So Luther Strange, Alabama’s new Republican senator, has finally admitted it: He was investigating Gov. Robert Bentley all along—even as he sought and received a coveted appointment to the Senate from the very man he was investigating. And making Strange look even worse, he repeatedly tried to conceal the fact of his investigation in his capacity as state attorney general. But the jig is now up, and Strange could pay a serious price.
So just how did we get here? Shortly before Election Day, Strange asked the state legislature to halt its own impeachment investigation into Gov. Robert Bentley, who has been accused of using state resources to cover up an affair with a staffer, because the attorney general’s office, which Strange then ran, was conducting its own investigation. Lawmakers complied.
But once the prospect of a Senate vacancy emerged with Donald Trump’s victory, Strange started suggesting he might not actually be looking into the governor’s behavior after all. Bentley, of course, would get to name a replacement for Sen. Jeff Sessions (who was recently confirmed as U.S. attorney general), and Strange tried to make the obvious conflict of interest—seeking an appointment from the very man he was investigating—smell less reeky by pretending there was none.
Despite the transparent scumminess, Bentley went ahead and tapped Strange anyway, but Strange’s meager charade was soon exposed by Steve Marshall, the man who succeeded him as state attorney general, who quickly confirmed his office was indeed probing Bentley.
Strange then finally confessed this week that, despite all his games, he knew he was accepting a Senate appointment from the guy he was supposed to be investigating. Strange admitted to a local news station that as attorney general, “Our office ... has been conducting related investigations going back to ... the governor.”
You don’t say! In fact, Strange had refused to. In late December, when Strange belatedly insisted that he never actually said he was investigating the governor, he claimed he had only asked the legislature to suspend its impeachment proceedings because there were "some common players involved." Well, Strange has now acknowledged that one of those “common players involved” is Bentley himself!
Strange doesn’t need to face primary voters until June of next year, and he may be able to ride this all out despite his best efforts to the contrary. But the GOP legislature may finally take action against Bentley before the session ends in May. If Bentley gets impeached, it will be much harder for Strange to avoid becoming collateral damage.