Reports Suspicious Text Messages to Spencer Collier
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HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 11 South Union Street Montgomery, Alabama 36130 Members Mike Jones, Chair Mike Ball David Faulkner Paul Beckman Matt Fridy Jim Hill, Vice Chair Merika Coleman Juandalynn Givan Dickie Drake Mike Holmes Marcel Black, Ranking Chris England Thad McClammy Minority Member Allen Farley 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 I. Preliminary Considerations ..........................................................................6 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 II. Due Process Considerations .........................................................................9 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 1. The Office of Governor is not private property. ................14 2. By any standard, the Committee has afforded Governor Bentley due process. ..........................................16 III. The Committee’s Subpoena Authority ......................................................18 A. Why Subpoenas Were Necessary. .................................................18 B. The Committee Has Subpoena Power. ..........................................19 1. This Committee has broad power to investigate. ...............19 2. This Committee has been provided by the House full investigative authority to investigate the impeachment charges. ..............................................................................21 i 3. 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 IV. The Committee’s Investigation: Documents and Witnesses .....................24 A. Preservation Letters. ......................................................................24 B. Document Requests. ......................................................................25 C. Subpoenas. .....................................................................................26 D. Transcribed Interviews Under Oath. ..............................................27 E. Witnesses Who Declined to Provide Information. ........................27 V. Non-Cooperation By Governor Bentley ....................................................28 A. Refusal to Meaningfully Produce Documents. ..............................28 B. Refusal to Comply With the Committee’s Subpoena. ...................28 1. Governor Bentley asserted privilege in response to the subpoena. ...........................................................................30 2. Blacked-out portions of documents produced. ..................31 a. Timeline created by Governor Bentley and Mason is blacked out. ............................................31 b. Text messages between Governor Bentley and ACEGov are blacked out. ......................................31 c. Emails regarding Mason’s compensation are blacked out. ............................................................32 3. Cell phones, state phones, and “burner” phones. ...............32 4. Mason’s state email account. .............................................32 5. Governor Bentley’s email accounts. ..................................33 6. Visitor Logs to the Governor’s Mansion. ..........................33 7. Mason’s compensation information. ..................................33 ii 8. Unedited State aircraft records...........................................34 9. Refusal to testify under oath. .............................................34 C. Governor Bentley’s Candor Towards the Committee. ..................34 D. Governor Bentley’s Written Submissions to the Committee. ........35 E. Lack of Cooperation as a Potential Ground For Impeachment. .....37 VI. The Alabama Ethics Commission ..............................................................39 THE LAW OF IMPEACHMENT .....................................................................................40 I. Impeachment is the People’s Check Against Political Excess ..................40 II. Impeachment Under the Alabama Constitution .........................................44 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..............................................................................49 1. Four standards of proof: probable cause; reasonable satisfaction/preponderance of the evidence; clear and convincing evidence; and beyond a reasonable doubt. ......50 2. What standard should apply to impeachment? ..................51 THE FACTUAL RECORD ...............................................................................................54 I. The Organizational Structure of the Office of the Governor .....................54 A. The First Term. ..............................................................................54 B. The Second Term. ..........................................................................56 1. Key changes to staff and structure. ....................................56 2. Confidentiality agreements. ...............................................57 C. Rebekah Mason’s Employment and Compensation. .....................57 D. Other Relevant Bentley Associates. ...............................................61 II. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency ...................................................61 iii A. Secretary Collier’s Leadership Team.............................................61 B. Dignitary Protection. ......................................................................62 III. The Evolution of the Bentley-Mason Relationship ...................................63 A. Alabama’s Unlikely Governor .......................................................63 B. Rebekah Mason’s Ascent and Development of the Bentley- Mason Relationship. ......................................................................64 1. Ms. Bentley’s suspicions. ..................................................64 2. The suspicions of Governor Bentley’s staff. ......................67 3. The effect of the Bentley-Mason Relationship on the operations of Governor Bentley’s Office. ..........................68 4. The Second Inauguration: Contingency plans. ..................69 IV. The Bentley-Mason Recordings ................................................................70 A. The Creation of the Recordings. ....................................................70 B. Governor Bentley’s Reaction to the Recordings. ..........................72 1. Heather Hannah. ................................................................72 a. The Kitchen Confrontation. ...................................72 b. The Parking Lot Confrontation. .............................72 c. Unexplained Vandalism of Heather Hannah’s Vehicle and House. ................................................73 i. The Vehicle Incident. .......................................73 ii. The House Incident. ...........................................73 2. Ray Lewis. .........................................................................74 V. The Use of Law Enforcement as a Tool in the Bentley-Mason Affair ......75 A. Governor Bentley’s Misuses of Ray Lewis. ..................................76 1. Governor Bentley asks Ray Lewis to break up with Rebekah Mason for him. ....................................................76 2. Ray Lewis attempts to retrieve the tapes. ..........................77 iv 3. Governor Bentley directs Ray Lewis to visit Mason in Gulf Shores. .......................................................................77 4. Requests for surveillance sweeps of Mason’s vehicle. ......78 5. Governor Bentley demands that Rebekah Mason travel on state transports. .............................................................78 B. Law Enforcement’s Intervention with Governor Bentley: “From Contrite to Angry” Again. ..................................................80 1. Ray Lewis reports suspicious text messages to Spencer Collier. ...............................................................................80