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Exclusive Breaking News---
Feds Pull Protective Cover Off Bentley, Mason
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on February 15, 2017
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on February 15, 2017
Our Facebook news team has just learned that the U.S. Department of Justice has given federal prosecutors full authority to resume their investigation of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and his married girlfriend, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, and to prosecute them if the evidence unearthed in their investigation warrants it. The Department scaled back its earlier criminal investigation of Bentley and Mason after former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange lulled the Department into believing that he would prosecute the First Couple of Alabama on state law ethics violations.
In December of last year, Strange decided to give Bentley and Mason a prosecutorial "pass" on state ethics law violations in exchange for an appointment to the U.S. senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. This move, which may well constitute a form of bribery under federal law, has embarrassed and angered career federal prosecutors.
The move has also demoralized the Public Corruption Unit led by Deputy Alabama Attorney General Alice Martin and Unit Chief Matt Hart. Martin and Hart are seasoned professional prosecutors with a proven track-record of success in high-profile public corruption cases.
Public outcry over the unsavory deal between Bentley and Strange has reached a fever pitch in the state. Alabamians witnessed a sitting governor buy his way out of a messy state criminal investigation by appointing a greedy and selfish former attorney general to the senate seat in Washington. What is more, Bentley put off the mandatory 90-day special election for Strange's senate seat until the November 2018 general election.
Bentley's appointment of Steve Marshall as Alabama Attorney General pushed the public and the Justice Department over the edge. Marshall, who was a longtime district attorney in a small Alabama County, has no experience in prosecuting major public corruption cases. In fact, the only public corruption case prosecuted in Steve Marshall's home county (Marshall County) in recent years was brought against a county commissioner by the state AG's office, not DA Marshall.
The Justice Department, now led by Attorney General Jeff Session, does not want the appearance of complicity in a case where Bentley seemingly robbed the public of its right to honest government services by appointing Strange to Sessions' senate seat in exchange for a commitment by Strange to forgo a criminal prosecution of Bentley and Mason. Additionally, Bentley and Mason have moved on to their next nefarious public corruption scheme with Bentley's "Trojan Horse" prison plan in which Mason is expected to reap as much as $16 million in "consulting" fees from contractors selected by Bentley.
Against this backdrop, the Department has authorized federal prosecutors to resume their criminal investigation and to initiate a prosecution of Bentley, Mason, and others, if warranted by the evidence. This action effectively pulls the protective cover off of Bentley, Mason and their accomplices.
Bentley's situation was simply too much for career federal prosecutors to stomach. His public corruption is out of control and is fueled by an insatiable desire for Rebekah Mason's love and affection.
In the span of three years, Robert Bentley has traded his wife of 50 years for Rebekah; he destroyed family ties with his children for Rebekah; he has abandoned every true friend in his life, including Paul Bryant, Jr., for Rebekah; he has sacrificed his church membership in Tuscaloosa for Rebekah; he betrayed loyal employees like Seth Hammett, Spencer Collier, and Wendall Ray Lewis for Rebekah; he has used tax dollars and a high-paying job in the Governor's office to get Rebekah's husband, Jon Mason, to turn his head away from the embarrassing "sex for power" scandal involving his wife; he has paid Rebekah with "dark money" from a non-profit that was established to help Rebekah prosper; he has established a secret safe deposit box to which only Rebekah and the Governor had keys; he has romanced Rebekah at exotic ports of call and in a fashion reserved for billionaires, courtesy of Alabama taxpayers and campaign donors; he has used disposable "burner" cell phones to communicate with Rebekah; he has used campaign funds to pay for Rebekah to fly on private jets to the same destinations where he was traveling; he has split with longtime friend and personal accountant Mike Echols over Echols' refusal to break state campaign laws to pay Rebekah; he has lined up consulting jobs for Rebekah and provided her with office space inside the Governor's office for Rebekah to carry on her private business interests; he has paid Rebekah's criminal lawyers with his leftover campaign funds; and he has bought Luther Strange's loyalty and a prosecutorial "pass" on state criminal charges with the appointment of Strange to Jeff Sessions' senate seat.
As for Bentley's use of his campaign funds to pay Rebekah's legal fees relating to the state and federal criminal investigations, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill has publicly stated that this expenditure is not permissible under the state's election laws. In fact, this expenditure would classify as a Class B felony. There is no word to date on whether state prosecutors will pursue a criminal case against Bentley for this offense.
Without federal criminal action in this case, Bentley and Mason will achieve and enjoy a very unique status in Alabama as modern-day "untouchables".
Stay tuned!
Donald V Watkins
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