MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The impeachment investigation of Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley resumed Wednesday, with lawmakers directing their special counsel to privately continue his long-paused probe.
The House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to allow Jack Sharman to proceed with his behind-the-scenes investigation, although no public impeachment proceedings are planned for the time being.
“Basically this is a very direct authorization for special counsel to continue his investigation and to continue his preparations,” said Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Jones.
Jones said lawmakers will not be involved in the counsel’s work until it is presented to the committee.
The sexual-misconduct-related investigation has been an embarrassing blow for Bentley, who won the governorship in part by touting his past as a Baptist deacon.
Bentley, 74, was hospitalized briefly Wednesday for an irregular heartbeat. His office later said he was going home and back to work. The office also released a statement stressing the high threshold for impeachment.
“The committee’s decision today reflects that impeachment is an incredibly serious and complex process. It is reserved for only the most dramatic and grave situations,” wrote the governor’s attorney, Ross Garber.
The impeachment investigation began last year when Bentley’s former law enforcement secretary accused him of having an affair with a staffer and interfering in law enforcement business. The governor acknowledged making personal mistakes, but denied the other accusations. Lawmakers hired Sharman to investigate in July, but suspended the investigation in November after then-Attorney General Luther Strange said his office was doing “related work.” Strange never clarified what that meant, however.
Ellen Brooks, the retired district attorney now overseeing the matter for the attorney general’s office, told the committee in a Feb. 24 letter that the investigation was ongoing. Jones said he has not had further communication with the attorney general’s office about the probe.
Sharman said his office needed to review its past work before deciding whether investigators need to issue new subpoenas.
“We don’t comment on the specifics … but we’ve certainly done a lot of work on it already,” he said.
The House Judiciary Committee’s action came a day after a similar motion failed on a tie 6-6 vote.
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