Alabama gov admits making inappropriate remarks to staffer
(AP) — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley admitted Wednesday that he made inappropriate remarks to a top female staffer, but he denied accusations that he had a physical affair.
The governor's admission capped a bizarre political day in which, a day after his firing, his former law enforcement secretary and one-time close friend made public the content of a clandestine recording — made by a family member before Bentley's wife filed for divorce last year — and accused his former boss of having an inappropriate relationship with the staffer.
The two-term Republican governor, a former Baptist deacon, acknowledged in a conciliatory news conference that he said "some inappropriate things" to his senior political adviser, Rebekah Caldwell Mason.
Collier's accusations came a day after Bentley fired him as law enforcement director after an internal investigation into the possible misuse of state funds within the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
The governor and former Alabama first lady made their final joint appearance in August with college football mascots.