BIRMINGHAM, Ala.–A lawsuit filed by former employees of the now conserved Alabama One Credit Union now also involves one of the biggest alleged scandals: an affair between Gov. Robert Bentley and Rebekah Caldwell Masson, who worked as his aide.
According to AL.com, lawyers who represent the Alabama One plaintiffs have asked a court to reveal “who or what is funding a private non-profit ‘dark money’ group that paid part of Mason's salary.”
The governor, his legal advisor, David B. Byrne, Jr., and Mason are all fighting the issuance of subpoenas that would require them to turn over documents and provide depositions about Alabama Council for Excellent Government – or ACEGOV – and any discussions the three had about the credit union, according to AL.com.
The Alabama One plaintiffs are arguing that the documents and depositions being sought are necessary to prove that the state's takeover of the credit union "was the result of an agenda of and pressure directly from Gov. Robert Bentley and his top advisors."
“As for the ACEGOV documents, the lawyers state in their request for the subpoenas to be issued that Bentley and Mason, with whom he was engaging in an inappropriate relationship, directed other agencies of state government to attempt to punish persons who these two considered to be opponents of the governor,” AL.com reported.
All three defendants have denied the allegations that there was any pressure applied at any point on the Alabama Credit Union Administration to place the credit union into conservatorship.
The ACUA said it made the move as the result of losses sustained by the credit union following another high-profile scam and bankruptcy here that involved commercial loans. The CU plaintiffs have also alleged that officials all the way up to the governor were involved in that failure, as well.