As audio clips about boxer shorts and clandestine encounters circulate around the Internet, Alabama's embattled governor says he plans to release a video message to set the record straight about his relationship with a since-resigned political aide.
Robert Bentley, 73, told the New York Timesthat his conduct with Rebekah Caldwell Mason, 43, has not been "all that egregious," and he blames social media and the press for proliferating the story. Bentley has admitted to making inappropriate remarks to Mason, but denied that the two had an affair.
"All I can say is that I think I let people down, and that disturbs me more than anything else," Bentley said in the interview, calling last week's news conference about the matter a "firing squad."
"I want them to hear from my lips because when I was in the press conference the other day, that's kind of a shock thing," he told the New York Times. "I can't answer everything, and in fact, I couldn't answer everything that day because I didn't know what was coming out. I really didn't. I had never heard any of this stuff. I didn't know."
Mason, his senior advisor, announced her resignation Wednesday, saying she would no longer be paid by his campaign fund, and stating a desire to focus her "full attention" on her children and husband, "who I love dearly," she wrote.
Calls for Bentley's resignation have intensified since former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency head Spencer Collier — who was fired by Bentley — alleged that Bentley and Mason had an improper relationship. Audio recordings have since emerged featuring the two-term Republican governor and former Baptist deacon professing his loveto someone named Rebecca or Rebekah.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley stands during a March 23 news conference.
"I just worry about sometimes, I worry about loving you so much," he can be heard saying in audio obtained by Yellow Hammer News. "I feel like, all the time, all the time I'm thinking, 'how can I contact her? How can I … how can I call her? How can I text her? How can I be in contact with her? How can we do this?'"
In other sections of the audio, Bentley can be heard discussing his underwear.
"He just got to see my boxer shorts … No. Hey, you've seen those … Listen, he didn't see my boxer shorts. I did actually put my pants on before I went to the door," Bentley can be heard saying.
He discusses his longing in another section of audio, in which only Bentley is audible.
"I wish you were here with you right now. I wish I could hold you. I wish I could kiss you... I wish that, I do."
Another section of the recording involves close encountersbetween the man and woman.