MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Governor Robert Bentley’s office is refusing to release many of his calendar records, which include his scheduled appointments, transportation arrangements and information on the people with whom he spends his working hours.
According to the Bentley administration, complying with such an open records request made by Alabama sports website and liberal political blog al.com would be “detrimental to the best interests of the public.”
The records from before January 1, 2016 would provide more insight into the relationship between Gov. Bentley and his former senior advisor Rebekah Mason. Earlier this year, Yellowhammer News released audio recordings exposing an illicit affair between the two.
“In response to your request for the remaining calendars entries, we are unable to provide those to you at this time because these involve recorded information received by a public officer in confidence, sensitive personnel records, pending criminal investigations, and records the disclosure of which would be detrimental to the best interests of the public are some of the areas which may not be subject to public disclosure,” Bentley spokeswoman Yasamie August told al.com in an email. The specific reason for denying the request was not provided.
The governor has tried to move past the affair revelations, most recently by pushing a statewide lottery vote, but his troubles have persisted.
Articles of impeachment were first filed on April 5 in the wake of revelations that the governor may have misused state resources to facilitate and cover up an affair with Mrs. Mason.
RELATED: ‘Neglect of duty, corruption, incompetency’ — Here’s what’s in Bentley’s articles of impeachment
And despite the governor’s expressed desire to focus on economic development, business leaders have warned that the governor’s actions may now be impacting the state’s ability to attract jobs.
“We’ve got all this momentum with aerospace and Airbus suppliers are moving in and Google’s coming to the state and fiber broadband is going in and then boom — just like that the momentum is stopped by a scandal that none of us can do anything about,” one local economic developer told Yellowhammer. “To say it is frustrating would be understating it.”
RELATED: Economic developers frustrated as Bentley scandal chases away companies, jobs
Bentley has insisted that nothing he has done is ground for impeachment and has accused his detractors in the legislature of political grandstanding.
“There are no grounds for impeachment, and I will vigorously defend myself and my administration from this political attack,” he said.
