Alabama Governor Wants Potentially Embarrassing Report Release Blocked

MONTGOMERY, ALA (AP) Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley’s lawyers are in court in an attempt to block the release of a potentially embarrassing report related to a sex scandal and efforts to impeach him.

The governor’s lawyers on Friday asked a judge to temporarily block the release of an investigative report by the special counsel for the House Judiciary Committee. The report is supposed to be released Friday and the committee is scheduled to begin impeachment hearings Monday.

Attorney David Byrne told the judge that the governor is not being treated fairly in the quickly moving process.

Bentley has been engulfed in scandal since recordings surfaced in 2016 of him making suggestive remarks to a female aide before his divorce. Bentley has acknowledged making personal mistakes but maintained he did nothing illegal.

Earlier this week, the state Ethics Commission found probable cause that the Republican governor broke state ethics and campaign finance laws and referred the case to a prosecutor’s office.