rebekah Mason because of their timing

in relation to phone calls between Mason and Governor Bentley, but he never

actually saw Mason’s name associated with these texts.

Stabler recalls that Lewis would frequently ask his detail members about

Mason and Governor Bentley, and that Stabler told Lewis about the text message in

the course of one of those discussions. Stabler denies, however, that his

communication with Lewis was a “report,” which, he says, would have been

documented in a memorandum to Lewis.

Lewis reported to Collier in early August that Stabler had reported to Lewis

seeing a text message from Mason to Bentley that said: “Thank you for being my

special friend, I love you.”

Spencer Collier’s knowledge of the recordings. 2.

In early August 2014, Ray Lewis began to notice that Governor Bentley’s

attitude about the tapes was changing. In addition to wanting to intimidate

whoever might have the tapes, Governor Bentley was also behaving to Lewis as

though the tapes did not exist. Ray Lewis called Paul Bentley, and the two agreed

that Governor Bentley should be confronted with the tapes so that he could no

longer deny their existence. As a result of their agreement, Paul’s wife Melissa

emailed portions of the recordings to Lewis. When Lewis got the audio files by

email, he reported to Collier’s office at ALEA headquarters.

Lewis walked into Collier’s office holding a laptop computer in one hand and

his phone to his ear in the other. Collier remembers that Melissa and perhaps

another member of the Bentley family were on the line with Lewis. Lewis played

portions of the audio for Collier. Collier then told Lewis to thank the family

members on the line and let them go. Collier and Lewis discussed what to do next.

Intervention and renewed contrition. 3.

Governor Bentley was scheduled to travel to Greenville that afternoon for a

campaign event. Collier dismissed Governor Bentley’s security detail so that he and

Lewis could personally drive Governor Bentley to Greenville. Collier and Lewis

discussed whether they should read Governor Bentley his

Miranda

rights, but they

decided against it.

On the drive to Greenville, Collier and Lewis, two men who personally cared

greatly for Governor Bentley and who also had official responsibilities to his office,

sought to convince him to end his affair with Mason for his own good, his family’s,

and the State’s. Collier did most of the talking and addressed Governor Bentley

both from the perspective of a friend and that of an officer of the State.

He told Governor Bentley that he had heard the tapes. Collier says he

basically told Governor Bentley: “I love you, and I view you like a father. But what

you’re doing with Rebekah Mason is completely improper.” Governor Bentley hung

his head and said with emotion “I don’t know how to stop.” Then Collier addressed

him as an officer. Collier told Governor Bentley that it would be illegal if he were

using state resources or campaign funds to facilitate the relationship. Governor

Bentley told Collier that he understood that and that he was doing neither. Collier

asked Governor Bentley if he was leasing a plane so that he could get around the

state manifest laws.

232

Governor Bentley denied this as well, saying he leased the

plane to save money. Collier says he told Governor Bentley: “There’s nothing I

won’t do for you except lie to a grand jury.”

Governor Bentley responded to the intervention with contrition, and asked

for advice on ending his affair. By the time the three arrived in Greenville,

Governor Bentley said he was determined to stop. He told Lewis and Collier: “I’m

gonna fix this tonight.”

Collier recalls that when he spoke with Governor Bentley early the next

morning by phone, Governor Bentley told him that he had changed his mind. He

said he could not go through with ending his affair with Mason.

C. Governor Bentley Uses Law Enforcement to Find the Tapes.

Collier and Lewis recall that fairly swiftly after they confronted Governor

Bentley on August 5, 2014, Governor Bentley “went from contrite to angry”

regarding his knowledge of the tapes and what to do about them. Lewis says that

Governor Bentley became “adamant” about defending his affair. Lewis recalls that,

on one occasion, “[Governor Bentley] said if people don’t stop looking at Rebekah

like she’s some kind of . . . [Governor Bentley stopped short of using a word], I

remember him saying he’ll fire their asses.” Lewis felt that Governor Bentley was

directing the threat to him.

In the Fall of 2014, Governor Bentley undertook significant efforts to locate

the tapes, with State law enforcement resources as his primary tool. The best

evidence of these efforts is the way such resources were brought to bear on two

individual members of his staff: Heather Hannah and Linda Adams.

232

Ray Lewis had expressed his concerns to the Governor about Mason riding on state aircraft. As

recently as the day before—August 4, 2014—Governor Bentley directly instructed his staff that he

wanted Mason on the plane and that she had to be able to “do her job.” Lewis believes the Governor

leased the plane so that he could put Mason on it, and to deprive Lewis of the authority to “call the

shots” on travel arrangements.

Governor Bentley’s suspicion of Heather Hannah.

As described above, about two months before the August intervention, on

June 3, 2014, Ray Lewis told Governor Bentley that Heather Hannah was Governor

Bentley’s “problem.” At the time, Lewis himself believed that Hannah had the

recordings. Hannah testified that Lewis confronted her that night in the parking

lot of Bryant-Denny Stadium. She describes the nature of that conversation in this

way: “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. . . . They

233

confronted me on a personal safety matter. 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.”

Lewis says his reason for telling Governor Bentley on that day that Hannah

was his problem was a hope that it would “snap the governor out of this wanting to .

. . I was hoping he would just do the right thing.”

Shortly after the August 5 intervention, Governor Bentley told Secretary

Collier that he believed Heather Hannah had been responsible for making the

recordings. He ordered Collier to find out whether there were criminal statutes

that applied to Hannah’s suspected activity. He told Collier to be prepared to arrest

Hannah if the tapes were released publicly.

Collier went to his ALEA counsel, Deputy Attorney General Jason Swann,

gave him a factual hypothetical about covert recording, and asked him to research

the law to determine the applicability of any criminal statutes to the hypothetical.

Swann provided Collier with copies of the relevant eavesdropping statute and

discussed the law with him. Sometime later, Collier confided to Swann that the

research he had asked him to do related to Governor Bentley and said “we’re

looking into it.”

On August 6, 2014, the day after Collier and Lewis confronted Governor

Bentley, Clay Ryan called Ray Lewis and asked to meet with him about the

recording and who had it. The two met in a coffee shop across from the Renaissance

Hotel in Montgomery. Lewis told Ryan that he thought Hannah might have the

tapes.

233

Hannah was describing the nature of conversations she had had with both Lewis and Michael

Echols, a CPA in Tuscaloosa associated with the Bentleys. The conversation she was referring to

with Lewis was the one at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Clay Ryan met with Heather Hannah soon after at a Panera Bread

restaurant in Birmingham. At some point after the meeting, Clay Ryan called

Collier and told him that he believed that Hannah had the tapes. Ray Lewis was in

Collier’s office when Collier spoke with Ryan on the phone. Collier told Ryan to stay

out of official law enforcement business. Collier said that he told Governor Bentley

to leave Heather Hannah alone. Collier says that Governor Bentley denied asking

Ryan to meet with Hannah.

Governor Bentley sends Collier to confront Linda Adams. 2.

On election night 2014 Governor Bentley, his family, his campaign staff,

including Mason, and other supporters were at the Renaissance Hotel awaiting

election returns. Early in the evening, someone connected to the campaign of

Governor Bentley’s Democratic challenger Parker Griffith told Collier that he or she

had the tapes and would release them to the public that night.

Collier called Governor Bentley’s Detail Leader, Stan Stabler, and told him

he needed to speak to Governor Bentley right away. When Collier arrived at

Governor Bentley’s suite at the Renaissance, Stabler noted the tension in the

discussion between Bentley and Collier, though he was not a part of it. Governor

Bentley told Collier that he suspected that his Director of Scheduling, Linda Adams,

had leaked the tapes to the Griffith campaign. Governor Bentley suspected Adams

because she had previously worked for Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr., and was friends

with some of his staff, including Folsom’s press secretary Chip Hill.

Governor Bentley directed Collier to drive immediately to Linda Adams’s

home in Greenville and, as Collier recalls the directive, “find out what you find out.”

According to Linda Adams, Collier called her at about 5:45 or 6:00 that

evening and asked if she was at the Renaissance. Adams told Collier she was at

home in Greenville, and Collier asked her for her address. Adams asked Collier

why their meeting could not wait until the morning when she would be at work at

the Capitol. Collier insisted that he must talk with her in person that night.

Adams asked her daughter to come over to look after Adams’s infirm mother, who

lived with her, so that she could receive Collier when he arrived. Adams recalls

that Collier arrived at her home within an hour. Adams thought Collier was

coming to fire her.

Inside Adams’s home in Greenville, Collier said he needed to know what she

knew about a tape recording. Adams had no idea what Collier was talking about.

Collier then asked: “When is the last time you talked with Chip Hill?” She told

Collier that she and Hill were friends, and had spoken just last week. Collier asked:

“When was the last time you talked with Heather Hannah?” She gave Collier a

similar answer. Collier asked: “When was the last time you talked with Wanda

Kelly?” Again, Adams said she had spoken to her friend Wanda Kelly fairly

recently.

Adams says she was “shook up,” felt harassed by Collier’s questioning, and

was becoming a “nervous wreck.” She offered to let Collier look at her phone for

himself. Collier declined and told Adams he was convinced she did not know

anything.

Collier believes that his visit embarrassed Adams, who felt that her loyalty to

Governor Bentley was called into question. He reported to Governor Bentley that

he believed that Linda Adams did not know anything about the tapes.

Ray Lewis remembers that as Governor Bentley left the Renaissance that

evening, he said “these people had better stay out of my business or I’m going to fire

them all.” Lewis notes that two days after Collier’s report to Governor Bentley

about Adams, Governor Bentley asked Lewis if he trusted Spencer Collier.

About a week later, on routine business in Governor Bentley’s office,

Governor Bentley asked Adams if Collier had come to see her on election night. She

replied: “Yes, sir, he did, and I don’t appreciate it.” Governor Bentley said: “I sent

him.” Adams asked Governor Bentley: “Do you not trust me?” Governor Bentley

replied: “Oh, no, no, no Linda, it’s nothing like that.” Adams says that Governor

Bentley told her that his family was turning against him and that Paul Bryant,

Clay Ryan, and Bill O’Connor were “using” him. Adams ended the conversation by

telling Governor Bentley, “Governor, there are a lot of people using you.”

Stan Stabler recalls that Adams reported Collier’s visit to him as well. He

says Adams raised the incident with him during a routine scheduling discussion

and was upset that Collier had come to her home that evening. Stabler says this

was the first he had heard of the tapes. He said Adams felt intimidated and that he

was shocked and “floored” that it had happened. He spoke with Governor Bentley

about it, and Governor Bentley told him about the tapes. Governor Bentley told

Stabler that Lewis and Collier had listened to the tapes but would not tell him what

was on them, except to say that they were bad.

D. Governor Bentley’s “Special Investigations.”

In September 2014, the month after Collier and Lewis’s confrontation with

Governor Bentley about the tapes, Special Agent Jack Wilson of the State Bureau of

Investigations (“SBI”) Major Crimes Division in Mobile got a phone call from his

superior, Sgt. James Rigby, who had been assisting Secretary Collier’s “number two

man” J.T. Jenkins with operations leading up to the ALEA consolidation. Rigby

explained to Wilson that Secretary Collier wanted to have a law enforcement officer

who would answer directly to him and who could conduct “investigations of a

sensitive nature” on a full time basis. Wilson told Rigby that he was interested in

filling the position but that he was about to be called to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on

military orders for a year. Wilson left for Cuba and did not return until September

2015.

Scott Lee. 1.

In the late summer of 2015, about the time that Ms. Bentley filed for divorce,

and while Wilson was deployed to Cuba, SBI Director Gene Wiggins called Special

Agent Scott Lee of the SBI Agricultural and Rural Crimes Unit (ARCU) about

conducting “special investigations” for Secretary Collier on an as-needed basis.

Wiggins explained that Lee would continue to submit his paperwork to his

supervisor but would answer to Secretary Collier and J.T. Jenkins.

Lee recalls that Wiggins expressed doubts to him in their initial discussion

over the phone about the necessity of this novel position. Wiggins opined to Lee

that there were already investigative resources within ALEA—both administrative

and criminal—that could handle any investigations that might be required, special

or otherwise. Lee learned from Wiggins that Secretary Collier had originally

wanted to have a full-time special investigator assigned to him but that Wiggins

had “nipped that in the bud.” Lee agreed to do the job, but once he saw for himself

what the job entailed, he too was doubtful of its necessity and propriety.

a. Governor Bentley initiates investigation into letter to Mason.

Shortly after Lee agreed to serve as an on-call special investigator for Collier

and Jenkins, he received another call from Wiggins about a letter that was said to

be threatening to Governor Bentley. The letter, Wiggins told Lee, was at ALEA

headquarters and was suspected to have been sent either by Montgomery attorney

(and staunch critic of Governor Bentley) Donald Watkins, or by Michael Echols, a

Tuscaloosa accountant and long-time friend of the Bentleys. The Mason-Bentley

“TIMELINE”

234

claims that “Governor Bentley had severed personal and

professional ties with Echols in March 2015 because of Echols’s known involvement

in Governor Bentley’s personal and private matters pertaining to his family. Echols

was also involved in assisting Dianne Bentley in her filing for divorce from

Governor Bentley in 2015.”

234

The Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE Re: Spencer Collier” was a document created by Rebekah Mason

on or about April 20, 2016 (the day after Collier filed his civil lawsuit against Robert Bentley in

Montgomery County) and emailed to Governor Bentley under the subject line: Timeline – January-

March 2016. (

See

Ex. 5-CC at 5004). In the email, Mason wrote to Governor Bentley: “Here is the

timeline, as I recall. . . . You may want to add your own recollections and thoughts as you share this

with others. It might be helpful if you print this off to add your own notes.”

Id.

The printed-off

timeline was produced to the Committee as Exhibit 5-O and, though heavily redacted, contained

Governor Bentley’s marginal marks and notes adding his recollections and affirming various

portions of Mason’s text with underlines.

When Lee arrived in Montgomery to investigate, he discovered that the letter

had actually been addressed to Rebekah Mason at her home in Tuscaloosa. Prior to

Lee’s involvement, either Director Wiggins or Secretary Collier had pulled

fingerprints from the letter and had taken comparator prints from Mason and her

husband. After Lee arrived, he contacted the postal service for surveillance video,

(which was unavailable), and interviewed Rebekah Mason. Mason told Lee that she

suspected the letter was authored by Echols. She said that Echols thought she was

having an affair with Governor Bentley and was threatening to go public with the

accusation. One reason Mason gave for her suspicion, Lee recalls, was that Echols

had tried to “trick” Governor Bentley into boarding a plane for the purpose of being

tested for dementia.

Secretary Collier says that around the same time, he presented the situation

to his ALEA attorney Jason Swann by giving him a factual hypothetical and asked

him to research whether there were any criminal laws related to harassing

communications that could apply to the actions of the author of the letter. Lee came

to the conclusion that the letter expressed no clear threat and that it represented,

at most, the commission by the author of a “borderline misdemeanor.” Lee

summarized his findings and reported to Director Wiggins, and Wiggins and Lee

went to see Collier. Collier pushed back against Lee’s finding and argued for the

significance of the harassing communication.

b. Governor Bentley asks Special Agent Lee to investigate

Heather Hannah.

During their meeting about the letter to Mason, Collier told Lee that there

actually did exist, as the letter to Mason had seemed to indicate, a recorded

conversation between Governor Bentley and Mason. Collier told Lee to go with him

to a meeting that with Governor Bentley to discuss the findings of Lee’s

investigation into the letter and to explore with Governor Bentley the possibility of

a subsequent investigation related to the tapes.

On the drive to the Capitol, Lee expressed his concerns to Collier about

conducting any investigation into the tapes for Governor Bentley’s personal reasons

rather than for a legitimate law enforcement purpose. Lee confirmed the accuracy

of the following statements attributed to him in the ALEA Integrity Unit’s Case

Report (the Case Report is described in detail in subsequent sections):

And I said, you know, at this point, I don’t know what the

details are, but I just want you to understand that there have

been politicians, as well as governors that have been prosecuted

for using state police for personal reasons. I told him and the

Governor, I won’t be used as a threat; I won’t be used as a

harassment tool, that if I open a criminal investigation, then I

work it to the end. There is no gray area

During the meeting with Governor Bentley, Lee says that Governor Bentley

pulled out the envelope that had contained the letter to Mason and was somewhat

emotional about the issue. Ultimately, however, Lee recalls that Governor Bentley

accepted his findings and did not ask him to press the matter further. The

discussion then turned to the tape.

Governor Bentley and Secretary Collier told Lee that the person they

suspected had planted the recording device was a young woman who had served as

Dianne Bentley’s assistant.

235

They suspected that the young woman, as well as

members of Governor Bentley’s family, might be in possession of the tapes. They

also mentioned that Collier had paid a visit to a woman about the tapes on the

night of the election.

236

Bentley and Collier wanted Lee’s opinions about opening an

investigation into the matter.

Lee told Governor Bentley that possession of materials illegally obtained was

a misdemeanor. Lee’s intent in the meeting, he says, was to communicate to

Governor Bentley that Lee would not alter the investigation, once begun, if Lee

determined that members of Governor Bentley’s family had committed crimes. He

confirmed the accuracy of his statement to the Integrity Unit:

I made it clear that a criminal investigation is one thing, but

just looking at this trying to find out who got the recordings and

for them not to release them, there’s a gray area there that we

don’t need to cross.

After Lee told Bentley and Collier that he would insist on seeing any

investigation through to its conclusions, he was not asked to proceed with the

investigation.

Lee was bothered by what he called the “you may want to look at . . .” nature

of the proposed assignment. The objective, he felt, was not to solve a crime, but to

determine who had the tapes. This, in his opinion, was “skirting the line.” Lee

asked Collier to return him to his previous post, and he departed Montgomery in

late 2015, as Jack Wilson took over as the Secretary’s special investigator. Lee

continued to assist occasionally with investigations during the transition with

Wilson.

Jack Wilson.

In September 2015, Special Agent Jack Wilson returned from Cuba and got

another phone call from Sgt. Rigby. Rigby reminded Wilson of their conversation a

235

Lee could not remember Heather Hannah’s name or whether her name was specifically

mentioned in the meeting.

236

Lee could not remember whether Linda Adams’s name was specifically mentioned in the meeting.

year earlier, and Wilson agreed to meet with J.T. Jenkins to discuss the terms of

the full-time special investigations assignment. Wilson accepted the position, and

reported to Montgomery the same week. His understanding was that, unlike Lee,

whose involvement had been more of a collateral duty, Wilson would conduct the

“intelligence” role full-time. He began work towards the end of November 2015.

On January 6, 2016, Governor Bentley called a meeting with Secretary

Collier, Jack Wilson, and Scott Lee (who was continuing to assist as needed) to

discuss a new concern. The Bentleys’ long-time friend and accountant Michael

Echols had emailed Governor Bentley, attaching images of text messages between

Bentley and Mason. The text messages were intimate in nature, and the

implication of the email, as Lee recalls, was “there’s more where these came from.”

On the same date, Rebekah Mason sent an email to staff members in the

Office of the Governor, asking them to do some research for her. The email said:

Good Morning –

Doing some research on the cyber bullying/harassment/stalking

statutes in Alabama and what they do and do not cover.

Do any of you recall March 2015 Defamation Legislation that

was introduced?

Can we find out:

1. What this legislation did 2. Who sponsored it. 3. Can that bill

be retooled and/or reintroduced this year? I feel sure Gov would

throw his strong support.

Thanks,

RCM

(Ex. 5-CC at 9444).

In the meeting with Governor Bentley that day, Secretary Collier expressed

doubts to Governor Bentley that the email and attachments were criminal. Lee

recalls that Governor Bentley countered that Echols had stolen money from the

campaign account, but then Collier replied that Echols had had permission to write

checks from the account. Lee stepped out of the meeting at some point prior to its

conclusion.

When he saw Secretary Collier afterwards, Collier told him: “We’re good.

Sometimes you’ve kind of got to talk him off the ledge.” Collier told Lee that after

Lee left the meeting, the discussion had turned to the fact that the text messages

had likely come from an iPad that had been issued to Governor Bentley and that

Governor Bentley had given to his wife for her use. Governor Bentley had been

unaware that the iPad was synced to his cellular phone and text message account,

and Ms. Bentley had had access to his text messages with Mason. It is presumed

that Echols got the text messages from Ms. Bentley.

Other discussions with law enforcement related to the affair. 3.

Also in January 2016, Governor Bentley called Collier to report a disturbing

text message he had received from his daughter-in-law Melissa Bentley. Governor

Bentley told Collier the message read, in essence: “If you don’t stop lying, we’re

going to start telling the truth.” The message from Melissa Bentley followed an

interview Governor Bentley gave to Chuck Dean of the

Birmingham News

in which

he said “The rumors [of the affair with Rebekah Mason] were not true.” Collier says

Governor Bentley wanted him to drive to Jackson, Mississippi to confront Melissa,

but Collier declined to do so. Collier says he shared the text message with Scott Lee

shortly thereafter, and Lee agreed that the message was not a threat or a crime.

Two weeks after the text message from Melissa Bentley, Governor Bentley

informed Collier that Mason had received a threatening letter that included

language to the effect of: “you’re a lying no-good whore, leave a man’s husband

alone.” Scott Lee accompanied Collier to Governor Bentley’s office again and, again,

convinced Governor Bentley that it was not a credible threat.

Acting Secretary Stan Stabler eliminates the function of “Special 4.

Investigator.”

Stan Stabler eliminated the “special investigations” function on February 29,

2016 after he was appointed Acting Secretary of Law Enforcement, and sent Special

Agent Wilson back to his SBI station in Mobile. Stabler did not believe that having

special investigators under the Office of the Secretary was a good way to do

business. Wilson had come to be dubbed “the rumor police” behind his back within

ALEA, Stabler noted. Michael Robinson discussed this issue with Stabler, and

Stabler told him that even “sensitive” investigations should go through SBI

according to the normal process, though perhaps with different protocols.

Stabler believes that it was inappropriate for Secretary Collier to utilize law

enforcement in that way. He added that the blame belonged to Collier (who,

Stabler says, gave the directions to the special investigators) and not to Governor

Bentley. He agreed, however, that had Governor Bentley given the direction to

the investigators, that would have been inappropriate. (He made a distinction

between “direction” on the one hand, and Governor Bentley just saying “I have

this or that concern”—which Stabler said is common practice—on the other).

GOVERNOR BENTLEY’S REORDERING OF STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL.

VI.

Governor Bentley’s involvement in personnel decisions related to his

protective detail indicate an interest by Governor Bentley in controlling who would

be close to him and who would have personal knowledge about his own affairs.

A. Ray Lewis’s Demise.

On August 14, 2014, just over a week after Lewis and Collier confronted

Governor Bentley on the road to Greenville, Governor Bentley’s Chief of Staff Seth

Hammett called Lewis into his office. Hammett told Lewis: “the shit’s fixing to hit

the fan about your overtime.” Hammett told Lewis he could no longer serve both as

the Chief of the DPU and as Governor Bentley’s Detail Leader and would have to

choose between the two. Lewis says he told Hammett “I don’t have a damn thing to

do with that.” Hammett said he understood but told Lewis to make his decision.

The matter “fixing to hit the fan” was a media story about Lewis, ultimately

published three days later, claiming that:

The head of the governor’s security detail—a state trooper—has

made so much overtime watching after Bentley that he raked in

more money last year than Col. Hugh McCall, then the director

of the Alabama Department of Public Safety.

237

The reason Lewis believed he didn’t “have a damn thing to do with that” was

because Governor Bentley had specifically directed that Lewis be paid hour for hour

in overtime for his services to Governor Bentley.

Lewis was paid for his overtime work protecting Governor Bentley, rather

than receiving “compensatory time,” which would have entitled him only to time off

in lieu of additional pay. When Lewis started working for Governor Bentley in

2010, he was not paid overtime, but compensatory time for his often nearly around-

the-clock duties alongside Governor Bentley.

This changed one day when Lewis informed Governor Bentley that he would

have to take days off in order to keep his accumulated days. Governor Bentley

responded by calling a meeting with Chief of Staff Charles Malone, Angi Smith, and

Zach Lee, and making clear that he needed Lewis with him at all times and that his

staff was to make it happen. Lewis says that Malone wrote a letter to the

Department of Public Safety to request that Lewis be paid hour for hour in

overtime, rather than compensatory time.

238

237

John Archibald,

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley soars across the globe, and so do collateral costs

The Birmingham News, August 17, 2014, available at

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/08/bentley_soars_across_the_globe.html.

238

This letter was not provided.

Collier also recalls that the directive to pay Lewis overtime came from

Governor Bentley and says that a high-ranking official from the Department of

Public Safety came to see him about it. The official told Collier that he had been

given a direct order from Governor Bentley to pay Lewis overtime, and that he had

also gone to see Governor Bentley, who had confirmed the order.

Lewis left his August 14 meeting with Hammett and went to see Governor

Bentley at his campaign headquarters. He says Governor Bentley knew about his

meeting with Hammett. Governor Bentley was emotional about the situation, told

Lewis that Lewis had done nothing wrong, and hugged him. Lewis reminded

Governor Bentley of the specific request Governor Bentley had made for Lewis to be

compensated for his overtime and of the letter that his staff had sent to the

Department of Public Safety. Governor Bentley told Lewis he did not recall the

discussions and that he couldn’t remember making that decision. Lewis did not

believe that Governor Bentley was being honest with him and further believed that

Mason was behind the decision to reduce his role on Governor Bentley’s protective

staff. After the meeting, he learned that she had also been behind the door,

literally.

When Lewis left the meeting with Governor Bentley, his phone had a text

message from campaign staff member Zach Lee that Lee sent during Lewis’s

meeting with Governor Bentley. Lewis says the text message said: “Rebekah Mason

is outside listening to every word you and the governor are saying.”

The next month, at a campaign event, Governor Bentley was questioned by

reporters about whether he had given the directive for Lewis’s compensation.

Governor Bentley replied: “I have never had anything to do with overtime. I’ve

never had anything to do with anyone’s salary. Honestly I don’t have time to deal

with things like that. I didn’t know who was making overtime and who wasn’t

making overtime. I really didn’t.”

239

As a result of the August 14, 2014 meeting between Ray Lewis and Seth

Hammett about the public problems related to his compensation, Lewis decided to

step down as Governor Bentley’s Detail Leader and serve solely as DPU Chief.

B. Governor Bentley promotes Stan Stabler.

Detail Leader.

Upon Ray Lewis’s departure as Detail Leader, there ensued a quick

succession of ALEA personnel in that position. According to Ray Lewis, on the day

239

Charles J. Dean,

Governor Bentley maintains he played no part in overtime payments or

promotion of trooper

, The Birmingham News, September 15, 2014, available at

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/gov_bentley_maintains_he_playe.html.

he informed Collier that he would relinquish the role of Detail Leader, Collier

immediately told him Governor Bentley wanted Billy Ervin to replace him. Lewis

believes that Ervin was Mason’s choice.

Ervin served in that capacity for only about two months. Stan Stabler, who

served as a member of the Detail at the time, recalls that Lewis had recommended

to Ervin that Mason not be allowed to “ride” with Governor Bentley. Stabler recalls

that Ervin replied to Lewis that he would allow individuals to ride with the

protectee (Governor Bentley) if that was what the protectee wanted. Lewis says

that he did not feel he could press the issue further because Ervin was expressing

Governor Bentley’s wishes.

Shortly into Ervin’s tenure, Lewis got a complaint from a member of

Governor Bentley’s Detail about Ervin and Mason. The report was that Ervin had

ordered Governor Bentley’s “body man” out of Governor Bentley’s vehicle so that

Mason and a media crew could ride with Governor Bentley. Lewis believed this was

a serious breach of DPU’s standard operating procedures that created a substantial

security risk to Governor Bentley.

For reasons unrelated to his permissiveness with Mason, but seemingly

related to his problems with other members of Governor Bentley’s detail, Ervin was

removed from his position as Detail Leader around the time of the 2014 election.

On Election Day, Lewis got a call from Paul Bentley who told him that Mason was

angry with him for removing Ervin from the detail.

Governor Bentley replaced Ervin as Detail Leader with Stabler. Stabler had

begun his service in the DPU in March 2014. Initially, Stabler was primarily

responsible for picking up Governor Bentley and dropping him off between the

Mansion and the Capitol. While on duty, Stabler spent his time stationed in a

garage apartment on the Mansion grounds. His duties included driving Governor

Bentley, and sometimes Ms. Bentley, when they needed to travel around

Montgomery. Stabler’s station at the Mansion grounds was near Heather Hannah’s

office, and Stabler recalls that he would sometimes discuss matters generally with

her.

Hannah testified that Stabler would “feed Ms. Bentley information about the

affair and the whereabouts and how they were communicating and where they were

going. And even if it wasn’t listed on a flight log, Stan would still tell us what was

going on.” Hannah, who left in June 2014, says: “Soon after I left I did talk to Stan

Stabler on several occasions when he would be expressing concern about Governor

Bentley’s whereabouts with Rebekah Mason. Sometimes he would share that with

me I guess because he couldn’t get in touch with Ms. Bentley sometimes out of

concern for her and just keeping me aware of what was going on.” Specifically,

Hannah recalled that Stabler had reported to her and to Ms. Bentley that Governor

Bentley and Mason had requested to be left alone together at the Blount House.

240

Stabler denies that he ever called or text messaged Heather Hannah about

Governor Bentley and Mason, although he admitted that Ms. Bentley would confide

in him at times when they were together, and that he received text messages from

Ms. Bentley on occasion. He knew, for example, that Ms. Bentley had concerns

about attending the January 2015 inauguration. (

See, e.g.

, Ex. 5-C at 12-16).

Stabler recalls one such confidential communication with Ms. Bentley after

he became Governor Bentley’s Detail Leader. Ms. Bentley texted and then called

him while he was with Governor Bentley touring a Coca-Cola plant. She told him

that she was planning to attend the inauguration but did not want Stabler to tell

her husband. She asked Stabler to keep Mason away from Governor Bentley and

the Bentley family during the ceremonies.

Stabler called Ray Lewis for advice on how to handle this situation. He told

Lewis he did not want to get between Governor Bentley and Ms. Bentley but that he

felt obligated to tell Governor Bentley that his wife had called him. When Governor

Bentley and Stabler arrived back in the office that evening, Stabler told Governor

Bentley what Ms. Bentley had said. He told Governor Bentley that, although he did

not want to betray Ms. Bentley’s trust, “I work for you.”

Chief of Dignitary Protection Services. 2.

On April 1, 2015, Ray Lewis retired from public service and Jack Clark was

appointed Chief of Protective Services. Clark had been a law enforcement officer for

more than thirty years and, during his career, had served in executive security roles

for about six years. At the time of his appointment, Clark was the second in

command of the Department of Public Safety.

Clark began to make immediate changes to the DPU, and to Governor

Bentley’s detail. Clark told us that these moves were made, in part, to improve the

training and efficiency of the unit but also because Spencer Collier asked him to

reduce the size of Governor Bentley’s detail.

Stabler recalls that Clark’s changes resulted in the movement of detail

members who were liked by Governor Bentley. Clark met with Stabler about which

detail members would be moved. When Stabler went to Governor Bentley about

240

Collier recalls this event as well. According to Collier’s recollection, a trooper was asked by

Governor Bentley to leave his post when the Governor was there alone with Mason. Stabler

admitted to remembering this occasion as well, but said that, as far as he knows, the trooper was not

dismissed from his post. The Blount House is a mansion in Montgomery County that was donated to

the State during the administration of Governor Riley and is used by the Office of the Governor.

this, Governor Bentley was not pleased and told Stabler that if there were to be

changes to his detail, he should be addressed about it. Governor Bentley told

Stabler that he needed a new Chief of Protective Services because he wasn’t happy

about Clark’s changes and asked Stabler if he would take the position. Stabler had

told Governor Bentley that he was going to retire in August, but he agreed to take

Clark’s position, and he withdrew his retirement paperwork.

Collier called Clark into his office after Clark had been DPU Chief for about

two and a half months and told him that Governor Bentley wanted to replace him

with Stan Stabler. Collier told Clark that Governor Bentley had characterized it to

him as “a trust issue.”

Under Stabler, Governor Bentley’s protective detail was restored to its former

strength, and the detail members who were moved under Clark were returned to

their former posts. Stabler served as DPU Chief until February 2016, when he was

made Acting Secretary of Law Enforcement.

THE ALEA INTEGRITY UNIT INVESTIGATION VII.

In early 2016, events arising out of the criminal trial of Speaker Hubbard set

Governor Bentley and Collier on a collision course. After Governor Bentley placed

Collier on medical leave, concerns within ALEA gave rise to an internal

administrative investigation into Collier’s expense practices. Governor Bentley

used the internal investigation as a tool to discredit Collier. There is no doubt that

Collier, prior to his medical leave, was aware of the tape recordings and of the other

actions by Governor Bentley, detailed above. There is also no doubt that Governor

Bentley’s prior misuses of law enforcement had been motivated by Governor

Bentley’s paranoia surrounding the existence of those tapes. Because Governor

Bentley refused to be interviewed, the question whether that same concern

motivated his efforts to discredit Spencer Collier by turning an internal

administrative investigation into a smear campaign are yet to be asked and

answered.

What is known is that Governor Bentley used an incomplete draft of the

investigation report as his reason to fire Collier, claiming in a press release that

“the ALEA Integrity Unit found a number of issues, including possible misuse of

state funds.” The Attorney General’s Office, however, found no evidence of criminal

wrongdoing by Collier. In connection with the House Judiciary Committee’s

proceedings, Governor Bentley publicly disclosed the draft and reports to the press

without redacting any sensitive witness statements by ALEA employees or

protecting the identities of law enforcement and lay personnel, who had no

expectation that their interviews, given in the course of an internal administrative

investigation, would be made public.

A. The Background: Governor Bentley Grows Suspicious of Collier.

In January 2016, before Stabler eliminated the function of “Special

Investigator,” Collier directed Special Agent Jack Wilson to open an investigation

into allegations of prosecutorial misconduct on the part of Deputy Attorney General

Matt Hart.

241

Collier briefed Governor Bentley on the investigation. Wilson met

with the accuser, attorney and radio personality Baron Coleman, on two occasions

and determined that Coleman’s allegations were unsupported. Wilson then

concluded the investigation. Hart asked Collier and Wilson to sign affidavits for

Hart’s use in court, in which Collier and Wilson would assert that the investigation

was closed.

On February 8, 2016, Governor Bentley called Collier, Wilson, and Swann to

a meeting with himself and David Byrne at the Capitol to discuss the Coleman

investigation. Collier says he told Governor Bentley that the investigation was

concluded and that Matt Hart had asked for an affidavit saying so. Governor

Bentley told Collier that he did not want them to execute the affidavits and

suggested to Collier that he tell Hart the investigation was ongoing.

242

According to

those present, Governor Bentley also indicated that, as the chief magistrate of

Alabama, he needed to remain neutral.

In spite of Governor Bentley’s instructions, Collier and Wilson executed the

affidavits the next day and provided them to Matt Hart, apparently due to a

miscommunication involving David Byrne. On February 16, Governor Bentley

called a meeting at the Capitol with Collier and other ALEA personnel who were

involved in providing the affidavits. Present at the meeting, in addition to Governor

Bentley, were David Byrne, Joe Espy, Rebekah Mason, Jennifer Ardis, Spencer

Collier, J.T. Jenkins, Hal Taylor, Jack Wilson, and Jason Swann. The attendees

from ALEA were struck by the presence at the meeting of Governor Bentley’s

personal attorney Joe Espy. Collier, in particular, recalled that it was the only

meeting he had ever attended where Governor Bentley’s personal attorney was

241

Hart is the Division Chief of the Special Prosecutions Division in the Alabama Attorney General’s

Office. The Special Prosecutions Division investigates and prosecutes public corruption and other

white-collar crimes. Hart was the lead prosecutor in the trial of former Speaker of the House Mike

Hubbard.

242

Collier and Wilson both recall Governor Bentley giving this instruction. Wilson says that the

Governor suggested they leave the case open and tell Hart the investigation was not complete so that

it would be impossible to sign the affidavits. Wilson later responded more affirmatively that

Governor Bentley instructed them to leave the case open. Collier likewise said Governor Bentley

instructed him to tell Hart that ALEA was still investigating and that Collier looked at Jason Swann

as if to suggest “I am not lying to Matt Hart,” but also noted that Governor Bentley used the

language or tone of a “suggestion.” Swann’s recollection is somewhat different. He recalls that there

was an open question in the meeting: whether ALEA contacted Coleman or Coleman contacted

ALEA. He says that either Governor Bentley or David Byrne commented that without the answer to

that question, the affidavits could not be provided as requested. Swann does not recall, however,

whether any efforts were made between the meeting and the execution of the affidavits to determine

the answer to that question.

present.

243

Collier later complained publicly that it was inappropriate for Espy,

Mason, and Ardis to be present for a meeting involving law enforcement sensitive

matters.

Before the meeting began, Collier asked Governor Bentley if he could speak

privately with him and Mason. Governor Bentley dismissed everyone else from the

room. In the conference room, Collier says that he informed Bentley and Mason

that he believed they were under investigation. The Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE”

relates the following concerning the private meeting between Collier and Bentley

and Mason:

Collier told Governor Bentley he had something he needed to

share. Collier told Governor Bentley and Mason that he had

recently had a conversation with Matt Hart. Collier told the

Governor that Hart thought he was a good man, whose heart

was in the right place. Collier said Hart told him that Governor

Bentley was good, he believed, but there were people working

with the Governor who had committed felonies. Collier looked

at Mason and said, “And Rebekah he was talking about you.”

Collier said he told Hart that he had done background checks on

employees and would know if someone had a prior conviction.

Collier said Hart told him these were people who had not yet

been convicted. Again, Spencer told Mason “I believe he was

talking about you, Rebekah.” Mason did not respond.

Governor Bentley asked Collier to explain what he meant.

Collier told Governor Bentley he wasn’t sure what Hart meant

by the statement, but he and his wife Melissa had discussed it

and prayed about it the night before and decided Collier needed

to tell Governor Bentley and Mason what Hart said.

After Governor Bentley called the others back into the conference room, the

meeting progressed in essentially the following manner:

244

Governor Bentley: [To Collier] I don’t know why you signed

that affidavit. I told you not to. I didn’t

want to get in the middle of this trial, and

now I’m in the middle of it.

243

Collier later said that he had also seen Espy leaving the Governor’s office on the day Dianne

Bentley filed for divorce. This is corroborated by Governor Bentley’s schedule for August 28, 2015.

(Ex. 5-CC at 1185).

244

This recounting is based upon interviews with meeting attendees Collier, Jenkins, Taylor, Wilson

and Swann, and is not to be taken as a verbatim account.

Secretary Collier: Governor, there’s no investigation going on

and that’s what the affidavits said.

Governor Bentley: I don’t care . . .

Secretary Collier: Jason and David Byrne talked, and I thought

they had it worked out.

David Byrne: [Begins to speak]

Governor Bentley: [To Byrne] I’ll deal with you later. [To

Collier] I told you “do not sign the affidavit

with the Attorney General’s Office.” And you

did.

Secretary Collier: I did.

Governor Bentley: Why did you do it when I told you not to?

Secretary Collier: I thought it was okay. I didn’t mean to get

you involved.

Rebekah Mason: [Angrily] Well, you did, and now he’s in the

middle of it.

After the meeting, J.T. Jenkins described the ALEA contingent as “stunned.”

Jenkins said that in three decades of government service he had never seen

someone as mad as Mason was during the meeting.

B. Governor Bentley Punishes Spencer Collier.

The next morning at 7:58 a.m. by Stan Stabler’s watch, Stabler received a

phone call from an unknown identification.

245

It was Governor Bentley, and he was

calling to ask Stabler his whereabouts. Stabler replied that he was in Robertsdale.

Governor Bentley asked him to begin driving back to Montgomery. Stabler recalls

Governor Bentley told him, in essence: “I’m fixing to place Spencer Collier on

medical leave, and I need you to run ALEA.” Governor Bentley told Stabler that he

was promoting him over more senior ALEA officers because he trusted Stabler.

Governor Bentley told Stabler that Collier’s medical leave would last for ninety

days.

245

Multiple witnesses spoke about Governor Bentley’s increasing use of phones that would appear on

call recognition as “unknown identification.” Heather Hannah testified, for example, that the

Governor would send aides from his office to purchase these “burner phones,” and would repay them

with cash. In an undated text message between Mason and Bentley, as another example, Mason

refers to Governor Bentley’s “Private Rebekah phone,” and he refers to it as “our phone.” (Ex. 5-C at

8).

100

Then Governor Bentley called Collier into his office. Governor Bentley

mentioned Collier’s scheduled back surgery and told him, as Collier recalls: “I

haven’t let you heal properly. Take ninety days and get healed.” Collier suggested

that Governor Bentley name Jack Clark as Acting Secretary of Law Enforcement

during his medical leave. Governor Bentley replied that he had already decided

upon Stan Stabler, his DPU Chief and former protective Detail Leader.

Governor Bentley told Collier that he had spoken to reporter Charles Dean

that morning and would be giving him an exclusive interview. In his exclusive with

Dean that was published that day, Governor Bentley said, in reference to Collier’s

explanation of why he signed an affidavit against Governor Bentley’s orders: “I

don’t find [it] acceptable. I don’t accept the fact they did what I asked them not to

do. So I will be dealing with that.”

246

Collier called a staff meeting when he returned to his office and announced

that Governor Bentley had placed him on medical leave and that Stabler would be

Acting Secretary of Law Enforcement for ninety days. Hal Taylor recalls that

Collier seemed sure that he would return. Collier also told Jason Swann that he

was absolutely coming back. Additionally, when Collier called Stabler earlier in the

day, he told him he could be back before the expiration of the ninety days.

Stabler had not heard about the Coleman affidavits until after Dean’s article

was published. That afternoon, while Stabler waited to meet with Governor

Bentley, he heard rumors around Governor Bentley’s office from his dignitary

protection fellows (one of whom overheard it from Jennifer Ardis) that Governor

Bentley was displeased with Collier’s handling of the Coleman affidavits.

C. The Integrity Unit Investigation.

The month between February 17 and March 22, 2016, saw a flurry of activity

within Acting Secretary of Law Enforcement Stan Stabler’s ALEA. After briefing

Governor Bentley, Stabler launched an internal investigation into Spencer Collier

and others in Collier’s ALEA administration. Governor Bentley later asked to be

updated on the progress of the investigation, his office managed the publishing of

press releases by ALEA, and Governor Bentley ultimately cited to the ALEA

investigation in his announcement of Collier’s termination on March 22. The

internal investigation was never internally completed and directly result in no

personnel actions within ALEA. It did result in the referral of potential criminal

wrongdoing to the Attorney General’s Office, which publicly reported in October

2016 that its investigation had found no “credible basis for the initiation of a

criminal inquiry in the first place.”

246

Charles J. Dean,

State’s top cop placed on leave following failure to follow governor’s order

, The

Birmingham News, February 17, 2016, available at

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/states_top_cop_placed_on_leave.html.

101

ALEA accounting complaints.

Stabler stated that soon after he was made Acting Secretary, he was

approached from several directions with troubling and valid complaints about

accounting-related problems within ALEA, specifically related to Spencer Coleman

and others in his inner circle. Two accountants at ALEA had been collecting a

dossier of purchasing and other documents on Collier and Jenkins and some of their

subordinates since Collier had become Director of Homeland Security in 2011. The

accountants felt that Collier and Jenkins had ignored or flouted—but in either case

violated—purchasing procedures in opening purchasing accounts, making

purchases, and handling reimbursements and per diem payments. The lead

accountant brought her concerns to Stan Stabler immediately upon his appointment

as Acting Secretary. At nearly the same time, she brought the same concerns to

ALEA executive counsel Michael Robinson.

Michael Robinson had been expecting a phone call from the new Acting

Secretary about these complaints, which Robinson had known about for some time.

Stabler called Robinson “pretty quick” after he became Acting Secretary, although

Robinson does not recall whether or not it was on February 18, Stabler’s first full

day. Stabler recalls being told by several people, in essence, “You don’t need to take

the fall for something Spencer Collier did.” Robinson recalls Stabler telling him,

“I’m gonna need your help. People are telling me I need to watch my back.”

Robinson advised Stabler that the two of them needed to do some preliminary

work before launching any investigation. Stabler and Robinson met with the

accountants and ALEA’s Chief Financial Officer to discuss the complaints. They

determined after those meetings that they needed to open an Integrity Unit

investigation.

Stabler reports to Governor Bentley. 2.

On Friday, February 26, 2016,

247

Stabler met with Governor Bentley in

Governor Bentley’s office and told him, as Stabler recalls, “I know I’m only here for

ninety days, but we’ve got some problems. I can keep the train on the tracks or I

can fix things.” According to the Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE,” Stabler also reported

to Governor Bentley that he had terminated several Collier-appointed employees of

ALEA. According to Stabler, Governor Bentley replied: “Stan, you run ALEA.”

247

Although Stabler could not recall the timing of this meeting, the Governor’s calendar for February

26, 2016 records a meeting with Stabler and Robinson at 10:00 a.m. (

See

Ex. 5-BB at 1467). The

Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE” places this meeting in the “Week of February 22, 2016,” which is

consistent with the meeting taking place on Friday, February 26.

102

During the same meeting, according to the Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE,”

“Stabler told Governor Bentley he was reassembling the ALEA Integrity Unit,

which had been mothballed under Collier, to begin an internal review of ALEA.”

248

On Monday, February 29, 2016 four ALEA employees, all either merit or

appointed employees of ALEA (and all, therefore, employed “at-will”) who were

closely associated with Secretary Collier, were terminated by Stan Stabler. In

addition to the terminations, Stabler transferred Special Agent Jack Wilson out of

the Office of the Secretary and back to his previous duties in Mobile.

The Investigation is opened. 3.

a. Assignment.

After Stabler’s meeting with Governor Bentley, Stabler and Robinson

scheduled a meeting for February 29, 2016, with Special Agent April Bickhaus of

the Integrity Unit.

249

In the meeting with Stabler and Robinson, according to the

Integrity Unit Case Report drafted by Bickhaus,

Stabler requested that Bickhaus conduct a thorough

administrative review of the purchasing processes by Collier to

determine if the purchases were made in violation of

administrative procedures and to refer any uses of funds that

were potentially criminal to an outside agency for further

investigation.

Although normally Bickhaus’s supervisor for internal investigations was

Deputy Secretary Kevin Wright, Stabler told her that she would report for purposes

248

Since the consolidation of law enforcement agencies into ALEA, the Integrity Unit had

reported to the second-in-command of SBI. Robinson says that he had believed this to be

problematic, because the Integrity Unit conducted administrative internal investigations, not

criminal investigations. In the event an administrative investigation should be referred to

SBI for criminal investigation, Robinson believed it should not fall under the same chain of

command. Robinson says that Collier had not addressed this issue. Stabler says he

immediately determined to move the Integrity Unit from SBI to the Office of the Secretary to

solve this problem. Stabler also said that part of the problem was that witness statements

given in administrative investigations after

Garrity

warnings could not be shared with the

SBI for criminal investigations.

249

In addition to reports Stabler received from within ALEA, he also received an email on February

29, 2016, from Blake Hardwich from Governor Bentley’s office. The email forwarded Stabler a letter

written by Senator Orr outlining various allegations of administrative faults against Spencer

Collier’s ALEA. In her email, Hardwich wrote to Stabler: “We have someone in policy reviewing

these items, but I thought you might want to review them as well.” (

See

Ex. 5-P). Senator Orr had

raised his complaints about Collier, however, over a month before, and Governor Bentley was made

aware of them. In a January 21, 2016 email exchange with Collier about Orr’s complaints, Governor

Bentley wrote: “Spencer I support you Gov.” (Ex. 5-CC at 9113).

103

of this investigation to Stabler and Robinson. Bickhaus was concerned about this

reporting arrangement because she was accustomed to having a law enforcement

officer supervise her investigations rather than a lawyer, and she expressed her

concern to Robinson at some point after the meeting. Robinson believes that there

had always been a lawyer who would provide input to investigators and that

Bickhaus mistook his advisory involvement as supervision. Bickhaus concluded

that because the manual said her assignments should come from the “Secretary or

his designee,” it was not a problem to answer to Robinson as Acting Secretary

Stabler’s designee. Special Agent Bickhaus briefed Stabler and Robinson frequently

throughout the course of her investigation.

In turn, Stabler and Robinson briefed Governor Bentley and David Byrne

with updates of the investigation’s progress. Robinson said this was unusual—

that Governor Bentley would not normally be briefed on an internal ALEA

investigation. Robinson recalls that, in addition to multiple discussions with

David Byrne, he and Stabler briefed Governor Bentley “two or three” times with

updates to the investigation. Stabler recalls briefing Governor Bentley “three or

four” times. Robinson recalls that Stabler would simply approach him and tell

him they needed to go see Governor Bentley.

Normally, when potentially criminal conduct is anticipated to be discovered

in an administrative investigation, SBI is brought in to conduct a criminal

investigation in parallel with any related administrative investigation. The scope of

Special Agent Bickhaus’s investigations are administrative, and it is not normally

her job to refer matters to the Attorney General’s Office. Nonetheless, because this

investigation appeared to include high-ranking officials in ALEA and because the

SBI Director would be a potential witness, Stabler and Robinson determined to

initiate an administrative investigation through the Integrity Unit and then to refer

any criminal issues to the Attorney General’s Office.

Stabler, Robinson, and Bickhaus all agree that referral of the investigation’s

findings to a criminal agency was contemplated from the outset. Bickhaus said

that she understood from the beginning that her information would go to the

Attorney General’s Office. Robinson told her to let him know about potential

criminal violations “as you discover them.” Stabler also believed that the conduct

being investigated might be criminal and that the plan was to move towards a

referral.

Bickhaus confirmed the accuracy of her account in the Case Report that

Robinson advised Bickhaus from the outset not to interview or contact Spencer

Collier, as that “may impact the potential criminal investigation.” Spencer Collier

confirms that he was never interviewed or approached for an interview in

connection with the investigation.

104

As Special Agent Bickhaus proceeded with investigative interviews of ALEA

employees, she realized that many of them were concerned or even “scared” because

they thought Spencer Collier would find out they had spoken against him.

Bickhaus provided her interviewees with

Garrity

Warning forms, disclosing that

the interview was part of an internal administrative investigation and that no

disciplinary action could be taken against them for refusal to provide a statement or

answer questions.

250

b. The Office of the Governor coordinates a press release.

On March 1, 2016, the day after the initial meeting between Stabler,

Robinson, and Bickhaus,

Stabler and Robinson went to meet with Governor

Bentley, David Byrne, Jennifer Ardis, and Rebekah Mason, who joined by phone.

The Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE” also indicates that Joe Espy, Governor Bentley’s

personal lawyer, and Blake Hardwich were present. Governor Bentley’s calendar,

however, does not list Espy as an attendee, but lists Jon Barganier instead.

The Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE” indicates Ardis worked with ALEA’s Public

Information Officer to draft a public statement after the meeting. The resulting

press release, attributed to Stabler, was published later that evening by Charles

Dean of the Birmingham News

251

Last week, as Acting Secretary of the Alabama Law

Enforcement Agency, I ordered a thorough internal review of

the operations, policies and procedures at ALEA. ALEA's

Integrity Unit, comprised of seasoned law enforcement

investigators, is currently conducting the review. We will

work to complete the review as soon as possible, and will

deliver any findings to the appropriate authorities if

warranted. . . . Effective Feb. 29, two non-merit positions and

two retired state employee positions have been eliminated.

Internal emails between members of Governor Bentley’s staff show that

Mason edited the press release as well. Specifically, she suggested the addition of

the words “Last week” to the opening. (Ex. 5-CC at 1690). The clause is incorrect,

as Stabler’s initial meeting with Special Agent Bickhaus was on Monday, February

29, 2016, the day before the press release.

250

Copies of ALEA’s

Garrity

forms were requested but not provided.

251

Charles J. Dean,

State investigates wrongdoing within Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

, The

Birmingham News, March 1, 2016, available at

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/post_93.html.

105

c. Governor Bentley requests a briefing.

On March 7, 2016, Stabler and Robinson told Bickhaus that Governor

Bentley wanted to be briefed on the progress of her internal investigation into

Spencer Collier the next day. Bickhaus recalls scrambling to prepare for the

meeting with Governor Bentley. She said the report at that stage was “not even a

first draft.”

Bickhaus told Robinson that she had concerns about the meeting because

she normally did not talk with the supervisor of the subject of an investigation

(i.e., Governor Bentley as Collier’s supervisor) because the supervisor also could

be implicated for a failure to supervise. She told Robinson “this does not need to

go to the Governor.” Robinson assured her that because Governor Bentley was

Collier’s supervisor and Collier was a member of Governor Bentley’s cabinet,

Governor Bentley had a right to know the status of the investigation. Bickhaus

recalls that Robinson assured her, with respect to the purposes of her

investigation, “This is for ALEA.” Bickhaus ultimately felt comfortable with the

meeting because her chain of command was going to be present for it.

Present at the meeting on March 8 with Governor Bentley were David

Byrne, Blake Hardwich, Jon Barganier, Stan Stabler, Michael Robinson, and

Special Agent Bickhaus. Special Agent Bickhaus recalls that her bullet points for

the presentation were: (1) Collier’s gun purchases, (2) Collier’s clothing purchases

and allowances, and (3) Collier’s absenteeism. She recalls that Governor Bentley

asked her two questions: the first related to substance abuse issues with Collier,

and the second related to any symptoms of poor mental health. The latter

question struck Special Agent Bickhaus as odd, since having mental health issues

was not a policy or procedure violation. Robinson said that ALEA employees’

Garrity

statements were not directly discussed with Governor Bentley. Bickhaus

recalls the meeting lasted between 30 and 45 minutes.

d. Criminal Referral.

At some point after the March 8 meeting, and in compliance with her

instructions to let her supervisors know about potential criminal violations as she

discovered them, Special Agent Bickhaus reported to Robinson and then to Stabler

that she thought there could be potential criminal violations in issue. She came

to this conclusion, she recalls, mostly because of the amounts of money involved

in the purchasing policy violations and because of the purchases of firearms,

which she could not at that time account for (although she noted that the

firearms have since been accounted for).

On Monday, March 14, 2016, Governor Bentley’s counsel David Byrne

accompanied Robinson and Bickhaus to a meeting with members of the Alabama

106

Ethics Commission, who deferred the investigation to the Attorney General’s

Office. The same day, Robinson and Bickhaus met with the Attorney General’s

Office to refer the potentially criminal matter for investigation. One of the

potential violations cited against Collier in the referral was “Use of Official

Position of Office for Personal Gain.”

On April 6, 2016, the day after Articles of Impeachment were first

introduced in the House of Representatives, Attorney General Luther Strange

requested from ALEA documentation related to the investigation, including a

final report excluding all

Garrity

statements. Special Agent Bickhaus read the

Attorney General’s request with concern because her investigation was not “final”

and, in its present form, it was

nothing but

Garrity

statements. Robinson

suggested to the Attorney General’s Office that, in lieu of a final report, ALEA

would provide a memorandum without any witness statements, to be followed by

the final report when it was complete. Bickhaus drafted the memorandum, and

assembled her investigation file to turn over to the Attorney General’s Office.

D. The Interim Case Report, and Spencer Collier Fired.

On Friday, March 18, 2016, Jennifer Ardis emailed Governor Bentley to tell

him that Charles Dean was asking whether Governor Bentley had received an

ALEA report on the investigation and, she wrote, to “give you [Governor Bentley]

a heads up that this media story is coming.” (Ex. 5-CC at 5033-34). Ardis told

Governor Bentley in the email that “Stan has a statement prepared that will

confirm the investigation has been completed and turned over to the proper

authorities.” According to the Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE” entry for March 18,

Governor Bentley told Mason over the phone “that he believed the ALEA

investigation was complete.”

At some point between Thursday, March 17 and Monday, March 21,

252

Governor Bentley asked Stan Stabler to send him a copy of Special Agent

Bickhaus’s interim draft of the Case Report. Stabler passed the request on to

Robinson, and Robinson to Bickhaus, who forwarded her interim draft to Stabler

and Robinson. Stabler and Robinson met and discussed Governor Bentley’s

request, including whether

Garrity

concerns were implicated by it. Stabler

concluded that the request was proper because Governor Bentley was Collier’s

supervisor, and he forwarded the draft Case Report to Governor Bentley and

David Byrne.

Governor Bentley called a meeting on Monday, March 21, 2016, to discuss

the status of the internal investigation at ALEA and the contents of the draft

252

This timing estimation is based upon the email of March 18, in which Ardis wrote to Governor

Bentley: “Chuck Dean has reached out to ask if you have received an ALEA internal report on the

investigation at ALEA. Per our conversation yesterday, I know you have not.” (Ex. 5-CC at 5033-34).

107

Case Report.

253

Present at the meeting were Governor Bentley, David Byrne,

Stan Stabler, and Michael Robinson. It was determined that Stabler would issue

a press release. The Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE” relates that Mason and Ardis

again worked with the ALEA Public Information Officer to draft the statement.

Stabler’s press statement said, in part:

Over the past month, I worked closely with my staff to

evaluate all aspects of ALEA, address agency issues, and

implement changes which have already resulted in more than

$250,000 in savings.

ALEA’s Integrity Unit conducted a thorough internal review of

the operations, policies and procedures of the agency. The

Integrity Unit review found a number of concerns including

the possible misuse of state funds. Findings of the review have

been submitted to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office for

further action.

254

Spencer Collier’s attorney Kenneth Mendelsohn recalls that on the day

Stabler’s press release was published, David Byrne called Mendelsohn to offer

Collier a deal: if Collier would resign, Governor Bentley would promote his wife,

Melissa Collier, an administrative assistant in Governor Bentley’s office, to a

better position to allow the Colliers to retain their health insurance. The same

day, Mendelsohn also received from Governor Bentley’s office a draft letter of

resignation on ALEA letterhead for Collier’s signature dated for the next day,

March 22, 2016, as well as an additional blank letterhead page for Collier to draft

his own letter of resignation if he preferred. With these drafts was a letter from

Governor Bentley, similarly dated for the next day, informing Collier that

effective immediately, his “services will no longer be needed.” Mendelsohn

declined Byrne’s request on Collier’s behalf, and the termination letter from

Governor Bentley was delivered to Collier the next day. (Ex. 5-E at 2-4).

On March 22, 2016, Collier called Stan Stabler by telephone and told him

that he had the tapes of Bentley and Mason, as well as a video recording of

Stabler making racial comments, and would release them to the public. (Ex. 5-M

at 55). Later that day, the Office of the Governor issued a press release

announcing the termination of Collier as Secretary of Law Enforcement, and the

appointment of Stabler, effective immediately. The press release said:

253

Around 8 o’clock in the evening, on the same day of the meeting with the ALEA leaders about

the internal investigation, Mason was forwarded an email from a reporter letting the Governor’s

staff know that he would be publishing a story about ALEA’s handling of a different

investigation. Mason’s response to her colleagues was: “And what in the world does the Gov’s

Office have to do with ALEA cases?” (Ex. 5-CC at 5947).

254

Acting Head of ALEA Reports Possible Misuse of State Funds

, March 22, 2016, available at

http://www.alabamanews.net/2016/03/22/acting-head-of-alea-reports-possible-misuse-of-state-funds/.

108

After placing Spencer on medical leave a few weeks ago to

allow him to recover from back surgery, Acting ALEA

Secretary Stan Stabler identified several areas of concern in

the operations, policies and procedures at ALEA. After an

internal review, the ALEA Integrity Unit found a number of

issues, including possible misuse of state funds. I am

disappointed to learn these facts, and today, I relieved Spencer

Collier of his duties as ALEA Secretary.

255

According to the Mason-Bentley “TIMELINE,” Collier called Stabler on

March 23, 2016, while Stabler was at the Capitol preparing for a joint press

conference with Governor Bentley, and told him: “I have the tapes and I’m going

to release them in two hours.” Spencer Collier called a press conference for 1:00

p.m. that day at Mendelsohn’s office. Towards the end of the press conference, in

response to a question from a reporter, Collier said that he had just been told that

parts of the tapes had been released by Yellowhammer News.

E. Governor Bentley’s Release of the Incomplete Integrity Unit Report.

Robinson advised Special Agent Bickhaus to continue her internal

investigation even after the termination of Spencer Collier on March 22.

Bickhaus recalls she was told to “run it out” so that nothing would be left to

conjecture or speculation. She continued her investigation through the spring

and continued to comply with requests for documents and other information from

other investigative agencies.

Governor Bentley’s 11th hour selective compliance with the 1.

Committee’s Document Request.

On August 12, 2016, Special Counsel forwarded a formal Document

Request from the Committee to the Office of the Governor, requesting that

Governor Bentley produce responsive documents no later than September 2, 2016.

(Ex. 2-N). Governor Bentley refused to comply with the Committee’s request for

documents and instead “filed” “motions” with the Committee challenging the

constitutionality of the impeachment articles. (Exs. 6-C; 7-C through 7-H). On

September 14, 2016, after discussions with Governor Bentley’s lawyers about the

Document Request, Special Counsel sent Governor Bentley’s lawyers a list of

“subject matter topics . . . for the purpose of facilitating the Office of the

255

Governor Bentley Announces Termination of Spencer Collier as Alabama Law Enforcement

Agency Secretary, March 22, 2016, available at

http://governor.alabama.gov/newsroom/2016/03/governor-bentley-announces-termination-spencer-

collier-alabama-law-enforcement-secretary/.

109

Governor’s cooperation with the Committee.” (Ex. 6-Q). Special Counsel asked

that Governor Bentley produce documents by September 30, 2016.

In the meantime, the Committee scheduled a status conference for

September 27, 2016. The Committee invited Governor Bentley’s lawyers to

attend and permitted them to be heard. That morning, the Office of the Governor

suddenly produced 1,688 pages of documents to the Committee.

256

Included

prominently in these documents was Special Agent Bickhaus’s Integrity Unit

Case Report—both the interim draft report that had been emailed to Governor

Bentley in March, as well as an updated revised version. (Exs. 5-L; 5-M).

Although the Office of the Governor redacted certain names, identifying

information, and government serial numbers from the Case Reports, the

identities of most of the witnesses were not redacted, and their statements were

not redacted.

The timing of the conclusion of the Integrity Unit’s internal 2.

investigation.

On August 31, 2016, Michael Robinson instructed April Bickhaus to

conclude her internal investigation. Bickhaus did not feel that her investigation

was complete, however, for at least two reasons. First, Bickhaus was concerned

that there were allegations—especially allegations of sexual misconduct—that

had not been fully validated. Second, there was more that Bickhaus thought

should be investigated. Bickhaus was concerned about concluding her

investigation because she was still working on it, and nothing had been “signed

off on” by her supervisors.

Stabler agrees that the Case Report of the investigation was not complete

on August 31 because it had not been fully corroborated. Robinson says that he

instructed Bickhaus to conclude her work on August 31 because the investigation

“had completely consumed her.”

Within a couple days before the scheduled September 27 Judiciary

Committee status conference, David Byrne requested Bickhaus’s Case Report

from Michael Robinson. Robinson says he knew that the Office of the Governor

was under a deadline to produce documents to the Committee and believed that

the purpose of Byrne’s request was so that Governor Bentley could produce the

report to the Committee.

256

This hasty production was followed on October 10, 2016, after the issuance by the Committee of a

Subpoena for documents, with a document production of over twelve thousand pages from the Office

of the Governor.

110

Stabler and Robinson met and discussed Byrne’s request. They specifically

discussed the importance of, and the need to, redact witnesses’ names and other

sensitive information to protect the ALEA employees who volunteered to be

interviewed. Robinson says he also discussed his concern with David Byrne.

Ultimately, Robinson heard from a subordinate attorney on Governor Bentley’s

staff that the report would be appropriately redacted. Special Agent Bickhaus

emailed her Case Report to Stabler and Robinson, and Stabler forwarded it to

Byrne.

257

Governor Bentley publicly releases ALEA’s internal investigation 3.

Case Report.

Two days later, on September 29, 2016, Governor Bentley’s Press Secretary

received a request from an Associated Press reporter to make public all of the

documents that Governor Bentley had produced to the Committee. Governor

Bentley gave the documents to the reporter on the same day they were requested,

and they were published to the internet the same day.

258

Special Agent Bickhaus was in her car that day when her passenger—a

colleague—looked up from his iPhone and told Bickhaus that her Case Report

was on the internet. Bickhaus immediately pulled to the side of the road and

called Michael Robinson, who told her that Governor Bentley’s office had released

the report. Bickhaus was confused and angry. She was especially concerned

about the allegations in the internal report of sexual harassment against Spencer

Collier, which she says should have been investigated further to determine their

credibility. She says she was “cut off” before she could validate anything.

Bickhaus believes that names of witnesses and quotes attributed to them should

have been redacted from the released report.

Bickhaus drafted an email to each of the ALEA employees she interviewed

and explained to them that what had happened was not normal protocol.

(Bickhaus denies that the email was an “apology.”)

257

One of the few significant additions to the Case Report, as compared to the interim draft provided

to the Governor in March, was a paragraph about the Department of Public Examiners’ Report of

its examination of ALEA. The paragraph included the Report’s caveat that “Our examination did

not encompass managerial and operational matters, such as whether the Agency accomplished its

mission or its regulatory, enforcement, investigative, or other oversight activities in an efficient,

fair, timely, or legal manner.” Of note, a March 25, 2016 social media post by Spencer Collier had

been circulated in media reports in which he claimed that “Examiner of Public Accounts’

thorough, apolitical, third party review speaks volumes.”

See

Paul Gattis,

Audit found no issues

with ALEA; Bentley fired director over misuse of funds

, The Birmingham News, March 24, 2016,

available at http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/audit_finds_no_issues_with_ale.html.

258

Three additional redactions were made between the September 27 production to the Committee

and the September 29 release of the Case Report to the media. All three redactions were to Spencer

Collier’s home addresses.

111

Just after the Case Report hit the news, Robinson went to Stabler’s office.

Robinson believes it had been Stabler’s intent to protect the identities of the

ALEA employees who were interviewed. For his part, Robinson had believed

there would be more significant redactions to the report produced to the

Committee and says there should have been a more clear understanding with the

Office of the Governor about ALEA’s expectations of how the report would be

handled. He says he would have given his employees a heads up if he had known

the report would be made public. He also expressed concerns about employees

who had feared retaliation from Collier and were reluctant to be interviewed.

Robinson said he was also concerned for Spencer Collier, though he was glad

Governor Bentley’s office at least caught Collier’s un-redacted home addresses at

some point between production of the Case Report to the Committee and release

to the media.

Stan Stabler was unaware that Governor Bentley would release the Case

Report until the day it was to be released. He says Governor Bentley’s Press

Secretary Yasamie August called him on the morning of September 29 and told

him the report would be made public later that day. David Byrne later confirmed

August’s communication, and told Stabler that the Case Report was a public

document. Stabler says he had never seen an Integrity Unit report released in

this manner.

When asked if he believed the release of the Case Report was

“inappropriate,” Stabler replied instead, “I would rather it had not been released.”

He believes it should have been redacted to protect the identities of those

interviewed by Special Agent Bickhaus under the terms of the

Garrity

warnings.

If he had it to do over again, he says he would specifically ask the Office of the

Governor that the report not be released publicly, and then tell them more

explicitly why he was providing it to them.

Stabler says he was concerned because the public is not accustomed to

knowing the differences between an administrative investigation and a criminal

investigation. Stabler had believed that, whatever might be made public from a

criminal investigation, the administrative investigation would remain in-house.

The Results of the Integrity Unit Investigation. 4.

Other than the termination of Spencer Collier on March 22, 2016—three

weeks after the investigation was assigned, and over five months before its

conclusion—there were no actions taken as a result of the Integrity Unit

investigation. Each of the other personnel movements made by Stan Stabler—the

terminations of J.T. Jenkins, Jay Howell, Merritt Hayes, and Camilla Gibson, and

the transfer of Jack Wilson—Stabler says he would have made with or without an

investigation.

112

On October 20, 2016, the Attorney General’s Office released a Statement

“Regarding Former ALEA Secretary Spencer Collier.” The Statement announced,

in part:

On February 17, Governor Bentley placed then-ALEA

Secretary Spencer Collier on sick leave for allegedly disobeying

his instructions regarding Collier’s interactions with State

prosecutors. Shortly after the Governor’s action, ALEA

initiated a broad internal inquiry into Collier’s conduct as

ALEA Secretary.

On March 22, Governor Bentley fired Collier, stating publicly

that he relied on the ALEA inquiry in doing so. Governor

Bentley and ALEA issued public statements that the results of

the ALEA investigation indicated possible “misuse of state

funds” and were being referred to the Office of Attorney

General Luther Strange. . . .

In the course of the [criminal investigation before the Special

Grand Jury], no witness provided credible evidence of criminal

“misuse of state funds.” No witness provided credible evidence

of any other criminal violation on the part of Spencer Collier.

Finally, no witness established a credible basis for the

initiation of a criminal inquiry in the first place.

259

Statement of Attorney General Luther Strange Regarding Former ALEA Secretary Spencer

Collier, October 20, 2016, available at http://www.ago.state.al.us/News-936.

113

EXHIBIT INDEX

***Special Counsel identified and redacted from these exhibits certain personal identifying

information such as social security numbers, addresses and dates of birth. Those redactions are

made in red. Other redactions existed in the original production to Special Counsel.

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

Preservation Letters

1-A

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Alabama Council for

Excellent Government

1-B

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Jennifer Ardis

1-C

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Dianne Bentley

1-D

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to John Mark Bentley

1-E

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Luke Bentley

1-F

08/02/2016

Preservation letter to Matthew Bentley

1-G

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Paul Bentley

1-H

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Bentley for Governor,

Inc.

1-I

08/02/2016

Preservation letter to Paul Bryant, Jr.

1-J

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to David Byrne – Office

of the Governor

1-K

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Spencer Collier

1-L

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Marquita Davis

1-M

08/02/2016

Preservation letter to Michael Echols

1-N

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Joseph Espy –

Governor Robert Bentley

1-O

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Ross Garber – Office of

the Governor

1-P

08/03/2016

Preservation letter to Heath Garrett

1-Q

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Camilla Gibson

1-R

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to William Gray –

Rebekah Mason

1-S

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Seth Hammett

1-T

08/05/2016

Preservation letter to Elizabeth Hardwich

1-U

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Merritt Hays

1-V

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to James Howell

1-W

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to J.T. Jenkins

1-X

08/19/2016

Preservation letter to JRM Enterprises

1-Y

08/03/2016

Preservation letter to Wanda Kelly

1-Z

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Wendell Ray Lewis

1-AA

07/28/2016

Preservation letter to Charles Malone

1-BB

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Jon Mason

1-CC

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Kenneth Mendelsohn –

Spencer Collier

1-DD

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to David Perry

1-EE

08/03/2016

Preservation letter to Clayton Ryan

114

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

1-FF

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Robert Segall – RCM

Communications

1-GG

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Serve Alabama

1-HH

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Cooper Shattuck

1-II

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Stan Stabler

1-JJ

08/03/2016

Preservation letter to Angella Stalnaker

1-KK

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to John “Hal” Taylor

1-LL

07/29/2016

Preservation letter to Collier Tynes

1-MM

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Rochester Butler

Walker

1-NN

07/25/2016

Preservation letter to Jim Zeigler

Document Request Letters

2-A

08/23/2016

Document request letter to Alabama Council

for Excellent Government – Rich Raleigh

2-B

10/04/2016

Document request letter to Alabama Law

Enforcement Agency – Michael Robinson

2-C

09/08/2016

Document request letter to Jennifer Ardis

2-D

08/30/2016

Document request letter to Paul Bentley

2-E

08/12/2016

Document request letter to Governor Robert

Bentley – Joe Espy

2-F

08/23/2016

Document request letter to Bentley for

Governor, Inc. – Joe Espy

2-G

08/17/2016

Document request letter to Spencer Collier

2-H

08/30/2016

Document request letter to Michael Echols

2-I

09/08/2016

Document request letter to Seth Hammett –

Tommy Spina

2-J

08/23/2016

Document request letter to JRM Enterprises

2-K

08/30/2016

Document request letter to Wendell Ray

Lewis – John Saxon

2-L

08/23/2016

Document request letter to Jonathan Mason

2-M

08/17/2016

Document request letter to Rebekah Mason

2-N

08/12/2016

Document request letter to Office of the

Governor – Ross Garber

2-O

09/08/2016

Document request letter to David Perry

2-P

08/23/2016

Document request letter to RCM

Communications – Robert Segall

2-Q

09/23/2016

Document request letter to Clayton Ryan

2-R

08/30/2016

Document request letter to Cooper Shattuck

2-S

09/08/2016

Document request letter to Stan Stabler

2-T

09/08/2016

Document request letter to Stan Stabler -

ALEA

2-U

09/20/2016

Document request letter to Angella Stalnaker

– Joe Hubbard

115

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

2-V

09/20/2016

Document request letter to Collier Tynes –

Joe Hubbard

Subpoenas

3-A

09/29/2016

Subpoena to Alabama Council for Excellent

Government

3-B

03/28/2016

Subpoena to Linda Adams

3-C

03/17/2016

Subpoena to Alabama Law Enforcement

Agency

3-D

09/29/2016

Subpoena to Bentley for Governor, Inc.

3-E

08/01/2016

Subpoena to Bentley, Dianne

3-F

03/28/2016

Subpoena to Bickhaus, April

3-G

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Clark, Jack

3-H

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Culliver, Michael

3-I

09/29/2016

Subpoena to Echols, Michael

3-J

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Frost, Jennifer

3-K

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Harkins, Reginald

3-L

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Hines, Christopher

3-M

09/29/2016

Subpoena to JRM Enterprises

3-N

03/28/2016

Subpoena to Lee, Scott

3-O

09/29/2016

Subpoena to Mason, Jonathan

3-P

09/29/2016

Subpoena to Mason, Rebekah

3-Q

09/29/2016

Subpoena to Office of the Governor

3-R

09/29/2016

Subpoena to RCM Communications

3-S

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Michael Robinson

3-T

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Stan Stabler

3-U

03/28/2016

Subpoena to Stan Stabler

3-V

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Jason Swann

3-W

03/28/2016

Subpoena to Gene Wiggins

3-X

10/27/2016

Subpoena to Jack Wilson

Notices of Transcribed Statements Under Oath

4-A

10/24/2016

Notice of Transcribed Statement Under Oath

to Governor Robert Bentley

4-B

10/24/2016

Notice of Transcribed Statement Under Oath

to David Byrne

4-C

10/24/2016

Notice of Transcribed Statement Under Oath

to Wesley Helton

4-D

10/24/2016

Notice of Transcribed Statement Under Oath

to Zach Lee

Responses

5-A

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000001-000015,

ACEGOV

09/06/2016

Documents received from Alabama Council

of Excellent Government

116

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

5-B

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000001-000580,

ALEA

03/20/2017

Documents received from Alabama Law

Enforcement Agency (*1,092 pages were

produced at a later date)

5-C

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000001-000038,

Bentley, Dianne

08/29/2016

Documents received from Dianne Bentley

5-D

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000039, Bentley,

Dianne

08/29/2016

Audio file received from Dianne Bentley

5-E

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000001-000028,

Collier Spencer

10/03/2016

Documents received from Spencer Collier

5-F

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000001-000005

10/03/2016

Documents received from Seth Hammett

5-G

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000001-000032

09/21/2016

Documents received from Wendell Ray

Lewis

5-H

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000001-000004

03/16/2017

Documents received from Rochester Butler

Walker

5-I

Bentley

Impeachment

Investigation

000001-000019,

Fondon, Cheryl

Documents received from Cheryl Fondon

5-J

OTG00001-00002

04/28/18

Spencer Collier Affidavits (signed and

unsigned)

5-K

OTG00005

03/22/2016

Press Release: Governor Bentley Announces

Termination of Spencer Collier as Alabama

Law Enforcement Agency Secretary

5-L

OTG00006

03/22/2016

Resignation Letter of Spencer Collier (not

signed)

117

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

5-M

OTG00007-00067

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Integrity

Unit Case Report Case Agent: April

Bickhaus

5-N

OTG000068-

OTG000130

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Integrity

Unit Case Report Case Agent: April

Bickhaus (2 more pages)

5-O

OGT00188-

OTG00200

Timeline Re: Spencer Collier

5-P

OGT00206-

OTG00210

02/29/2016

Senator Orr letter, and Stabler-Hardwich

emails

5-Q

OTG00768-00772

State Aircraft Usage by Governor Bentley,

First Lady Dianne Bentley and Governor’s

Staff – First Quarter 2015

5-R

OTG00773-00778

State Aircraft Usage by Governor Bentley,

First Lady Dianne Bentley and Governor’s

Staff – Second Quarter 2015

5-S

OTG00779-00784

State Aircraft Usage by Governor Bentley,

First Lady Dianne Bentley and Governor’s

Staff – Third Quarter 2015

5-T

OTG00785-00790

State Aircraft Usage by Governor Bentley,

First Lady Dianne Bentley and Governor’s

Staff – Fourth Quarter 2015

5-U

OTG00791-00795

State Aircraft Usage by Governor Bentley,

First Lady Dianne Bentley and Governor’s

Staff – First Quarter 2016

5-V

OTG00796-00802

State Aircraft Usage by Governor Bentley,

First Lady Dianne Bentley and Governor’s

Staff – Second Quarter 2016

5-W

OTG00803

02/26/2015

Letter from Hugh R. Evans, III, General

Counsel for Alabama Ethics Commission to

Gregory P. Butrus of Balch & Bingham re:

Alabama Council for Excellent Government

5-X

OTG00804-00805

02/13/2015

Letter from Gregory P. Butrus of Balch &

Bingham to Hugh R. Evans, III, General

Counsel for Alabama Ethics Commission re:

Alabama Council for Excellent Government

5-Y

OTG00809

Memo re: The position of Senior Political

Advisor

5-Z

OTG00810

Senior Political Advisor Job Description

5-AA

OTG00811-001395

Governor’s Calendar (2015)

5-BB

OTG001396-

001688

Governor’s Calendar (Jan to Aug 2016)

118

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

5-CC

OTG001690-

001691

OTG001710-

001711

OTG001776

OTG001839

OTG001851-

001853

OTG001993

OTG002139-

002142

OTG002154-

002155

OTG005004

OTG005009-

005015

OTG005019-

005021

OTG005028-

005031

OTG005188-

005191

OTG005199

OTG005201

OTG005221-

005222

OTG005225

OTG005238-

005242

OTG005244-

005248

OTG005266-

005267

OTG005280

OTG005290-

005291

OTG005373

OTG005385

OTG005617-

005620

OTG005667-

005672

Emails and text messages produced by the

Office of the Governor

119

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

5-CC

(cont.)

OTG005776-

005779

OTG005925-

005929

OTG005946-

005948

OTG005960-

005961

OTG009113-

009117

OTG009122

OTG009127

OTG009130-

009131

OTG009258-

009398

OTG009444

OTG009458-

009461

OTG009495

OTG009530

OTG009539-

009540

OTG010822-

010823

OTG011148-

011149

OTG011584

OTG011631-

011633

OTG011634-

011635

OTG012316

OTG012362

Selected Correspondence

6-A

08/01/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Thomas Hale

regarding subpoena to Dianne Bentley

6-B

08/08/2016

Email correspondence with Jack Sharman

and Tommy Spina regarding preservation

letter sent to Seth Hammett

6-C

08/17/2016

Letter from Ross Garber, David Byrne and

Joseph Espy to Jack Sharman regarding

document request to Governor Robert

Bentley and the Office of the Governor of the

State of Alabama

120

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

6-D

08/23/2016

Letter from Bobby Segall to Jack Sharman

regarding document request to Rebekah

Mason

6-E

08/25/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Bobby Segall

regarding Rebekah Mason’s refusal to

cooperate in investigation

6-F

08/25/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Ross Garber,

David Byrne and Joseph Espy regarding

Renewed Motion to Suspend Proceedings

and Renewed Motion for Recusal

6-G

08/29/2016

Letter from Bobby Segall to Jack Sharman

regarding document request to RCM

Communications, Inc.

6-H

08/30/2016

Letter from Kenneth Mendelsohn to Jack

Sharman regarding document request to

Spencer Collier

6-I

09/06/2016

Letter from Richard Raleigh, Jr. to Jack

Sharman regarding response to document

request to Alabama Council for Excellent

Government

6-J

09/06/2016

Letter from Bobby Segall to Jack Sharman

regarding document request to Jon Mason

6-K

09/06/2016

Letter from Bobby Segall to Jack Sharman

regarding document request to JRM

Enterprises, Inc.

6-L

09/07/2016

Letter from Kenneth Mendelsohn to Jack

Sharman regarding document request to

Spencer Collier

6-M

09/08/2016

Email from David Perry to Jack Sharman and

Wes Gilchrist regarding document request

6-N

09/09/2016

Letter from Bernard Harwood to Jack

Sharman regarding document request to

Michael Echols

6-O

09/12/2016

Letter from Joe Espy to Jack Sharman

regarding document request to Bentley for

Governor, Inc.

6-P

09/14/2016

Letter from John Saxon to Jack Sharman

regarding document request to Wendell Ray

Lewis

6-Q

09/14/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Ross Garber

and David Byrne regarding document request

to Office of the Governor

6-R

09/15/2016

Letter from Steve Wright to Ben Willson

regarding enforceable subpoena to Dianne

Bentley

121

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

6-S

09/29/2016

Letter from David Byrne to Chairman Jones

and Jack Sharman regarding producing

documents to Kim Chandler, AP Reporter

6-T

10/10/2016

Letter from Ross Garber and David Byrne to

Jack Sharman regarding documents in

response to request

6-U

10/10/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Steve Wright

regarding enforceable subpoena

6-V

10/11/2016

Email from Ben Willson to Michael

Robinson regarding interviews of ALEA

employees

6-W

10/20/2016

Letter from Joe Hubbard to Wes Gilchrist

regarding non-participation of his clients

(Collier Tynes and Angella Stalnaker)

6-X

10/24/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Ross Garber

and David Byrne regarding non-cooperation

6-Y

10/24/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Max Pulliam

regarding document request to R.B. Walker

6-Z

10/24/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Ross Garber

and David Byrne regarding notices to

transcribe statement under oath of witnesses

Governor Robert Bentley, David Byrne,

Wesley Helton and Zach Lee

6-AA

10/27/2016

Letter from Governor Robert Bentley to

Honorable Mac McCutcheon, Speaker of the

House, regarding briefing of last six years as

Governor

6-BB

11/01/2016

Letter from Jack Sharman to Ross Garber

and David Byrne regarding follow up on

notices to take transcribed statements

6-CC

11/01/2016

Letter from Ross Garber and David Byrne to

Jack Sharman regarding response to non-

cooperation

6-DD

11/01/2016

Letter from David Byrne to Jack Sharman

regarding notice to take transcribed statement

under oath

6-EE

11/01/2016

Letter from Ross Garber and David Byrne to

Jack Sharman regarding notices to take

transcribed statements under oath

6-FF

03/15/2017

Letter from Max Pulliam to Wes Gilchrist

regarding documents produced by R.B.

Walker

6-GG

03/17/2017

Letter from Jack Sharman to Ross Garber

and David Byrne regarding resuming

impeachment investigation

122

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

6-HH

03/20/2017

Letter from Ross Garber and David Byrne to

Chairman Jones regarding white paper on

Due Process in Impeachment Proceedings

6-II

03/21/2017

Letter from Ross Garber and David Byrne to

Jack Sharman regarding resumption of

investigation

6-JJ

03/23/2017

Letter from Jack Sharman to Ross Garber

and David Byrne regarding tentative

schedule for impeachment proceedings

6-KK

03/27/2017

Letter from Ross Garber and David Byrne to

Jack Sharman regarding impeachment

proceedings

6-LL

04/04/2017

Letter from Tim McCollum (ALEA) to

Brandon Essig regarding document

production

Motions, Orders and Other Filings

7-A

08/02/2016

Standard of Impeachment Statement – Office

of the Governor of Alabama

7-B

08/08/2016

Order admitting Susan Murphy pro hac vice

for The Office of the Governor of Alabama

and Robert Bentley in his official capacity

7-C

08/11/2016

Governor Robert Bentley’s Motion for

Recusal of Committee Members

7-D

08/11/2016

Governor Robert Bentley’s Motion to

Suspend Proceedings

7-E

08/15/2016

Governor Robert Bentley’s Motion for

Recusal of Committee Members - DENIED

7-F

08/15/2016

Governor Robert Bentley’s Motion to

Suspend Proceedings - DENIED

7-G

08/16/2016

Governor Bentley’s Renewed Motions to

Suspend and For Recusal and Request for

Hearing with exhibits

7-H

08/17/2016

Governor Robert Bentley’s Notice of

Supplemental Materials in Support of Motion

for Recusal of Committee Members

7-I

08/31/2016

Notice – Mike Jones, Chairman Alabama

House Judiciary Committee

7-J

10/10/2016

Objection of Jonathan Mason to Subpoena

or, in the alternative, Motion to Quash

Subpoena

7-K

10/10/2016

Objection of JRM Enterprises, Inc. to

Subpoena or, in the alternative, Motion to

Quash Subpoena

123

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

7-L

10/10/2016

Objection to “Subpoena” or, in the

alternative, Motion to “Quash Subpoena” –

Office of the Governor with exhibits

7-M

10/10/2016

Objection to, and Motion to Quash,

Subpoena – Michael Echols

7-N

10/10/2016

Objection of RCM Communications, Inc. to

Subpoena or, in the alternative, Motion to

Quash Subpoena

7-O

10/10/2016

Objection of Rebekah Mason to Subpoena

or, in the alternative, Motion to Quash

Subpoena

7-P

03/30/2017

Emergency Motion to Afford Due Process

Protections – Governor Robert Bentley and

Office of the Governor

7-Q

04/04/2017

Proposed Scheduling Order – Governor

Robert Bentley and Office of the Governor

House Resolutions

8-A

03/19/2015

HB336 To repeal existing Article VII of the

Constitution of Alabama of 1901, relating to

impeachments, and to add a new Article VII,

relating to impeachments

8-B

04/05/2016

HR226 Article of Impeachment Against

Governor Bentley

8-C

04/26/2016

HR334 Amending House Rules to Provide

for Impeachment Procedures

8-D

04/28/2016

HR367 Articles of Impeachment Against

Governor Bentley

8-E

08/18/2016

HB57 Bill to provide subpoena power during

impeachment

8-F

06/15/2016

Committee Rules of the House of Judiciary

Committee for the Impeachment of Governor

Robert Bentley

8-G

09/27/2016

Amended Committee Rules of the House

Judiciary Committee for the Impeachment

Investigation of Governor Robert Bentley

Interviews Under Oath including exhibits

9-A

08/02/2016

Heather Hannah Transcript with exhibits

9-B

03/31/2017

Wendell Ray Lewis Transcript with exhibits

9-C

04/04/2017

Linda Adams Transcript with exhibits

Miscellaneous Exhibits

10-A

Seth Hammett Confidentiality Agreement

(Exhibit 2 to Exhibit 1 of Heather Hannah

transcript)

10-B

Alabama Council for Excellent Government

website archives

124

Exhibit #

Bates Range

Date

Description

10-C

Bentley Campaign Expenditures to RCM

Communications

10-D

OTG008024-

008029

OTG005259-

005265

OTG005281-

005285

RCM Communications Invoices to Bentley

for Governor

10-E

Payments from Bentley for Governor, Inc. to

RCM Communications, Inc. – Summary

report

10-F

02/03/2017

Letter from William Athanas to Alabama

State Ethics Commission regarding 2016

Annual Report Filing by Bentley For

Governor, Inc.

10-G

Statement from Rebekah Mason