Gov Bentley and Rebekah Mason
Why Rebekah’s Sexual Favors for Bentley Constituted Bribery
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on April 20, 2016
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on April 20, 2016
After the public first heard Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s creepy voice on the sex tapes released last month by Yellowhammer News, the governor’s crisis management team went into full damage control. They began spinning the sexual relationship between Bentley and Rebekah as a lapse in moral judgment. After all, claimed Bentley and a few diehard supporters, the tapes only caught the governor engaging in phone sex with Rebekah Mason, his political consultant.
Bentley, who was unaware that he was being recorded, described the couple’s past sexual escapades and gushed at how Rebekah had seen him in his boxer shorts. Once the tapes became public, Bentley asserted that he did not have a physical sexual relationship with Rebekah.
In essence, Bentley asked Alabamians to disbelieve his descriptive account of prior sexual acts, as captured in his own words on the sex tapes, and to believe the carefully worded PR denial of a physical relationship with Rebekah that was issued after he was caught.
Bentley asked God and the people of Alabama for forgiveness. With that, Bentley was ready to move on with the business of governing Alabama.
More recently, Bentley, in a display of righteous indignation, has scolded reporters for asking him questions about his “sex for power” and public corruption scandal. Like lapdogs, many reporters have complied with his demand for silence on the scandal.
Yesterday, we published a Facebook article titled, “USA v. Robert J. Bentley, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, and Other Co-Conspirators”. In the article, we reported that Rebekah traded sex for absolute control and dominion over Bentley’s executive powers as governor. We noted that this exchange constituted a form of bribery, which is a crime in Alabama.
Here is why.
Alabama ethic laws prohibit a public official like Bentley from accepting any “thing of value” (i.e., gift, benefit, favor, service, etc.) for the purpose of influencing his official decision-making. Federal anti-public corruption laws have a comparable criminal prohibition that bans a public official from depriving citizens of their right to honest government services.
The evidence is overwhelming that Bentley and Mason enjoyed an ongoing sexual relationship that included physical pleasures of the flesh. By 2014, the sexual relationship between Bentley and Mason was in full swing. Both lovers were married, but this did not matter to either one of them.
The couple tried to hide the physical nature of their sexual relationship. Bentley even suggested on the sex tapes that they lock the door to his office the next time they engaged in sexual acts.
It is equally clear that Bentley sought and accepted sexual favors from Rebekah in exchange for awarding her executive powers reserved exclusively for the state’s elected governor. Once Rebekah assumed these executive powers, she became the state’s “de facto” governor. Rebekah then exercised these powers for her personal, business, political, and economic benefit. Bentley, in return, got his sexual needs met by a woman who is 33 years younger than him.
To cement her status as “de facto” governor, Bentley clothed Rebekah with all of the indicia of gubernatorial authority.
Examples of the Bentley-Mason “sex for power” exchange are abundant. For instance, Rebekah made the decision to operate her private PR/consulting firm directly out of the governor’s office. This perk was came with state-issued security credentials, state trooper escort/transportation services, access to private aircraft (courtesy of taxpayers and campaign donors), and a parking spot at the Capitol that is typically reserved for the First Lady. In lieu of paying the state of Alabama for her office space and other executive amenities, Rebekah paid with her body by allowing Bentley to engage in sexual acts with her. Some of these sexual acts took place in the governor’s office. Bentley actually rearranged personnel in the governor’s office to make his inner office an on-site “love nest”.
What is more, Rebekah decided what annual salary would be paid to her husband, Jonathan Mason. Jonathan’s salary was paid as an access fee to his wife’s body and as “hush money” to keep his mouth shut. Rebekah also determined who would receive Serve Alabama money that was funneled to her friends and her PR firm.
Additionally, Rebekah determined who, along with herself, would receive “dark money” from non-profits she encouraged Bentley to form and she controlled. This money was paid to Rebekah with no prior authorization by the board of directors of the participating non-profits.
Bentley willingly and gleefully accepted Rebekah’s sexual favors in return for surrendering his gubernatorial powers to her. Through the art of sexual seduction, Rebekah Mason effectively reduced the highest constitutional officer in Alabama to a controlled and dominated mouthpiece. She became the “de facto” governor of Alabama and she ruled the state with an iron fist.
Sexual favors are a “thing of value” under Alabama law. While the state’s ethic laws exclude a public official's acceptance of some things of value, sexual favors are not among the excluded items.
Rebekah Mason successfully and repeatedly bribed a willing and horny Robert Bentley on a regular basis by allowing him to fondle her breasts, grab her buttocks, probe her vaginal area, and engage in other intimate sexual acts. These sexual acts occurred on and off state-owned property. State resources and campaign funds were used to facilitate the sexual bribery.
The “sex for power” exchange between Bentley and Rebekah was not a mere moral lapse, as Bentley now claims. It was an intentional criminal act that evolved into a widespread and engrained pattern and practice of racketeering conduct.
The public is unified in its condemnation of this sexual bribery and the racketeering conspiracy it spawned. Many Alabama legislators see nothing wrong with this form of sexual bribery because they are engaging in the same type of illegal conduct. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange shares the same problem.
This is why federal prosecutors in Washington must act decisively in Bentley’s criminal case. This is a high profile public corruption case involving the state’s elected and “de facto” governors.
By Donald V. Watkins
The Meck Report/Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment