Alabama Gov. Admits Sexual Remarks, But Not Affair

Scandal erupted after state's top cop was fired
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 24, 2016 4:33 AM CDT
Alabama Gov. Admits Remarks, But Not Affair
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley stands during a news conference Wednesday at the state Capitol in Montgomery, Ala.   (Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

Alabama's governor says he is "truly sorry" for a recording in which he makes sexual remarks to an aide—but there was never any "sexual activity." Robert Bentley held a press conference Wednesday amid allegations of a long-running affair with married aide Rebekah Mason, the New York Times reports. In a recorded phone conversation released by AL.com, a man believed to be the governor tells a woman he calls Rebekah he loves it when "I stand behind you and I put my arms around you and I put my hands on your breasts." He later says: "If we're going to do what we did the other day, we're going to have to start locking the door."

The conversation was apparently recorded in 2014, the year before the 73-year-old governor's wife of 50 years filed for divorce. It was described by former state Law Enforcement Secretary Spencer Collier after he was fired on Tuesday, the AP reports. Collier, once a close friend of Bentley's, says the governor "hung his head and asked how to get out of it" when confronted with evidence of the affair. At Wednesday's press conference, Bentley apologized for saying "inappropriate things" but insisted he hadn't done anything illegal like use his office to cover up an affair, reports AL.com. Asked whether he loved Mason, the Republican said, "I love many members of my staff. In fact all the members of my staff." (More Robert Bentley stories.)

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