Bentley, Mason, Vegas, and Celine Dion: the trip experts are calling 'illegal'

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The latest in the never-ending scandal surrounding Governor Robert Bentley (R-AL) and his former Senior Political Advisor Rebeckah Caldwell Mason has gotten even crazier. It has now been revealed that on November 17 of last year, Gov. Bentley hopped on a state plane bound for Las Vegas with Mason, communications director Jennifer Ardis, Deputy Chief of Staff Jon Barganier and his security detail.

The purpose of the trip was to attend the Republican Governors Association Annual Conference. But that’s not all; the gang also rendezvoused at a Celine Dion show in the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace and met her back stage.

I know what you’re thinking: “what a waste of taxpayer dollars!” Well, not quite. But what happened in reality could be just as legally egregious.

According to the governor’s communication director Jennifer Ardis, Bentley paid for all the Celine Dion tickets personally, and the Republican Governors Association (RGA) reimbursed the Bentley campaign for the cost of the conference and the flight. No taxpayer money was used and the campaign reimbursed the state for the $11,641.35 nineteen weeks later in March.

Ardis also stated that the Republican Governors Association wired Bentley’s campaign the reimbursement. But this transfer of funds from the RGA to the campaign for this specific purpose creates a whole new set of legal issues.

If the money from RGA went to Bentley’s campaign account, it appears there are 2 potential problems:
1. The RGA Political Action Committee (PAC) accepts PAC to PAC transfers and as such, Bentley should not have been able to accept them.
2. If the money came from the RGA’s operational account then it was still after the 120 day window.

Tom Scovill, a campaign finance expert, believes that the governor could be in serious trouble. “Bentley took an impermissible campaign contribution from the Republican Governors Association to pay for his November 2015 trip to Las Vegas, illegality substantiated by these transactions not being reported when the trip happened in 2015,” he told Yellowhammer.

“Although Bentley can spend campaign funds on ‘expenses of the office held,’ he may only accept contributions for the purpose of affecting the outcome of an election. Spending campaign funds to attend the RGA conference is not a permissible expenditure because it was not an ‘expense of the office held,’” Scovill added. “The contribution window closed 120 days after the election in March 2015. Reimbursement is merely another name for contribution. Bentley is a campaign finance scofflaw.”

Furthermore, former ALEA head Spencer Collier stated that Bentley went to current agency head Stan Stabler seeking to leave his security detail at home. Although the security ultimately went, Collier said it was “negotiated.” The governor denies this claim.

Collier added that the detail’s behavior on the trip was “unusual” as it did not guard the governor and his staff at some meals and did not go to the concert. He stated such actions were “against protocol.”

The actions make more sense when taking into account the statements of close to the governor, who claim Bentley wanted to use the Las Vegas trip to get some personal time with Mason.

Spencer Collier has repeatedly stated that he has seen and investigated text messages and audio recordings “of a sexual nature” between Gov. Robert Bentley and his most senior advisor, Rebekah Mason. The state’s former top cop, who is a longtime friend of Bentley’s and referred to him repeatedly as a “father figure,” also said he and other members of state law enforcement were fired for cooperating with an investigation by the attorney general’s office.

This revelation continues the pattern of questionable activity by the governor during his tenure. On Wednesday, The head of ALEA confirmed that one of its helicopters delivered Governor Robert Bentley’s wallet to him after the governor accidentally forgot it during an argument with his-then wife. Yellowhammer News broke the story Tuesday evening citing confidential sources inside the Bentley administration.

Governor Robert Bentley on Thursday responded to “WalletCopter,” by saying, “You have to have your wallet for security reasons. I’m the governor. And I had to have money. I had to buy something to eat. You have to have identification.”

As a result of the leak of the Bentley-Mason scandal, lawmakers brought forth articles of impeachment. The activity mentioned above seems to fit almost perfectly with two of the four charges levied against him: corruption in office and incompetency. The entirety of Bentley’s articles of impeachment is broken down in the analysis article below.