Tab for Gov. Robert Bentley's affair with Rebekah Mason comes to more than $1 million--with much of it at the expense of Alabama taxpayers and donors

Robert Bentley and Rebekah Caldwell Mason

The extramarital affair between Governor Robert Bentley and former advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason cost more than $1 million--with much of that coming at taxpayer expense--according to a new report from a prominent Alabama lawyer.

How free was Bentley with public funds? He ordered a state helicopter to fly his forgotten wallet to the beach, according to a report today from a conservative news site.

Attorney Donald Watkins, writing at Facebook, said an analysis indicates Bentley stuck taxpayers, campaign donors, and "dark money" contributors with the tab of more than $1 million for his romance with Mason. Bentley's actions likely constitute federal crimes, and Justice Department investigators are expediting the case, with cooperation from Mason, Watkins reports.

The sex scandal, it appears, was about more than "T and A"--although audio recordings clearly show Bentley was interested in that. In criminal terms, the scandal is more about "D and C" (dollars and cents) and a grotesque abuse of public resources. Writes Watkins:

How can a governor of ordinary financial means romance his married lover like a billionaire? Bentley could only romance Rebekah in this high-end manner by using our tax dollars, campaign funds, and "dark money". In other words, Bentley stole our money to pay for his personal pleasures of the flesh. In doing so, Bentley deprived Alabamians of “honest government services,” which is a federal crime. He committed a plethora of other federal crimes as well, including wire and mail fraud, criminal conspiracy, money laundering, RICO, and the unauthorized use of federal criminal data systems.

Federal investigators are drilling down on what taxpayers, campaign donors, and “dark money” corporate entities and lobbyists unwittingly paid for in Bentley’s criminal scheme to use their money to sponsor his love affair with Rebekah. Bentley made these groups pick up the tab for a wide array of expenditures for his personal benefit,

Watkins provides an astonishing list of expenditures, including payments for scores of private jets to transport Mason for vacations, shopping trips, and rendezvous with the governor. These could be tracked, in part, via flightaware.com.

Is it a sweet gig to be a governor's mistress? Watkins provides a list of expensive perks that indicate the answer is a resounding yes:

1. Around-the-clock state trooper escort/chauffeur services for Rebekah and her children;

2. Hush money for Rebekah’s husband, Jonathan Mason, in the form of a $91,400 annual salary as head of Serve Alabama;

3. The cost of scores of leased private jet flights for Rebekah to rendezvous with the governor on road trips and for Rebekah to take her family on beach vacations and out-of-state shopping trips. Each private flight ranged from $10,000 to $20,000. [The love birds were unaware that all of Rebekah’s flights could be tracked through www.flightaware.com/ All you need is the tail number of the aircraft.];

4. The cost of Rebekah’s hotel rooms when the Bentley-Mason sexual rendezvous were in play;

5. High-end private “wining and dining” for the two love birds in exotic restaurants and ports of call;

6. “Burner” cell phones to hide the illicit affair from First Lady Dianne Bentley;

7. Rebekah’s consulting fees for providing her all-inclusive personal services to Bentley;

8. Renovations to the Winton Blount Mansion in Montgomery, which was the scene of many Bentley-Mason romantic escapades;

9. Renovations to the governor’s beach front mansion in Gulf Shores for what the couple anticipated would become a future “love nest”;

10. Legal fees for private lawyers who are desperately trying to keep Bentley from being charged for his crimes; and

11. Crisis managers who are frantically trying to mitigate the damage to Bentley’s already shattered “Christian” public image.

How freewheeling could Alabama's deeply Christian governor get with other people's money? A report today from Yellowhammer News gives a clue:

Multiple confidential sources inside of state government came forward to Yellowhammer this week with accusations that Alabama Governor Robert Bentley ordered a state helicopter to fly his wallet to him at the beach, after he accidentally left it behind in the wake of an argument with his then-wife. If true, the allegations call into question Gov. Bentley’s assertion that he did not misuse state resources during his affair with his then-senior advisor Rebekah Mason. . . .

In the summer of 2015, Gov. Bentley and his then-wife Dianne had an argument at the couple’s private residence in Tuscaloosa over Gov. Bentley’s refusal to sever ties with Mrs. Mason, his top political advisor-turned-mistress.

As a result of the argument, Gov. Bentley left the residence in his pickup truck and drove toward the couple’s beach house in Ft. Morgan, Alabama. According to the sources, this happened on multiple occasions, leaving the governor’s security detail to decide whether to chase after him, or let him go.

When the governor arrived at his beach house, he realized that in his rush to leave, he had forgotten his wallet.

At that point, he ordered one of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) helicopters to deliver it to him, which it did.

The sources each said that current ALEA head Stan Stabler was involved in facilitating the delivery.

Stabler succeeded Spencer Collier as head of ALEA after Bentley fired Collier, his longtime friend, last month.

From the outset, the Bentley scandal has provided moments of comedy--and the "wallet caper" seems to fit into that category. But Watkins makes it clear this is a serious matter, with possible implications for a number of individuals tied to the administration:

It is estimated that Bentley has stuck taxpayers, campaign donors, and “dark money” contributors with a tab for his love affair with Rebekah that exceeds $1 million.

Furthermore, whoever paid Rebekah’s firm a “consulting fee” for a meeting with the governor was guaranteed a meeting with Bentley. The secret safe deposit box shared between the two lovers held cold, hard cash – kickback money for Bentley.

The details of the governor’s criminal scheme to defraud Alabama taxpayers and others will be outlined in the federal charges against Bentley and Mason. Bentley fleeced Alabamians, and he fleeced them good.

This is far beyond a sex scandal. This is a massive public corruption case.

Governor Robert Bentley proves he doesn't need Rebekah Caldwell Mason's help to come off as a two-faced, clueless "leader" for postmodern Alabama

Robert Bentley cuts a ribbon at a North Alabama
robotics facility
(From whnt.com)

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley has proven that he does not need to be caught on audio, talking fondly of caressing an advisor's breasts and buttocks, to sound like a dunderhead. Nope, Bentley can come across as a conniving pinhead, without any help from Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

We've seen two examples in recent days. One involved a request for the state's stance on gambling issues from George Beck, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. The other involved an awkward encounter with the press, which insists on asking questions about the sex scandal that threatens to run the Bentley administration aground, while the governor is announcing new projects and engaging in ceremonial ribbon cuttings and such. The latest example came as Bentley was trying to tout the Alabama Robotics Technology Park near Tanner.

How did Bentley handle the situations? He told Beck that the state, based on multiple decisions by the Alabama Supreme Court, considers electronic-bingo machines to be illegal slot machines. But that conflicts with an executive order Bentley issued late last year, removing gambling oversight from the Attorney General's Office and placing it with local sheriffs and district attorneys.

Bentley went even farther than that, according to a report from the Montgomery Advertiser:

To Beck, Bentley wrote that he had charged local sheriffs with “interpreting and applying Alabama law as applicable to any form of gaming or gambling in their respective counties.”

In other words, Bentley borrowed language straight from the constitutional amendment that Macon County voters approved and made electronic bingo legal at VictoryLand--until former Governor Bob Riley and current Attorney General Luther Strange decided the success of Milton McGregor's facility was unwelcome among the Indian gaming interests who had supported them financially.

So we have Bentley telling George Beck that e-bingo machines are illegal in Alabama, but the governor also has said such determinations are in the hands of local sheriffs--just as the VictoryLand legislation states. Does Bentley realize his positions contradict each other, that his words make no sense?

It all leads to this question: What is George Beck up to, and why does he need people to interpret the law for him? There is no question that Amendment 744, approved by Macon County voters, gives the county sheriff power to regulate bingo, and he has determined that e-bingo machines at VictoryLand are legal. Gov. Bentley's own recent actions indicate he agrees with this.

Alabama law makes it clear that a constitutional amendment trumps a state statute, so Luther Strange's efforts to have the machines declared illegal gambling devices or slot machines under Alabama statutes never has had a legal leg to stand on. On top of that,  Amendment 744 is not that hard to read, so why does George Beck need help interpreting it?

As for the robotics-park event, Bentley could not get away without pesky reporters asking him about the Mason sex scandal and the federal investigation it reportedly has sparked. Here's how Bentley responded to those queries:

Bentley also acknowledged that an investigation is ongoing, but that he is not the focus of it.

"There are things that are being investigated. Not me, but there are things that are being investigated as a part of this that will come out with time," he said. "We just can't talk about that right now because I know the things, but I just can't I can't talk about them because they're being investigated by the Attorney General on other subjects."

If the governor isn't the subject of the investigation, then who is--Al, the Crimson Tide's elephantine mascot? We've already shown that Bentley's capacity to lie regarding his relationship with Mason--and related sleaze--is gargantuan.

Is Bentley suggesting that AG Luther Strange is helping him try to scheme a way out of this mess? Does that suggest the state's top legal officer is part of the problem, not part of the solution? After all, Strange has his own history with extramarital relations, involving former campaign manager Jessica Medeiros Garrison. You can ask former Alabama Senate president Lowell Barron about that.

Perhaps Strange and Bentley have bonded over their shared history of extramarital shenanigans.

One expert has suggested Bentley needs psychological help. I tend to think the expert is right.

GOP guru Karl Rove was grooming Alabama Governor Robert Bentley as possible VP candidate--until Rebekah Mason sex scandal tore those plans asunder

Karl Rove
(From msnbc.com)

Republican political guru Karl Rove was promoting Alabama Governor Robert Bentley as a possible vice-presidential candidate in 2016, but those plans imploded from recent revelations about Bentley's extramarital affair with a former senior advisor, according to a new report from a Washington, D.C.-based investigative journalist.

Wayne Madsen reports today that Rove's reputation as a strategic wunderkind took a huge hit with the stillborn presidential campaign of Jeb Bush. Now. Bentley's sex scandal involving Rebekah Caldwell Mason has raised even more questions about Rove's judgment.

The Bentley revelations are part of an article titled "Rove backing Cruz and Hillary at same time." Sources tell Madsden that Rove is desperate to keep Donald Trump from getting the GOP nomination--or from becoming president.

With that in mind, Rove is backing Ted Cruz in an effort to generate a brokered convention and cost Trump the nomination. If that doesn't work, Rove reportedly is planning to offer advice to the Clinton campaign to help overcome Trump in the general election.

The Wayne Madsen Report is a subscription Web site, but we've received permission to run certain information at Legal Schnauzer. How did the Rove-Bentley connection develop? Here's how Madsen describes it:

The value of Rove's political acumen has plummeted in GOP circles since the collapse of the Jeb Bush campaign. Another political decision by Rove is also subject to ridicule. In the lead up to Alabama Republican Governor Robert Bentley's successful re-election campaign in 2014, Rove and his acolytes, who view Alabama as a personal political fiefdom, convinced Bentley that he would be a highly-sought-after vice presidential running mate in 2016.

To prepare for a spot on the national ticket, Bentley's chief adviser, and, as it turned out his reputed mistress, Rebekah Mason, a married mother of three, began acting as Bentley's fashion adviser. Among other makeovers, Mason advised Bentley, a former dermatologist, to ditch his trademark khaki trousers for Brooks Brothers suits.

Rove's plans for Bentley now lie in ruins as Bentley faces impeachment over his alleged affair with Mason. A leaked conversation in which the evangelical Bentley refers to Mason's breasts and buttocks has all but ended the governor's statewide political career, let alone any hope for national office.

Would anyone connected to Hillary Clinton be stupid enough to listen to Karl Rove. Madsen says someone might:

Robert Bentley and Rebekah Mason
(From nytimes.com)

According to longtime Republican Party insiders, chief GOP strategist Karl Rove, dubbed "Bush's brain" during his long service for George W. Bush, is providing campaign advice for both GOP candidate Ted Cruz and leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Rove, who backed the aborted campaign of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, is doing everything necessary to deny the GOP nomination to Donald Trump.

By backing Cruz, Rove hopes to generate a brokered Republican convention in Cleveland, one that will turn to a "fresh face" to challenge Mrs. Clinton in the general election. As an insurance policy against a Trump presidency, Rove, according to our sources, is also providing advice to the Clinton campaign via the auspices of Clinton loyalist and Democratic strategist James Carville, who has become a friend of Rove. Carville is married to GOP strategist and pundit Mary Matalin.

James Carville, one of the sharpest progressive minds of the past 25 years, has become friends with Rove? Good God, maybe being married to Mary Matalin will turn your brain to mush.

No one should be surprised that Rove is thinking of himself in all of this. Writes Madsen:

The political failures of Jeb Bush and Bentley mean that Rove's street value as a political adviser has plummeted sharply. However, Rove still has contacts at the highest echelons of the Republican Party and the Cruz campaign has found them helpful as it tries to wrest convention delegates away from Trump's column. The more delegates Cruz swings from Trump the greater the likelihood that Trump cannot reach the magic 1237 delegates required for nomination. In a brokered convention, Rove hopes to become a major broker for a "new face" candidate and thus ensure a restoration to prominence in GOP politics nationally and in Washington, DC

Will it work? Madsen seems to have doubts:

Rove earned the nickname "Turd Blossom" from George W. Bush for Rove's supposed knack for finding success in political adversity. However, Rove has recently become more "turd" than "blossom" in Republican circles.

Al.com did not break the Robert Bentley/Rebekah Mason sex scandal in Alabama, but it spent months attacking the reporter (me) who did break the story

Chuck Dean

The national press has been heaping praise upon al.com for its coverage of the sex scandal enveloping Alabama Governor Robert Bentley. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow called the reporting "amazing." During Maddow's interview with columnist John Archibald, a graphic identified Archibald as the journalist who "broke" the Bentley story.

Amber Phillips, of The Washington Post, went even further in an article that included behind-the-scenes tidbits from al.com reporter Leada Gore. Wrote Phillips:

Anyone who has doubts about the importance of journalists in 2016 need be acquainted only with the reporting team at AL.com, the largest statewide news organization in Alabama. The group's reporters cracked open a scandal involving their governor's alleged infidelity last week and have been covering the unpredictable fallout aggressively ever since.

Does accuracy matter these days at MSNBC and WaPo? John Archibald did not break the Bentley story, and al.com did not crack it open. This blog, Legal Schnauzer, broke the story (and cracked it open) last August, while al.com mostly dithered, wrote a few articles that touched on the edges of the story, and seemingly hoped it would go away so one of its beloved Republicans would not be tarnished.

In fact, al.com spent much of its time attacking the reporter who actually broke the story--me.

It's all out there on the Web, so you would think Maddow's team and the WaPo staff could manage to find it. But they apparently did not bother to look. So we will show you the proof ourselves, with a few pithy comments of our own.

(1) Our first example comes from an article by the venerated John Archibald, published at 12:30 p.m. on August 31, 2015. I had broken the story that morning:

Several media outlets--bloggers and radio talkers--this morning cited "sources" as they reported that Gov. Robert Bentley has without question had an affair with a female staff member, a torrid love cuddle that caused the governor's wife of a half century, Dianne Bentley, to file for divorce and ask for everything the guy ever made.

All they offered was "sources." Not proof or fact or anything more than smoke.

Comment: The venerable Archibald and al.com seem to have major problems with journalists who use anonymous sources. Archibald gets downright huffy about it, asserting that any article based on anonymous sources has no "proof" or "fact" and amounts to nothing "more than smoke." Hmmm . . . hold that thought.


(2) Our second item comes from an article by Leada Gore, WaPo's inside source on all things brilliant and honorable about al.com, published on September 3, 2015. Gore notes, with dripping contempt, that Rebekah Caldwell Mason has been named, by me, as Bentley's mistress and the driving force behind the governor's divorce :

Bentley's tenure as governor has been virtually scandal free until last week when his wife of 50 years, Dianne Bentley, filed for divorce, citing "complete incompatibility of temperament." Since then, Mason's name has been dragged into the controversy, thanks in part to blog posts and radio commenters.

Comment: Gore seems almost put out that Mason's name got "dragged" into the scandal--and Gore blames mean old bloggers and radio commenters. Since radio commenters generally do little or no original journalism, it's likely they were borrowing from my blog posts. That means Gore's ire likely is directed at me. Is it possible that Mason dragged her own name into the quagmire, perhaps by allowing Bentley to get his jollies by cupping her breasts and exploring her nether regions? We now know that's the case, but Gore was having none of it last September.


(3) Example No. 3 comes from an article by Chuck Dean, published on September 4, 2015. Dean notes a couple of key events Bentley and advisor/mistress Rebekah Caldwell Mason had shared, and then writes:

And now they are sharing something else, something totally unwanted. A rumor about the two has been circulating in mostly political circles for many months. It exploded across the Internet and blogger world Friday when Bentley's wife of 50 years, Dianne, filed for divorce from her 72-year-old husband. Despite no claim of infidelity in the divorce papers, the rumor traveled across platforms such as talk radio, Facebook, Twitter and in some blogs of dubious credibility purporting the unsubstantial rumor as fact.

Comment: What is an "unsubstantial rumor"? I'm not sure, but Dean seems to have a problem getting his words straight here (which makes you wonder, after years of layoffs, if al.com even employs copy editors anymore). This much seems clear: Dean was including Legal Schnauzer among his "blogs of dubious credibility." Now, roughly seven months later, we know our credibility, and our sources, could not be much better. What about Chuck Dean's credibility? Well, it's not in such great shape. (On a side note, Dean claims to have been a journalist for some 30-plus years, but he is not aware that many divorce complaints use boilerplate language that does not include specific allegations of infidelity, abuse, etc.? That Dianne Bentley's brief complaint did not mention infidelity says nothing about whether she is alleging infidelity in the divorce. A reporter familiar with the strange workings of domestic-relations courts should know that.)

Leada Gore

(4) This is our favorite example, and it comes from an article by Chuck Dean, published on September 23, 2015. It's topped by a headline for the ages: "Separating rumor from fact and remembering don't believe everything you read." What a strange thought to be expressed in a newspaper, which pretty much depends on people believing what they read. It's as if Dean (or the headline writer--they might not be one and the same) is saying, "Don't trust our profession; we're a bunch of hacks and scoundrels--but, please, buy our newspaper!) Here are the highlights, which are like watching Chuck Dean have a nervous breakdown:

We live in an age where anybody with a computer and an internet connection can post anything, including one blogger who has written about Bentley and Mason. That blogger, by the way, has been sued for defamation and jailed on related contempt of court charges. A Jefferson County judge in April ruled against the blogger and awarded the woman he had defamed by writing she had had an affair with a state official $3.5 million. . . . 

We can all do better who love the craft of journalism. And all of you who consume information every day from more sources than have ever existed must work to become better discerners of what you consume and maybe remember an old adage passed down from generation to generation:

Don't believe everything you read.

Comment: Wow, what has The Chuckster so exorcised here? For one, I had outed Dean as a paying customer of the Ashley Madison extramarital-affair Web site, and that had come roughly two weeks earlier--so he probably still was butt-hurt about that. The blogger Dean disses here, of course, is me. The first reference is to a lawsuit brought by GOP operative Rob Riley and lobbyist Liberty Duke. Dean, of course, doesn't bother to tell his audience that the case did not go to trial (or a jury trial, as required under First Amendment law), so Riley and Duke did not prove their case, and as a matter of law, my reporting was not false or defamatory. Dean also fails to state that First Amendment law dating to the Revolutionary War holds that a preliminary injunction is unlawful in a defamation case (it's called a "prior restraint," which you would expect a journalist to know about--but not our boy, Chuck). That means the contempt order against me, and the resulting incarceration, were profoundly unlawful, unconstitutional, and (as one Birmingham lawyer called it) "insane." Yet, neither Dean, nor anyone else from al.com, has bothered to explain that--even though the case received national and international news coverage. I would be glad to explain it to Dean, or any other al.com reporter, but they have not bothered to contact me on this issue. I guess it's easier to take cheap shots at me instead.

Dean's second reference is to the notorious Jessica Medeiros Garrison lawsuit. Like Riley and Duke, Garrison engaged in machinations that ensured she never would sit for questioning in any adversarial proceeding, much less a trial. Curiously, I could not defend myself because my wife and I were forced to flee Alabama after our home in Birmingham went into a foreclosure that would have to improve to be called "dubious." Was Jessica Garrison involved in a scheme to cheat us out of our home, so that she wouldn't have to answer questions, under oath, about her relationship with Attorney General Luther Strange? We will explore that question in upcoming posts, but for now we can say this with certainty: If you made a list of people who benefited from the likely wrongful foreclosure of our home, Jessica Garrison's name would be at, or near, the top.

(5) Finally, we have another Chuck Dean article, published on December 27, 2015, where our guy still is foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. Dean focuses, in part, on the governor's divorce from Dianne Bentley, ending a 50-year marriage:

In her filing Dianne Bentley never alleged infidelity on the part of her husband. But once the filing became public on August 28, online blogs - some discredited in courts of law and others with dubious histories - were almost instantly filled with unsubstantiated rumors of an extramarital affair between Bentley and a senior advisor. . . .

If Bentley, most Alabamians and even Montgomery insiders were shocked by the news, a handful of bloggers didn't seem to be surprised. Within hours of the painful news, blogs rolled out posts featuring far-fetched stories with highly implausible details about the alleged affair.

What they did not roll out was any proof.

Comment: Dean's reference to a blog that has been "discredited in courts of law" obviously is a reference to Legal Schnauzer. Does Dean provide evidence that a court of law has issued any ruling that is correct under the facts and the law and "discredits" this blog? No, he does not. In other words, he doesn't "roll out any proof"--to borrow a phrase from Dean himself--and that's because no such proof exists. On the subject of proof, my post that broke the story was based on information from anonymous sources, the same kind al.com itself uses. As for Dean's tired "unsubstantiated rumors" line, which he has used at least three times (by my unofficial count) . . . well, that now just sounds like so much horse feces, doesn't it?

What about al.com's supposed aversion to the use of anonymous sources? Well, their own recent work shows the aversion only applies when another journalist uses such sources--especially when that journalist has kicked the mainstream media's ass on a story. When al.com relies on anonymous sources, it is A-OK.

As for Chuck Dean, he inspired us to come up with a new adage: "If you read something at Legal Schnauzer, you can take it to the bank because that blog's credibility has been proven to be top notch. Otherwise, don't believe everything you read--especially if Chuck Dean, or anyone else at al.com, has written it.

Was Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, and perhaps his mistress, involved in planning the unlawful eviction in Missouri that left my wife with a shattered arm?

Robert Bentley and Rebekah Caldwell Mason

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley reportedly misused law-enforcement resources in an effort to find dirt on me and stop our reporting on his affair with aide Rebekah Caldwell Mason. But what if Dr. Bentley's efforts went beyond information gathering? What if he--perhaps with the assistance of "de facto" governor Mason--actively tried to hurt my wife, Carol, and me?

Specifically, what if Bentley and/or Mason were involved in a scheme to have us unlawfully evicted last summer in our new (and we hope temporary) "home" of Springfield, Missouri--an event that led deputies to brutalize Carol and leave her with a shattered left arm?

A timeline of events--plus our observations since being forced to live like refugees in the city where I grew up but no longer have meaningful connections--suggests an Alabama-Missouri "game plan" was at the heart of our eviction. And it seems likely, to me, that Bentley and Mason were part of it.

I spoke about that possibility, and other topics, in an interview with San Francisco-based Peter B. Collins last week. A podcast of the full interview is available at the Collins Web site.

As for Bentley, let's consider the following timeline:

* August 31, 2015--I break the story at this blog of Bentley's affair with Mason and note the crippling effect it's had on Alabama government.

* August 31, 2015--Missouri court records show a judgment was entered against us in an eviction case styled Trent Cowherd v. Roger Shuler.  A hearing was held in the case on August 27, but a judgment was not entered until four days later, just a few hours after I had posted the Bentley/Mason story at 6:07 a.m.

* August 31, 2015--On the same day I broke the Bentley/Mason story and the eviction judgment was entered against Carol and me, G Shuler Properties LLC was formed in Missouri. The organizer is my mother, Gondolyn "Gondy" Erma Shuler, and the registered agent is my lawyer brother David Shuler. To my knowledge, my mother has owned our original two-bedroom family home in Springfield--plus several parcels of family land near Osage, Arkansas, for many years. My guess is that all of them have a pretty modest value. So why, after all these years, did my mother need to form a company that apparently consolidates her property under one entity? What was my brother's purpose in doing this, and is it a mere coincidence that it took place as Carol and I were about to be victims of an unlawful eviction, a process with which David was involved.

* September 8, 2015--Carol and I file both a Motion to Quash Execution of the eviction, plus a Notice of Appeal. The Notice of Appeal, by Missouri law, puts an automatic stay on the eviction. I notified all attorneys in the case of the appeal notice and stay, including my brother, David Shuler, who was representing our mother, Gondy Shuler, because Trent Cowherd had included her as a defendant, without having any grounds for doing so.

X-ray of Carol Shuler's broken arm:
Did a doctor make this happen?

* September 9, 2015--In the early afternoon, six to eight deputies storm through the front door of our apartment, with one of them pointing an assault rifle at me and others brandishing handguns. The force of the cops' entry slammed Carol (who had been looking out the peephole to see what was going on) up against the wall. As she later tried to retrieve some of our personal belongings, as she had been given permission to do, three cops surround her, and one slams her rear-first to the ground (either this, or the slam against the wall, was enough to give Carol a concussion, I believe--although she has not been diagnosed with one, mainly because doctors were concerned primarily about the condition of her arms). In the process, a cop yanks so violently on her arms that the left one was broken to the point that it requires trauma surgery for repair. Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott states on the scene he is going to charge Carol with "assaulting a police officer," and a deputy (Scott Harrison) who drove Carol to jail says she was looking at a felony charge and $100,000 bond. Those plans apparently change when it is discovered that Carol has a broken arm and has been the victim of, not the perpetrator of, an assault.

Are Robert Bentley and Rebekah Mason evil enough to have helped orchestrate this fiasco? Given all the lies they've told the people of Alabama recently, a reasonable person could conclude the answer is yes. What kind of "physician" (Bentley is a dermatologist) participates in a scheme that inflicts serious injury on someone?

If Bentley and/or Mason were involved in the planning, who was their primary liaison in Missouri? That question is foremost in my mind at the moment because it points to criminal activity--and it has some possible answers that are extremely disturbing.

Bentley and Mason are expected to face federal public-corruption charges, and efforts to attack citizen journalists went farther than first thought

Robert Bentley and Rebekah Mason
(From nytimes.com)

Governor Robert Bentley and former advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason are expected to face federal public-corruption charges, a prominent Alabama lawyer says. Also, Bentley's efforts to obtain incriminating evidence against citizen journalists (including me) went beyond ordering the unlawful use of federal and state criminal databases.

Meanwhile, State Rep. Ed Henry (R-Hartselle) today outlined articles of impeachment against Bentley. Henry said he hopes to have a vote on his resolution next week.

As fort he federal investigation, other members of the Bentley administration and campaign team could face charges, attorney Donald Watkins reports on his Facebook page, but the probe is expected to focus on the governor and his advisor/mistress. The investigation is under the direction of the U.S. Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, based in Washington, D.C., Watkins reports:

Our Facebook news team has confirmed this afternoon that federal prosecutors in Washington are expected to bring public corruption charges against Governor Robert Bentley and his mistress/political consultant, Rebekah Mason. Other gubernatorial and campaign staffers may be charged as well.

The focus of the federal probe is on Bentley and Mason, and it is intense. Mason’s involvement in the corruption scheme was more extensive than what has been publicly reported.

As for Bentley's efforts to sic law enforcement on Watkins and me in retaliation for our accurate reporting about his affair with Mason, that also was more extensive than has been publicly reported. Writes Watkins:

In violation of federal laws, the governor also ordered state law enforcement officials to use the federal National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and the Law Enforcement Tactical System (LETS), as well as data banks of other state and federal regulatory agencies, to find any incriminating evidence that might be used against Legal Schnauzer blogger Roger Alan Shuler and me. Accessing the national criminal databases for the purpose of retaliating against the governor’s critics and political adversaries is a federal offense.

Earlier reports indicated former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) chief Spencer Collier refused to carry out Bentley's order to seek dirt via the NCIC and LETS. But Watkins reports that Bentley went beyond seeking criminal data, and that raises this question: Did Bentley find someone to carry out his unlawful mission against Watkins and me, and if so, who was it?

Prosecutors apparently do not expect the Bentley/Mason case to be particularly challenging. Writes Watkins:

Prosecutors have determined that they do not need the assistance or cooperation of Rebekah Mason in bringing the expected criminal charges. They have determined that the Bentley-Mason public corruption was widespread, ingrained, and fairly open. Staffers who tried to reign in this corruption were chastised by the governor and, in some cases, fired and later smeared.

Bentley appears to be in an unstable state of mind, and that could lead prosecutors to turn to an unusual tactic:

This morning, Bentley announced that he has asked God to forgive him. He again asked the people of Alabama to forgive him. Bentley did not specify why he needed forgiveness. Federal prosecutors, however, are not expected to forgive the governor.

Despite a mountain of evidence that Bentley personally directed or approved specific acts of public corruption, the governor has refused to resign. Individuals with close contact with the governor say that Bentley is erratic, delusional, and paranoid at this juncture. For this reason, federal prosecutors are considering expediting the initiation of the criminal justice process by filing of a prosecutor’s “complaint,” as opposed to using the longer and more standard criminal indictment process.

Our news team was not able to confirm when the criminal charges against Bentley and Mason will be filed.

Stay tuned.

Lowell Barron says Jessica Medeiros Garrison, in fact, had an affair with Luther Strange, and the sensitive subject restricts the attorney general in his job

Lowell Barron
(From politico.com)

Republican operative Jessica Medeiros Garrison and Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange had an extramarital affair, as we reported in fall 2013, according to a recent interview with the former president of the Alabama Senate. The affair is such common knowledge that Lowell Barron referred to it as "infamous"--and Barron said the topic is so sensitive that it restricts the way Strange does his job.

The statements shine new light on Garrison's lawsuit against Legal Schnauzer, alleging our reporting on her affair with Strange was false and defamatory. It also raises questions about a $3.5-million default judgment Garrison received primarily because my wife, Carol, and I had to leave Alabama when we lost our home of 25 years in a foreclosure that almost certainly was wrongful. We have shown that the judgment is void, as a matter of law, and it was based almost entirely on a mountain of fraud and perjury.

Public records show there was no trial in the Garrison matter, much less a jury trial as required by decades of First Amendment law. That means Garrison did not come close to meeting her burden of proof--and, by law, my reporting was neither false nor defamatory.

Barron, a Democrat from Fyffe, served in the Alabama Legislature for 28 years. His comments came in a recent interview with Marcus Echols at BlogTalk Radio on "Bringing Voices to Power."  Strange brought an indictment against Barron in April 2013 on charges of campaign finance law violations, but the AG's office filed a motion to dismiss all charges in August 2014, and the court granted it.

Echols asked Barron about the current sex scandal involving Gov. Robert Bentley and former advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason, which includes revelations that Mason and her husband, Jon, have made roughly $1 million since Bentley took office in 2011. Barron was quick to compare it to the Strange/Garrison relationship:

[Mason] got $500,000 in his campaign . . .That's the same thing Luther Strange did; he paid his mistress, Ms. Garrison, $450,000 to $460,000 during his campaign. They were fussing at me paying my assistant a $50,000 bonus when my campaign was over . . . these people have done much worse . . . With the evidence out on Bentley now, it's pretty obvious what has been going on behind closed doors with him and the young lady they say is really the governor. . . . It's just sad.

Barron said he's seen evidence firsthand that the Garrison affair affects the way Strange does his job. During the trial in DeKalb County, Barron's lawyers filed a subpoena, seeking to have Strange testify about his relationship with Garrison and payments he had made to her. The judge in the case did not immediately rule on Barron's efforts to have Strange testify, and the issue still was on the table when the AG's office asked to have the case dismissed.

Jessica Garrison and Luther Strange
(From marieclaire.com)

In the Echols interview, Barron suggested any investigation of Gov. Bentley will have to come from the U.S. Department of Justice because Luther Strange will be unable to do it at the state level, In fact, Barron said he is surprised the AG's office pursued an investigation of House Speaker Mike Hubbard, which produced a 23-count indictment on alleged ethics-law violations:

Luther Strange is so compromised that he cannot go after the governor. What happened in my case . . . my attorney asked the judge to allow us to get Luther Strange to testify in my case. The judge left that open and didn't rule on it. Once the judge didn't rule on whether we could put Luther Strange on the stand, my case went away.

Luther Strange cannot stand to be deposed or be put on the stand because his shenanigans with Ms. Garrison would come out in the open. This whole bunch is compromised. You can't have clean government when you are dirty. Nothing is going to happen [in the Bentley case] with the attorney general's office. I'm shocked they've done anything about the speaker.

What does Barron expect to happen in the Bentley matter? He sees the governor in a tight spot:

I do not think Bentley will resign. After that disastrous divorce settlement, he's given away all his assets. He doesn't have another job. . . . He's getting older, and I'm not sure he could practice medicine anymore. What's he going to do to make a living? . . . He's ruined his history. I think [Ms. Mason] and her husband will milk this cow for all that's there; it's money for them.  . . . Bentley is an old man getting his jollies off, but he got elected on Republican family values."

Barron traces many of Alabama's current problems to the public's tendency to vote based on perceived religious values:

Running for political office based on who is the most religious. . . . Ted Cruz is another example; it just came out that he's had five or six affairs. These are corrupt people hiding behind God. We are electing scummy, crummy people. The people who voted for Bentley and Luther Strange need to look in the mirror and say, "I'm responsible for this foolishness, and I'm going to be better informed voter in next election.

"There is nothing Christian about any of our current leadership. The speaker is indicted on 23 felony counts. Luther Strange carried on an infamous relationship with Jessica Garrison, and he's still in office. It goes on and on.

The next time Gov. Robert Bentley tries to explain his sexual shenanigans, remember he already has lied about it--and shown he blames others for his problems

Gov. Robert Bentley, with al.com mouthpiece Chuck Dean
(From al.com)

The next time Alabama Governor Robert Bentley offers an explanation for the sex scandal that threatens to bring down his administration, the public should remember this: Bentley already has lied about his actions, and his false statements did not just start in the past week or two; they started last December.

Bentley also has shown a tendency to blame others--especially citizen journalists (like me)--for his problems. Just more than three months ago, Bentley flashed anger toward "bloggers" who fueled the story of his extramarital affair with former advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason. Does that explain press accounts that Bentley sought to use law-enforcement resources to discredit attorney Donald Watkins and me--for reporting the public now knows was accurate and has attracted national media attention in recent days?

As for Bentley's "lyin' eyes" (not to mention his tongue), consider this from al.com's Chuck Dean, published on December 27, 2015. Dean claims this was the first time Bentley had spoken publicly about "rumors" of an affair with a senior advisor (named Rebekah Caldwell Mason):

Throughout the ordeal Bentley, reluctant to talk about the deeply personal issue, would only say it was a personal, family matter.

And he never addressed the unfounded rumors of an affair.

Until now.

"The rumors were not true," said Bentley.

Oops, looks like we caught the governor in a lie. Then, Bentley and his mouthpiece, Dean, lay it on thicker:

The governor then seemed to let out months of pent up frustrations.

"There were people on blogs and people in the press who crossed the line. They truly crossed the line. People on talk radio crossed the line," said Bentley.

Bentley said it's hard as a public official to address the kind of rumors that were being spread and he said he felt to directly address them would only serve in some cases to give them credibility.

Bentley said the rumors hurt many people.

"There were many people – my own family and there were a lot of other families – many people, people that I love, that I care about, they went through some difficult times because people were able to say whatever they wanted to say. They were just ridiculous. I don't know how anyone could ever believe them."

How does the governor act toward citizen journalists he thinks have "crossed the line," by reporting accurately on his sexual hijinks? Does he sic law enforcement on them? We hope to learn more about that in the near future.

As for Bentley's claim that people who "were able to say whatever they wanted to say" had hurt families and people that he "loves" . . . well, governor, it looks like you were the one who hurt those families. Perhaps Chuck Dean could ask Dianne Bentley about the governor's treatment of the people he supposedly loves.

By the way, the bloggers weren't so "ridiculous" after all, were they?

Bentley wonders how "anyone could ever believe them." But here is the bigger question for the people of Alabama: How could anyone ever again believe a word Robert Bentley says?

FBI shows interest in Gov. Robert Bentley's reported efforts to use law-enforcement resources against lawyer and journalist who reported on affair

The former head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), according to multiple news accounts, has met with FBI agents about Governor Robert Bentley's reported order to use federal and state data bases to investigate a lawyer and a journalist who had reported on social media about the governor's extramarital affair with former advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

The lawyer is Donald Watkins, of Birmingham, who has written extensively about the Bentley administration on Facebook. The journalist is me, and I apparently incurred the governor's wrath after breaking the affair story last August.

Spencer Collier, whom Bentley fired on March 22 before the affair story attracted national news coverage, met with the FBI last Thursday, according to a report at Alabama Political Reporter. The meeting reportedly covered a number of topics, with one of them being Bentley's efforts to use law-enforcement resources in order to silence reporting from Watkins and me. Writes Bill Britt:

On Thursday, WSFA reported that former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) Chief Spencer Collier, met with agents under the authority of US Attorney for the Middle District, George Beck. Scant details of the meeting are known at this time, but it is believed that in recent days, Beck’s office has been gathering information concerning a number of issues surrounding the Bentley Administration.

Reportedly, the FBI is looking into the firings at ALEA, the closing of criminal investigations, the use of NCIC and LETS to target enemies, and Bentley’s relationship with his now former senior advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason and her husband, Jon. Bentley’s order to lie and not provide an affidavit to the Attorney General, in relation to the Speaker Mike Hubbard criminal case, is also believed to be of interest to the US Attorney, as well as Bentley’s 501(c)4.

For now, persons of interest are believed to be, Bentley, Mason, Jon Mason, plus, current ALEA Secretary Stan Stabler, and SBI Director Gene Wiggins.

NCIC is the National Crime Information Center, and LETS is the Law Enforcement Tactical System. Britt continues:

Also according to law enforcement officers, Bentley ordered Collier to use the NCIC data base and the State’s LETS, to launch an investigation into critics Donald V. Watkins and Roger Shuler.

In a separate article, Britt reports that Collier refused to carry out Bentley's order. It is unclear if Bentley found someone else to investigate Watkins and me, what (if any) information they might have found, and how it might have been used. The second article is titled "What we know, what we think, what we can prove." Here is Britt's take on Bentley's apparent efforts to shut down the accurate reporting of two citizen journalists:

What do we know?

Bentley ordered Collier to use the NCIC data base and the State’s LETS, to launch an investigation into critics, Donald V. Watkins and Roger Shuler. Collier claims he refused.

What do we think?

If Bentley was targeting private citizens, this could be a serious abuse of power. Did Bentley have others targeted in other ways?

What can we prove?

Bentley ordered Collier to use the NCIC data base and the State’s LETS system. Collier did not comply.

For now, we know this for sure: The FBI's presence suggests this is a serious matter that might become extremely serious. Writes Britt:

The revelation that Collier met with agents from the US Attorney’s Office further confirms that events surrounding the affidavit, the firings at ALEA and other actions related to the Bentley-Mason affair, have generated more than just public outrage.

With each passing day--drip--and each new revelation--drip, drip--Robert Bentley sounds more and more like Richard Nixon.

Al.com discounts Web-based reporting that uses anonymous sources, but uses the same kind of sources in its coverage of Gov. Robert Bentley sex scandal

The hypocrisy of Alabama's mainstream press regarding the use of anonymous sources in coverage of the Gov. Robert Bentley sex scandal has reached epic proportions. The evidence was all over al.com yesterday and today, especially in its report that Bentley had bought disposable "burner" cell phones at a Best Buy store in Tuscaloosa.

Al.com's cell-phone story is intriguing, and it provides a possible key angle to the story, suggesting Bentley was buying the phones to hide evidence of his phone calls and text messages to paramour and former senior advisor Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

So where does hypocrisy enter the picture?

Al.com for months has tried to paper over the fact that it got soundly beaten on the Bentley/Mason story. I broke the story, here at Legal Schnauzer, of the extramarital affair and some of its repercussions seven months ago, on August, 31, 2015. Al.com finally awoke from its slumber last week, in the wake of reports from former ALEA chief Spencer Collier that Bentley and Mason had engaged in an affair, plus release of audio that had Bentley speaking fondly of caressing Mason's breasts and exploring her nether regions.

During the seven months al.com failed to report on the affair it repeatedly disparaged my work as the product of "unsubstantiated rumors." Why the use of that language? It apparently was because I based my story on insights from anonymous sources, who happen to be highly knowledgeable insiders on Alabama politics but did not want their names released because of concerns about possible retaliation from the Bentley administration--which has shown it is quite capable of seeking retaliation.

Now, guess what al.com's used in its story about disposable "burner" cell phones. Anonymous sources--surprise, surprise! This is from reporter Connor Sheets article:

Gov. Robert Bentley personally bought multiple inexpensive, disposable cell phones last year at a Best Buy in Tuscaloosa, according to current and former employees of the electronics store. . . .

Two employees – one current and one former – of the Best Buy location in the Midtown Village shopping center in Tuscaloosa told AL.com Thursday that they had each personally sold a single disposable cell phone to Bentley last year.

"[U]p until the scandal came to light, Bentley HIMSELF would by (sic) little burner phones ... I witnessed it with my own 2 eyes and even sold him one," the current Best Buy employee wrote via online message. "I sold to him once, saw him purchase twice."

The current employee said that on both occasions, Bentley purchased inexpensive AT&T flip phones, "the type you buy minutes for. They cost around 15 bucks."

The former Best Buy employee corroborated the general thrust of the current employee's story in a phone conversation Thursday morning.

Did al.com give the Best Buy employees' names? Nope. They remain nameless in Sheets' followup piece today:

Gov. Robert Bentley spent $1,732.68 on "cell phones and prepaid wireless" at Best Buy last year, Bentley's state campaign finance records reveal.

The evidence of the expenditure bolsters the stories of two employees – one former, one current – of the Best Buy in Tuscaloosa's Midtown Village shopping center who told AL.com Thursday that they each personally sold a single disposable "burner" cell phone to Bentley last year.

Why did the Best Buy employees want to remain anonymous? Probably because they feared retaliation--in the form of being fired from their jobs for speaking out about the governor. In other words, al.com granted anonymity to key sources for the same reason I granted anonymity to mine.

Disposable "burner" cell phones
(From inquisitr.com)

But the public is supposed to assume al.com's report is legitimate, while mine are to be considered "unsubstantiated rumors"--even though I have a degree from an acclaimed School of Journalism (University of Missouri) and almost 38 years of professional experience in the field, which I suspect is more than anyone on the al.com staff.

Here is a brief journalism lesson from someone who has spent his adult life in the field: If a story is built on anonymous sources, it does not mean it is "unsubstantiated"; it does not mean the story presents "no evidence" to support its claims. It means a professional reporter trusts his sources and believes they have legitimate reasons for wishing to remain unnamed.

Do anonymous sources matter in journalism? Can they change the course of history? Just ask Richard Nixon (except he's dead). Or you could ask Robert Bentley in a few weeks or months, when he might be out as Alabama governor and headed for a federal "correctional facility."

The Bentley/Mason story did not break last week; it broke last summer, and last week's reports only prove that my reporting was on target all along. Al.com does not want you to know that, probably because they don't like the stinging criticism I've sent their way over the years and they are embarrassed that a one-man news shop has kicked their ass--and not for the first time.

To be clear, I applaud Connor Sheets' reporting on the "burner" cell phones. It makes for darned good reading, and I think it could lead to important evidence regarding Bentley's actions.

But Connor Sheets works for a slipshod news organization, one that never has had a very good reputation, and it's now a mere shadow of its former dubious self.

Our message to Connor Sheets is "good work." Our message to his employer? Hypocrisy, thy name is al.com.