Abdul Kallon (From al.com)

Merrick Garland (From nytimes.com)

Charlotte-based Campus Crest Communities, which develops student housing near college campuses, recently issued a $380-million IPO. But according to the lawsuit, the company takes specific steps to avoid hiring blacks for certain positions and fosters a racially hostile environment for the blacks who do work there.

Plaintiff Nicole McAuliffe says in the complaint that Campus Crest McAuliffe practiced blatant discrimination against people of color. She and other staff members were directed to hire predominantly young, white women to available positions at the company's various residential rental properties. She was directed to provide her superiors with photographs taken from the FaceBook or MySpace pages of all applicants she recommended to ensure they were not African American.

One supervisor told McAuliffe, “We have Southern investors; they do not like for us to hire blacks.” Another supervisor stated, "Once you hire an African American, you never can get rid of them because they think they are so entitled.” Several black administrative staff worked in a certain section of the corporate office, and that became known among higher-ups as the "hood."

Qualified blacks--as well as qualified applicants over the age of 40--routinely were excluded from employment opportunities at Campus Crest's residential properties around the country, McAuliffe says.

Ted Rollins, CEO of Campus Crest, helped create the racially hostile environment, McCormack says. Rollins said one black property manager had caused a section of his apartment complex to fall into disrepair because he had been "throwing out his chicken grease at night."

McCormack faced questions when she hired a black female as one of her direct reports at the Charlotte office. "Who hired the black girl with the red hair?" said one of McCormack's superiors. McCormack says she was under constant pressure to terminate the new employee for false reasons.

Plaintiff Tammy Hughes-Brown says in the complaint that Rollins made it a practice to mimic the voice of a black male in her presence, insisting that he sounded just like Bernie Mac, the late African-American comedian.

For the company's 2009 annual meeting, Rollins and Chief Investment Officer Mike Hartnett presented a DVD that featured the two of them wearing large, 1960s-style "Afros." During a portion of the DVD, Hartnett mimics the voice of a black male, and both executives engage in sexually and racially charged remarks.

Ted Rollins

Thomas Plouff

I left the United States Attorneys Office in 1993. I knew I wanted to continue as a trial attorney, which in my mind left two options: defending criminals or personal injury work, as these are the areas where trials are most frequent. My wife having eliminated the former, I became a personal injury attorney in Chicago. It was the right decision. I have had the good fortune of being the lead trial attorney on jury verdicts that include a record $5.3 million jury verdict for a knee injury in a trip and fall case; $1.2 million jury verdict for an unoperated compression fracture at L5 in a construction case; and most recently, June 2007, $11.11 million medical malpractice jury verdict for failure to diagnose bacterial meningitis.

Dr. Anne Marie Oberheu and daughter, Caroline Plouff

Abdul Kallon (From al.com)

Campus Crest Communities, which develops student housing near college campuses, is charged in Charlotte federal court with creating a work environment that is hostile to women and African-Americans. Two plaintiffs in the lawsuits, Nicole McAuliffe and Heather McCormack, say they were terminated after complaining of a sexually hostile work environment at Campus Crest. A third plaintiff, Tammy Hughes-Brown, says she has faced discrimination because she is an African-American. . . .

Nicole McAuliffe was hired as an area manager at Campus Crest's Charlotte headquarters in October 2008. She was paid a salary of $82,500, with a bonus potential of $50,000. But she quickly discovered that the workplace was hostile and demeaning toward women, driven largely by Chief Operating Officer Brian Sharpe. McAuliffe's complaint states:

"Sharpe, on a frequent and/or daily basis, used the term “fuck” and “fucking,” in his verbal communications in the workplace. Sharpe further referred to women in the office as “cunts,” “bitches” and “whores” and referred to Defendant’s marketing team as the “whore’s den.” On more than one occasion, Sharpe, in the presence of Plaintiff and others, referred to Shannon King as a “cunt.” On another occasion, while on the corporate jet with Sharpe and others, Sharpe made derogatory and misogynistic remarks about Heather McCormack, Defendant’s Vice-President of Administrative Operations, calling her a “fucking bitch” and threatening to “rip her fucking head off.”

Shannon King, who had been executive vice president and chief marketing officer, resigned from Campus Crest in October. McAuliffe's complaint provides insight into why King and other women might have been uncomfortable at Campus Crest:

"Also, Sharpe, in Plaintiff’s presence, complained about a race discrimination complaint made by another female employee of Defendant and stated he “couldn’t believe she had fucking done this [made a complaint]” and that “if our employees don’t want to work,  they should fucking get out.” On yet another occasion, Plaintiff heard Sharpe shout sex-based obscenities at McCormack and observed that Sharpe had become so angry and agitated that he popped a blood vessel in his eye."

"Further, Plaintiff heard Ted Rollins frequently yell at Heather McCormack to “go get the fucking money.” On yet other occasions, Rollins insisted that all attractive female applicants for employment be introduced to Brian Sharpe; alternatively, if Rollins saw an attractive applicant for employment in the office, he would bring Sharpe in to meet her."

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta

Use of non-published opinions, which with very rare exceptions are non-precedential, has reached the point that they are a significant factor affecting the handling and outcome of state and federal civil and criminal cases.

The innocent are one class of litigants affected by the surreptitious and pervasive use of nonpublished opinions. They are likely affected more profoundly than any other identifiable group, because non-published opinions are being used by judges (and prosecutors) as a tool to deny under the cover of darkness the very thing the courts are not just touted as offering, but which is their very reason for existing — to offer litigants the opportunity for “justice. . . .”

Any institutional procedure that undermines the likelihood that a person will be fairly and impartially treated is unacceptable in a society committed to observing “justice” as a real and vibrant guidepost, and not just a meaningless catchphrase intended to placate the masses of people who will never find out how illusory of a concept it can be within the four corners of a courtroom.

Frankly, I have had more than enough of judicial opinions that bear no relationship whatsoever to the cases that have been filed and argued before the judges.

I am talking about judicial opinions that falsify the facts of the cases that have been argued, judicial opinions that make disingenuous use or omission of material authorities, judicial opinions that cover up these things with no-publication and no-citation rules.”

In 2000, the 8th Circuit went so far as to declare that a circuit rule allowing unpublished opinions without precedential value violated Article III of the Constitution. See Anastasoff v. U.S., 223 F.3d 898 (8th Cir., 2000). Judge Richard S. Arnold’s opinion held that the “judicial power” in Article III, though undefined, is limited and that courts do not have the power to issue decisions—whether published or unpublished—without precedential value, because precedent is the very foundation of the common law system. Although later vacated on other grounds, 235 F.3d 1054 (8th Cir. 2000), the decision generated much debate among judges and legal scholars.

The Supreme Court has criticized the practice of issuing unpublished decisions in consequential cases. Reversing an unpublished 4th Circuit decision, the Supreme Court “deem[ed] it remarkable and unusual” that, in holding an Act of Congress unconstitutional, the court of appeals “found it appropriate to announce its judgment in an unpublished per curiam opinion.”U.S. v. Edge Broadcasting Co., 509 U.S. 418, 425 n.3 (1993). Similarly, Justice John Paul Stevens’ dissent in County of Los Angeles v. Kling, 474 U.S. 936, 938 (1985), denounced the 9th Circuit’s decision not to publish its opinion as “plainly wrong,” likening it to “spawning a body of secret law.”

The late Prof. Monroe H. Freedman

James F. Henry (From babc.com)

Jim Henry has extensive experience representing a broad spectrum of health care providers, including hospitals, senior housing and long term care facilities, physicians and physician practices, hospices, home health providers, pharmacies, and medical equipment providers. His practice encompasses operational counseling, regulatory advice, and protecting the rights of health care providers before various regulatory agencies and in state and federal courts. Jim regularly provides advice and counsel in matters relating to Stark law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, HIPAA, contract arrangements, survey and certification, licensing, reimbursement and others.

In addition to providing daily advice and counsel to health care providers, Jim handles litigation in the state and federal courts in Alabama and Mississippi. Jim has extensive experience in defending cases involving allegations of health care fraud and malpractice. He has also prosecuted numerous appeals of federal and state agency determinations.

543 Bristol Lane, Homewood (From redfin.com)

Gov. Robert Bentley and Rebekah Caldwell Mason (From HBTV.us)

Spencer Collier (From alreporter.com)

Spencer Collier, head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency until he was fired today, said this afternoon he has seen and investigated text messages and audio recordings "of a sexual nature" between Gov. Robert Bentley and his chief advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

It is the first on-the-record confirmation of a long-rumored affair from someone claiming personal knowledge of what took place, though people close to the governor argue it is the last gasp of an angry man.

But Collier lays out times and dates.

Collier, who was placed on medical leave by the governor last month, said he saw and heard evidence of the relationship in 2014 and approached the governor – who he considered a friend and father figure. He said the governor confirmed the relationship, but vowed to end it quickly.

"It's a horrible, ugly episode and I am ashamed to have been around it," Collier said. "But I told him I would never lie for him."

Collier said the first evidence of an affair arose Aug. 2, 2014, when Stan Stabler – who took his place as the head of ALEA – saw a text message from Mason on Bentley's cell phone. Collier said Stabler saw the message after the governor dropped his phone at a Business Council of Alabama conference at Point Clear.

He said Stabler notified his then-boss, former Bentley security officer Ray Lewis, of the "sexual nature" of the text. . . .

Three days later, at 3 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2014, Lewis brought a laptop to Collier and played an audiotape of conversations between the governor and Mason, Collier said. The tape, purportedly created by a Bentley family member hoping for an "intervention," left no doubt about the relationship, he said.

"'If we're gonna do what we did yesterday we're going to have to lock that door,'" Collier says Mason said.

The governor responded, Collier maintains, with improper comments about "her breasts and behind."

The "Love Doctor," with his aide who has bodacious boobs and a fine behind.

Yellowhammer was given exclusive access to the content of audio recordings captured by Dianne Bentley, Governor Bentley’s ex-wife, during which Governor Bentley makes sexual advances on and recalls sexual encounters with Rebekah Mason, his former communications director who has since become his most senior external advisor. Mrs. Mason’s husband, Jon, also serves in the Bentley administration as Director of Serve Alabama, the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Volunteer Service.

One of the recordings was captured while Governor and Mrs. Bentley were visiting their beach house.

Mrs. Bentley, who had suspected the affair, went for a walk on the beach, but left her cell phone behind recording the audio of what took place in her absence.

During that time period, Governor Bentley can be heard making a phone call to “Rebekah” that includes sexual references to their time together. The Governor also expressed a desire to “FaceTime” so they could see each other.

A second recording appears to have been made at the Governor’s residence.

In the recordings, the Governor calls Mrs. Mason “baby” and discusses how much he enjoys standing behind her and touching her breasts. He also references a past encounter and says if they are going to do “that” again, they will need to start locking the door and also consider moving “Wanda’s” desk further away, presumably referencing executive assistant Wanda Kelly, whose Capitol office is just outside of the Governor’s.

References were also made to encounters that took place at Blount House, a 12,336-square-foot, Georgian-style home in Montgomery that serves as a second Governor’s Mansion. The property was donated to the state in 2008 by the family of the late businessman Wynton “Red” Blount. It was valued at $28 million at the time.

Mark Felt, who later was revealed as "Deep Throat," the anonymous source who broke open the Watergate scandal. (From theguardian.com)

Here's the story: On Tuesday, the two-term governor fired the state's top cop. That same day, the now-fired top cop told AL.com that Bentley had been having an affair with one of his top advisers. And he said he could prove it.

The governor has denied affair rumors in the past, calling them "ridiculous. . . . "
Bentley hasn't been able to shake that over the past year, whether in unsubstantiated blogs or in the halls of Alabama's capitol, there has been a rumor swirling he was having an affair with his chief adviser, Rebekah Caldwell Mason. (Mason is married, but Bentley's 50-year marriage officially ended this fall, an abrupt ending that Bentley has said shocked him.)

Amber Phillips, Washington Post (From LinkedIn)

Chief among the Post's anonymous sources was an individual whom Woodward and Bernstein had nicknamed Deep Throat; 33 years later, in 2005, the informant was identified as William Mark Felt, Sr., deputy director of the FBI during that period of the 1970s, something Woodward later confirmed. Felt met secretly with Woodward several times, telling him of Howard Hunt's involvement with the Watergate break-in, and that the White House staff regarded the stakes in Watergate extremely high. Felt warned Woodward that the FBI wanted to know where he and other reporters were getting their information, as they were uncovering a wider web of crimes than the FBI first disclosed. In one of their last meetings, all of which took place at an underground parking garage somewhere in Rosslyn from the FBI on June 22, 1973, Felt also planted leaks about Watergate to Time magazine, the Washington Daily News and other publications.

Robert Bentley: From sex scandal to criminal misuse of law-enforcement resources. (From apr.com)

Gov. Robert Bentley pressured law enforcement officers to use federal and state resources to target those critical of his relationship with senior advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason, according to high ranking officers and staff.

In an effort to find potentially damaging information on those who spoke out against the couple, Bentley instructed top law enforcement agents to investigate private citizens, in direct conflict with the law, said those close to the matter. (These individuals spoke on background to alreporter.com because of a criminal investigation surrounding this and other matters).

Two individuals with detailed knowledge of the incidents say Bentley ordered the use of the National Crime Information Center, (NCIC) and the Law Enforcement Tactical System (LETS) to find any incriminating evidence that might be used against attorney Donald V. Watkins, and Legal Schnauzer blogger Roger Shuler.

The Governor’s relationship with Rebekah Mason raised eyebrows around the Capitol and with Mrs. Bentley. Rebekah Mason was quickly emerging as the Governor’s voice on any important speech or comment made by him during his first term. In time, Rebekah Mason would run the state of Alabama through her special personal relationship with Bentley.

By July 2013, Rebekah Mason had moved out of the governor’s office to serve as the communications director for Bentley’s re-election campaign. After the election, she became Bentley’s “Senior Political Advisor”. The two became inseparable. Bentley fell in love with Rebekah Mason. She became his paramour. After achieving paramour status, Mason had unfettered access to state trooper transportation, the state aircraft, the Governor’s mansion, and a host of other state resources and privileges typically reserved for the First Lady.

In an interview with alreporter.com Watkins said, “I knew he was targeting me, I have known for years that Bentley was upset by my public criticism of his administration and his policies.”

Watkins said Bentley first targeted him in 2013 using banking regulators: “We came under excessive regulatory review and are still under excessive regulatory review,” said Watkins.

He said in 2014 Bentley asked the SEC to investigate his businesses, even through they are not under SEC regulation. “That investigation went nowhere,” said Watkins.

But again, in 2015, Bentley sought a criminal investigation, according to Watkins, “I provided the investigators with all the documentation and that case was close within 30 days.”

“Every case started with a hint or a suggestion of impropriety on my part by Bentley’s Office and each case went nowhere,” said Watkins.

ALEA was twice asked to conduct a criminal investigation into Watkins, this has been confirmed by law enforcement officers.

Washington Post report about The White House Plumbers (From Washington Post)

The Alabama Political Reporter has already confirmed the US Department of Justice is investigating the firings at ALEA, and if actions against Collier and others were part of a cover-up orchestrated by Bentley and Mason.

Shuler, on his site Legal Schnauzer, has written numerous articles on Bentley and Mason. In an August 2015 post he wrote, “Rebekah Caldwell Mason, a married mother of three from Bentley’s home base of Tuscaloosa, was the governor’s mistress in an affair that sources say raises a number of possible legal issues–including use of the state jet and a state trooper’s services for personal reasons that had nothing to do with Bentley’s official role.” He also wrote, “[S]ources say, quickly became more than just a communications director to Bentley. Their affair became so widely known that it diluted any moral authority the governor might have had. He’s been impotent as governor for at least the last six months,” one source told Legal Schnauzer. “People have been going into his office and saying, ‘Do what I want or I’m going to play the girlfriend card.’”

While the media’s and public’s attention has been primary focused on the alleged affair, Bentley’s real problems are the issues before law enforcement.

Could Gov. Robert Bentley, and mistress Rebekah Caldwell Mason, have criminal charges in their futures. (From alreporter.com)

Rebekah Caldwell Mason, sources say, quickly became more than just a communications director to Bentley. Their affair became so widely known that it diluted any moral authority the governor might have had. "He's been impotent as governor for at least the last six months," one source told Legal Schnauzer."People have been going into his office and saying, 'Do what I want or I'm going to play the girlfriend card.' People have been running all over him."

While many cabinet members are making more money this year, four cabinet members received raises of about $70,000, according to state pay records.

The salaries of Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Director Jim Byard, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Administrator Mac Gipson, Revenue Commissioner Julie Magee and Insurance Commissioner Jim Ridling increased from $91,014 to about $164,000. The pay increases were first reported . . . by the blog Inside Alabama Politics.

I have . . . been told that Bentley's trooper facilitated the affair, and that the state jet was used extensively to facilitate it. And that Bentley and Mason actually used it as a bedroom at times when Mrs. Bentley was still living in the mansion. . . . The use of state resources to facilitate an affair would surely violate state law. . . .

The Bentley-Mason affair, in the aftermath of Dianne Bentley's divorce complaint, has left the governor's administration teetering. Legal fallout from the affair could have ugly consequences, including Bentley's resignation and a possible criminal investigation.

Rebekah and Jon Mason

I have resigned as Senior Political Advisor to Governor Bentley and will no longer be paid from his campaign fund. I have also ended my work with the Alabama Council For Excellent Government. My only plans are to focus my full attention on my precious children and my husband who I love dearly. They are the most important people in my life. Thank you for your prayers for our family.

It's official. Alabama Republican Governor Robert Bentley is not resigning. Instead, he is throwing political consultant/swinging partner Rebekah Mason and her husband Jonathan under the bus. Bentley is also expected to sacrifice chief legal advisor David Byrne in a desperate bid to save his job.

Bentley is privately telling a few trusted friends that Rebekah and Byrne are to blame for everything involved in his "sex for power" scandal and public corruption activities because he simply trusted them and relied upon their professional advice. He is also claiming that Rebekah started flirting with him early on in their professional relationship and eventually seduced him around 2014. According to Bentley, he gave in to Rebekah's charm, but has now come to his senses.

Remarkably, Bentley thinks the public will forgive him if he distances himself from Rebekah. The governor is implementing the deal he struck with AL.com in exchange for their editorial board support. He is forcing Rebekah to resign.

If I were Rebekah's lawyer, I would strongly recommend that she contact the federal agents who are investigating this matter ASAP because Bentley has already decided his course of action. Rebekah should tell federal investigators all that she knows.

Jessica Garison, with Luther Strange (From marieclaire.com)

Federal and state criminal investigators are hot on the trail of Alabama’s newest “Bonnie and Clyde” couple. Bentley’s case is dripping with evidence of wire and mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and racketeering violations under federal law, among other charges. At the end of the day, Robert Bentley is nothing more than a lovesick “swinger” and hardcore “racketeer” who ran a criminal enterprise out of the governor’s office and who sponsored his illicit love affair with taxpayer dollars and donations/funneled money to various organizations. . . .

Reports are flooding into our Facebook news team about certain “pay-to-play” contracts that implicate Bentley and Rebekah directly. It seems that the loving couple found an effective way to circumvent public oversight, transparency and competitive bid laws by channeling millions of public dollars into entities like the Workforce Councils of Alabama and others legitimate agencies and then directing the recipient agency to execute vendor contracts with certain special friends and supporters.

Now that federal investigators are following the money, Bentley has stopped talking.

I wish that's where my story ended. In a way, it is—but another chapter just opened.

The week before last, I got a call from a man who works in Alabama politics. He was upset about rumors swirling around the recent announcement of Governor Robert Bentley's impending divorce. Bentley's wife filed papers in late August, which prompted the same blogger who lied about me to write that the cause was primarily the result of an affair with one of his aides, Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

I had no idea if any of this was true—all I knew was that it brought back all the anxiety, stress, and sadness that had consumed me for months when I was the target of the same man.

I have since learned that Rebekah has retained a lawyer, and while I don't know the details of her case, I do know this: I am proud of her for fighting for her name and reputation. If more women fight back, then maybe, just maybe, people like Shuler will stop seeing us as easy targets—and more as forces better not reckoned with.

Rebekah Caldwell Mason

Gov. Robert Bentley personally bought multiple inexpensive, disposable cell phones last year at a Best Buy in Tuscaloosa, according to current and former employees of the electronics store. . . .

Two employees – one current and one former – of the Best Buy location in the Midtown Village shopping center in Tuscaloosa told AL.com Thursday that they had each personally sold a single disposable cell phone to Bentley last year.

"[U]p until the scandal came to light, Bentley HIMSELF would by (sic) little burner phones ... I witnessed it with my own 2 eyes and even sold him one," the current Best Buy employee wrote via online message. "I sold to him once, saw him purchase twice."

The current employee said that on both occasions, Bentley purchased inexpensive AT&T flip phones, "the type you buy minutes for. They cost around 15 bucks."

The former Best Buy employee corroborated the general thrust of the current employee's story in a phone conversation Thursday morning.

Gov. Robert Bentley spent $1,732.68 on "cell phones and prepaid wireless" at Best Buy last year, Bentley's state campaign finance records reveal.

The evidence of the expenditure bolsters the stories of two employees – one former, one current – of the Best Buy in Tuscaloosa's Midtown Village shopping center who told AL.com Thursday that they each personally sold a single disposable "burner" cell phone to Bentley last year.

Disposable "burner" cell phones (From inquisitr.com)

On Thursday, WSFA reported that former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) Chief Spencer Collier, met with agents under the authority of US Attorney for the Middle District, George Beck. Scant details of the meeting are known at this time, but it is believed that in recent days, Beck’s office has been gathering information concerning a number of issues surrounding the Bentley Administration.

Reportedly, the FBI is looking into the firings at ALEA, the closing of criminal investigations, the use of NCIC and LETS to target enemies, and Bentley’s relationship with his now former senior advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason and her husband, Jon. Bentley’s order to lie and not provide an affidavit to the Attorney General, in relation to the Speaker Mike Hubbard criminal case, is also believed to be of interest to the US Attorney, as well as Bentley’s 501(c)4.

For now, persons of interest are believed to be, Bentley, Mason, Jon Mason, plus, current ALEA Secretary Stan Stabler, and SBI Director Gene Wiggins.

Also according to law enforcement officers, Bentley ordered Collier to use the NCIC data base and the State’s LETS, to launch an investigation into critics Donald V. Watkins and Roger Shuler.

What do we know?

Bentley ordered Collier to use the NCIC data base and the State’s LETS, to launch an investigation into critics, Donald V. Watkins and Roger Shuler. Collier claims he refused.

What do we think?

If Bentley was targeting private citizens, this could be a serious abuse of power. Did Bentley have others targeted in other ways?

What can we prove?

Bentley ordered Collier to use the NCIC data base and the State’s LETS system. Collier did not comply.

The revelation that Collier met with agents from the US Attorney’s Office further confirms that events surrounding the affidavit, the firings at ALEA and other actions related to the Bentley-Mason affair, have generated more than just public outrage.

Gov. Robert Bentley, with al.com mouthpiece Chuck Dean (From al.com)

Throughout the ordeal Bentley, reluctant to talk about the deeply personal issue, would only say it was a personal, family matter.

And he never addressed the unfounded rumors of an affair.

Until now.

"The rumors were not true," said Bentley.

The governor then seemed to let out months of pent up frustrations.

"There were people on blogs and people in the press who crossed the line. They truly crossed the line. People on talk radio crossed the line," said Bentley.

Bentley said it's hard as a public official to address the kind of rumors that were being spread and he said he felt to directly address them would only serve in some cases to give them credibility.

Bentley said the rumors hurt many people.

"There were many people – my own family and there were a lot of other families – many people, people that I love, that I care about, they went through some difficult times because people were able to say whatever they wanted to say. They were just ridiculous. I don't know how anyone could ever believe them."

Lowell Barron (From politico.com)

[Mason] got $500,000 in his campaign . . .That's the same thing Luther Strange did; he paid his mistress, Ms. Garrison, $450,000 to $460,000 during his campaign. They were fussing at me paying my assistant a $50,000 bonus when my campaign was over . . . these people have done much worse . . . With the evidence out on Bentley now, it's pretty obvious what has been going on behind closed doors with him and the young lady they say is really the governor. . . . It's just sad.

Jessica Garrison and Luther Strange (From marieclaire.com)

Luther Strange is so compromised that he cannot go after the governor. What happened in my case . . . my attorney asked the judge to allow us to get Luther Strange to testify in my case. The judge left that open and didn't rule on it. Once the judge didn't rule on whether we could put Luther Strange on the stand, my case went away.

Luther Strange cannot stand to be deposed or be put on the stand because his shenanigans with Ms. Garrison would come out in the open. This whole bunch is compromised. You can't have clean government when you are dirty. Nothing is going to happen [in the Bentley case] with the attorney general's office. I'm shocked they've done anything about the speaker.

I do not think Bentley will resign. After that disastrous divorce settlement, he's given away all his assets. He doesn't have another job. . . . He's getting older, and I'm not sure he could practice medicine anymore. What's he going to do to make a living? . . . He's ruined his history. I think [Ms. Mason] and her husband will milk this cow for all that's there; it's money for them.  . . . Bentley is an old man getting his jollies off, but he got elected on Republican family values."

Running for political office based on who is the most religious. . . . Ted Cruz is another example; it just came out that he's had five or six affairs. These are corrupt people hiding behind God. We are electing scummy, crummy people. The people who voted for Bentley and Luther Strange need to look in the mirror and say, "I'm responsible for this foolishness, and I'm going to be better informed voter in next election.

"There is nothing Christian about any of our current leadership. The speaker is indicted on 23 felony counts. Luther Strange carried on an infamous relationship with Jessica Garrison, and he's still in office. It goes on and on.

Robert Bentley and Rebekah Mason (From nytimes.com)

Our Facebook news team has confirmed this afternoon that federal prosecutors in Washington are expected to bring public corruption charges against Governor Robert Bentley and his mistress/political consultant, Rebekah Mason. Other gubernatorial and campaign staffers may be charged as well.

The focus of the federal probe is on Bentley and Mason, and it is intense. Mason’s involvement in the corruption scheme was more extensive than what has been publicly reported.

In violation of federal laws, the governor also ordered state law enforcement officials to use the federal National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and the Law Enforcement Tactical System (LETS), as well as data banks of other state and federal regulatory agencies, to find any incriminating evidence that might be used against Legal Schnauzer blogger Roger Alan Shuler and me. Accessing the national criminal databases for the purpose of retaliating against the governor’s critics and political adversaries is a federal offense.

Prosecutors have determined that they do not need the assistance or cooperation of Rebekah Mason in bringing the expected criminal charges. They have determined that the Bentley-Mason public corruption was widespread, ingrained, and fairly open. Staffers who tried to reign in this corruption were chastised by the governor and, in some cases, fired and later smeared.

This morning, Bentley announced that he has asked God to forgive him. He again asked the people of Alabama to forgive him. Bentley did not specify why he needed forgiveness. Federal prosecutors, however, are not expected to forgive the governor.

Despite a mountain of evidence that Bentley personally directed or approved specific acts of public corruption, the governor has refused to resign. Individuals with close contact with the governor say that Bentley is erratic, delusional, and paranoid at this juncture. For this reason, federal prosecutors are considering expediting the initiation of the criminal justice process by filing of a prosecutor’s “complaint,” as opposed to using the longer and more standard criminal indictment process.

Our news team was not able to confirm when the criminal charges against Bentley and Mason will be filed.

Stay tuned.

Chuck Dean

Anyone who has doubts about the importance of journalists in 2016 need be acquainted only with the reporting team at AL.com, the largest statewide news organization in Alabama. The group's reporters cracked open a scandal involving their governor's alleged infidelity last week and have been covering the unpredictable fallout aggressively ever since.

Several media outlets--bloggers and radio talkers--this morning cited "sources" as they reported that Gov. Robert Bentley has without question had an affair with a female staff member, a torrid love cuddle that caused the governor's wife of a half century, Dianne Bentley, to file for divorce and ask for everything the guy ever made.

All they offered was "sources." Not proof or fact or anything more than smoke.

Bentley's tenure as governor has been virtually scandal free until last week when his wife of 50 years, Dianne Bentley, filed for divorce, citing "complete incompatibility of temperament." Since then, Mason's name has been dragged into the controversy, thanks in part to blog posts and radio commenters.

And now they are sharing something else, something totally unwanted. A rumor about the two has been circulating in mostly political circles for many months. It exploded across the Internet and blogger world Friday when Bentley's wife of 50 years, Dianne, filed for divorce from her 72-year-old husband. Despite no claim of infidelity in the divorce papers, the rumor traveled across platforms such as talk radio, Facebook, Twitter and in some blogs of dubious credibility purporting the unsubstantial rumor as fact.

Leada Gore

We live in an age where anybody with a computer and an internet connection can post anything, including one blogger who has written about Bentley and Mason. That blogger, by the way, has been sued for defamation and jailed on related contempt of court charges. A Jefferson County judge in April ruled against the blogger and awarded the woman he had defamed by writing she had had an affair with a state official $3.5 million. . . . 

We can all do better who love the craft of journalism. And all of you who consume information every day from more sources than have ever existed must work to become better discerners of what you consume and maybe remember an old adage passed down from generation to generation:

Don't believe everything you read.

In her filing Dianne Bentley never alleged infidelity on the part of her husband. But once the filing became public on August 28, online blogs - some discredited in courts of law and others with dubious histories - were almost instantly filled with unsubstantiated rumors of an extramarital affair between Bentley and a senior advisor. . . .

If Bentley, most Alabamians and even Montgomery insiders were shocked by the news, a handful of bloggers didn't seem to be surprised. Within hours of the painful news, blogs rolled out posts featuring far-fetched stories with highly implausible details about the alleged affair.

What they did not roll out was any proof.