Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Baldwin County real-estate agent Patti Austin is the mystery woman who flew on state airplane with Gov. Robert Bentley for Trump Inauguration in January


Patti Jackson Austin
(From facebook.com)
(Note: Our Facebook account apparently has been hacked, or Legal Schnauzer has been reported as "malicious content," meaning posts from the blog cannot be shared on Facebook. We are trying to get the matter resolved with Facebook, but we don't know how long that will take. For now, nothing from legalschnauzer.blogspot.com can be posted to Facebook because someone reported it as "unsafe." We aren't certain at this moment what has happened, but the timing suggests this post about Patti Jackson Austin is extremely sensitive, and associates of former Gov. Robert Bentley, who resigned Monday after admitting to criminal violations, sought to have it blocked.

(Update at 11:40 a.m. -- Our Facebook problems seem to have been resolved. A number of my wife's FB friends contacted Facebook to let them know the "unsafe content" message was in error. That might have done the trick. A big thank you to Facebook friends of Carol Tovich Shuler.)

Robert Bentley might be gone as Alabama's governor, but the stench from his corrupt administration remains. One mini-scandal that still is aflame involves an unnamed woman who accompanied Bentley on a state airplane to attend the Trump Inauguration back in January. Well, we have her name.

She is Patti Jackson Austin, a real-estate agent in Baldwin County. One Web site lists her with Keller Williams, specializing in the Daphne and Fairhope markets. Austin's LinkedIn page lists her with RE/MAX By the Bay in Fairhope. Our sources say she also works extensively in the Orange Beach and Point Clear markets.

Austin has five children, according to her bio at Keller Williams. This is part of her greeting to potential customers:

I'd like to welcome you in advance to the Alabama Gulf Coast! A little bit about me! I began my real estate career in Ocean Springs, MS in 2005 and worked with all types of buyers and sellers along the Gulf Coast and in Hattiesburg, MS. I grew up vacationing in Orange Beach, AL and had the pleasure of bringing all 5 of my children to vacation here as well! What an amazing experience for them. I have relocated to the Eastern Shore in Baldwin County, AL permanently and started my real estate career back in full swing with the Jason Will Real Estate Team.

The area is vibrant and beautiful from historic Mobile Bay to the sugar, white sands of Orange Beach. Baldwin County has so much to offer at all stages of life that it is world renowned and a destination that is highly coveted and constantly receiving praise and tourists!

Initial reports had an unnamed female guest accompanying Bentley to the Trump Inauguration, along with Rebekah Caldwell Mason (Bentley's adviser and mistress) and her husband, Jon Mason. It doesn't take much imagination to consider the potentially kinky elements of this arrangement -- especially when you consider that Austin and Rebekah Mason look quite a bit alike.

But the big issue has been this: Passengers on a state aircraft, by law, must be listed on the public manifest. So far, that hasn't been done, and Bentley's office has refused to provide the passenger list and hotel information for the trip to Washington, D.C. Inquiring minds want to know if there is some reason for keeping Patti Austin's name under wraps.

A January 27 report from al.com describes the legal issues at play:

State law requires the governor's office to provide flight logs records "for public inspection" with entries to include the dates of departure and return, the destination and purpose of the trip and a manifest of all passengers.

The manifests must be posted quarterly, "on the first working day of the second quarter following the quarter that is the subject of the report," according to Alabama law.

That means reports from January 2017 and the Trump inauguration could be held until June. That's what happened last year during scrutiny of Gov. Bentley's use of state aircraft in the months leading up to his admission he'd made inappropriate comments to then-adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason. The records for those months were not released until the end of the second quarter - June - showing Mason accompanying the governor and his staff on three trips from January to March.

This seems like a relatively simple law to follow, so why is Bentley playing games with it? That is not clear. Rebekah and Jon Mason have said they will pay for their own expenses from the trip. Who is picking up the tab for Patti Austin's expenses? Has it been Alabama taxpayers so far? If so, will that change?

Rebekah Caldwell Mason
Bentley's "mystery woman" issue popped up in an April 7 al.com article, showing that Bentley had made 40 trips on the state plane in the previous quarter -- covering December, November, and October 2016. From that report:

Earlier this year, the Governor's Office declined to release a complete passenger list for those who traveled to Washington, D.C. with Bentley to attend President Donald Trump's inauguration. The manifest covering the Jan. 20 inauguration trip -- which included an unnamed guest of the governor's and Gov. Bentley's alleged mistress Rebekah Caldwell Mason and her husband Jon -- won't be posted until June. . . .

Use of the state plane by the governor -- even on personal matters -- isn't against the law. Alabama's Constitution stipulates that all property belonging to the state, "unless otherwise provided by law," is under control of the governor.

Use of the state plane doesn't come cheap, however.

A Cessna Citation CJ4, the type of plane leased by the state in 2015, can cost as much as $1,900 an hour to operate.

We sought comment from Patti Austin for this story, but she has not responded to our queries.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Austin was a BEARD to cover for Bentley and Mason. My bet is that she's the one who sold Bentley his vacant lot at the coast and this was part of the deal for the sale.

Anonymous said...

More big-time reporting on this, LS. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Bentley admin is like stepping in a cow pile that you can't get off your shoe. The stink keeps on sticking to everything.

Anonymous said...

If someone was going to clear up this mystery, I knew it would be the Schnauzer. Grrrr!

Anonymous said...

So Bentley doesn't want this story to get out on Facebook? Maybe Luv Guv hasn't learned his lesson.

Anonymous said...

Lord, this chick does look a lot like "Home Wrecky Becky."

Anonymous said...

@6:33 -- I'm afraid to ask, but what is a "beard"?

legalschnauzer said...

Our Facebook issues seem to have cleared up. I just shared the post on Facebook, and it worked.

My wife encouraged a bunch of her friends to notify Facebook that their "unsafe" message was wrong. That might have been what solved the problem.

Thank you, FB friends of Carol Tovich Shuler!

Anonymous said...

Could there be a quid pro quo involved in this? You buy my lot, and I will go to DC and help make the Trump Inauguration one you won't forget.

Anonymous said...

Who knew old grandpa Luv Guv could be so horny.

Anonymous said...

For the Facebook thing to happen, there has to be more to this story. Have you got any other intel in this Austin person? Any connections with other politicians in the state? Seems totally random for her to be on the plane...

Anonymous said...

Thought this might be of interest:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-for-white-america-its-happy-days-again-w476143

e.a.f. said...

That was some nice investigative work. Congrats for breaking the story. If people had to rely on the MSM we wouldn't find out all that much about anything.



off topic: it is being reported the State of Texas lost their case regarding voter suppression. that is the case Jeff Sessions advised the DOJ would no longer be participating in. Jeff maybe a good ole racist from Alabama but Justice was done in Texas. Lets hope it gets done in Alabama. For everything the MSM is not telling us, POLITICO has a fun article titled: The Happy Go Lucky Jewish Group that connects Trump and Putin. OMG THAT WAS MORE THAN I THOUGHT I'D EVER WANT TO KNOW BUT DO NOW. After reading that article can't say I'd ever believe Trump and his gang about what they say about their connections to Russia.

Thank you to Carol and all her wonderful friends. Freedom of the press marches on. it demonstrates what individuals can do.

Anonymous said...

Just a thought… or two. Before we knew bout the mystery passenger, I stated in an earlier post, Austin took a ride on the plane to bang Jon while Rebekah and Bobby did the nasty. Couple of whores, spreading their thighs.

legalschnauzer said...

@2:41 --

Good questions. I agree that the Facebook thing suggests there is more to the Austin story than meets the eye. I'm going to keep researching it. I've also had signs of some funky stuff with my Gmail account today. These kinds of things can happen as a matter of course, but that they happened today . . . I'm not sure that is a coincidence.

Anonymous said...

I guess Rachel Maddow will have John Archibald on tonight to take credit for breaking this story.

Anonymous said...

Just thought , or two and I stated this in an earlier post. Rebeckah and Austin been buddies for a while. Beckah asked Austin to go on the trip to service Jon while she serviced Bobby, in the air. Nothing unusual for a couple of whores. You can't wear a cooter out. Never seen one in a trash pile.

Anonymous said...

Again, you have the wrong person, I know the person who actually went. You are cyber bullying this poor woman. The truth will come out and this person, who I don't know, will be forever damaged. Shame on you.

legalschnauzer said...

@6:15 --

Well, who are you and who do you think went? You can contact me at rshuler3156@gmail.com or (205) 381-5673. I guess you are saying IAP had it wrong, too? For the record, I contacted Ms. Austin prior to publication, and she had every opportunity to show it was not her on the trip. She did not respond.