House Speaker Mac McCutcheon calls on Robert Bentley to resign

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Mac McCutcheon and Robert Bentley
​Capshaw-Republican, ​Alabama Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon called for Governor Robert Bentley to resign on Friday for the good of the state, before lawmakers begin impeachment hearings next week. McCutcheon’s request follows a similar call from Senate leadership — Anniston-Republican Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh.

“Today I have a difficult task, and one I never in a million years thought I would have to show,” McCutcheon said at a press conference in the Alabama State House. “As Speaker of the Alabama House, it is time for me to ask Governor Bentley to resign from office and put this matter behind us. Let’s end this embarrassment to our state right now.”

Bentley announced on the steps of the State Capitol in Montgomery Friday morning he would not resign. Bentley’s announcement was made in the wake of the Wednesday news the Alabama Ethics Commission found probable cause the governor had violated both ethics law and campaign finance law.
“I do not plan to resign,” said Bentley. “I have done nothing illegal. If the people want to know if I misused state resources, the answer is simply no, I have not.”
Following McCutcheon’s call, Bentley’s spokeswoman Yasamie August confirmed Bentley has no plans to resign.
The House Judiciary Committee’s Special Counsel is set to release an investigative report of the governor’s actions while in office office on Friday, which could be damning to both Bentley and the Yellowhammer State.