3 crisis lessons from an Alabama politician’s fall from grace
After denying a relationship with his chief advisor and other illegal activities, Robert Bentley stepped down as governor and pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Here are the takeaways.
Robert Bentley recently resigned as Alabama’s governor and pleaded guilty to two criminal charges after the scandal, which took seed just over a year ago, grew too large to contain.
The brouhaha included amorous text messages and phone calls to aide Rebekah Caldwell Mason, as well as the firing of Alabama’s secretary of law enforcement, Spencer Collier.
At a press conference in April 2016, Bentley issued an apology. In it, Bentley said, “I’ve asked God to forgive me, because that’s the most important thing.”
However, a simple apology couldn’t whitewash a scandal that large.
On April 4, 2016, Alabama lawmakers began the process to impeach Bentley. The former governor lashed out on Twitter and called the move a “political attack”:
There are no grounds for impeachment, & I will vigorously defend myself & administration from this political attack. https://t.co/6yUH6APOeB
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