President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

Kay Ivey. Lucy Baxley died last fall and had been in ill health for some time.

 

It was nothing that competent. Middle class parents were paying into a state investment fund to let their money grow and eventually fund their child's college education. Kay Ivey sat on her hands almost all the way through the 2008 financial crisis, as millions of those dollars went down the rathole. She eventually was persuaded that the market crash was a very bad thing and so she got out at the bottom.

She's a fucking idiot, which makes her a nearly ideal Alabama governor.

 

Well, hell. Been a while since I've paid attention, I guess.

 

As the old saying goes, love will make a man do crazy things, like violate the civil rights of blacks at his mistress' request.

The Alabama Governor's "Inappropriate Relationship" Wasn't the Whole Scandal | Mother Jones

 

First Family of Bama Football has new star after Bentley scandal

 

Roll Tide!

 

What really hacks me off about the Bentley plea deal is that without a trial the Governor's Dark Money PAC, ACEGov, The Alabama Center for Ethics in Government, (aka "The Girlfriend Fund") will go unexamined. The only way to find out who gave money to the PAC, where it's expenditures were, and whether those who donated received favorable treatment, is to subpoena ACEGov's records. It came out in the investigation documents that Rebekah Mason herself was actually running ACEGov.

Without a subpoena to force the issue, none of that will ever see the light of day. There are multiple connections between ACEGov and the University of Alabama Board, but those are rich, powerful, and influential people that no one wants to piss off. Cooper Shattuck, who set up ACEGov, was the UA general counsel at that time. Shattuck helped negotiate Bentley's plea deal over the weekend. Clay Ryan, another lawyer who has functioned as a fixer for both the governor and the UA Board, was the only person other than Rebekah Mason who was allowed to stay at Bentley's pool house. He was recently appointed Vice Chancellor for Governmental Affairs at UA. Jon Mason, Rebekah's husband, was only not only hired by Bentley to a $100,000 a year state job, but he was paid by UA to rent billboards advertising UA on the route to Baton Rouge prior to a 'Bama road game with LSU. Alabama could have easily done this in house, but Mason was paid to do it instead. Joe Espy, a bigtime Alabama lawyer who used to be Bentley's attorney (as well as the attorney for recently convicted Alabama Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard), is a member of the UA Board of Trustees as well.

None of this is going to ever be mentioned again unless I very badly miss my guess. It's just government/business as usual in Alabama. Shit like this is why I'm very cynical about the state government here.

I suppose someone could appeal to the state Attorney General, the new one. Luther Strange, the former AG, sat on the state's investigation of the Bentley affair and was rewarded with Jeff Session's Senate seat by Bentley, which again, is pretty much business as usual. Steve Marshall, the new AG, went to UA Law, and I doubt that he will have any interest in pursuing matters further. Doing so would be detrimental to any future political aspirations he might have.

Full Disclosure: As is well known on this board, I am a rabid UAB fan who began posting on this board in an attempt to call attention to the UA BoT's mistreatment of UAB. I am far from unbiased regarding the UA Board of Trustees. OTOH, all of the above is factual, but it would be disingenuous for me not to mention that I have a very well ground axe regarding the UA Board.

 

I find it very amusing that The Alabama Center for Ethics in Government (ACEGov) was formed “to promote the common good and general welfare of the people of the State of Alabama through programs and activities designed to resolve the educational, civic, social, financial, and economic issues facing Alabama.”

"However, the first stated purpose of ACEGOV is “to advance the beliefs and policies espoused by Governor Robert Bentley.”

Both the name and stated purpose of this PAC are hilarious given what we now know.


Check this out, you'll find a connection or two.

Pulling back the curtain on Governor Bentley’s dark money organization

 

In fairness, virtually every lawya in politics here went to Alabama. One of the very few who didn't in fact was Strange (got his JD at Tulane after finishing his basketball career there.)

 

FWIW this guy's entertaining blog has a lot of juicy details and he claims to have reported the details before AL.com.

Legal Schnauzer