Sam Mattison
Alabama Political Reporter
State Auditor Jim Zeigler announced in a release on April 16, that he would search for the infamous “Wanda’s desk,” as he conducts the exit audit for former Governor Robert Bentley.
The desk belonged to Bentley Staffer Wanda Kelly who sat in a room right outside of Bentley’s office.
According to the impeachment report from the Ethics Commission, Kelly’s desk was moved after she brought up concerns to Bentley about locking his office door after letting in his alleged mistress Rebekah Mason.
Kelly complained to security that locking the door may bring some security concerns. Initially Bentley said he was going to fire Kelly. After some persuading by staffer Linda Adams, Bentley decided to instead move Kelly’s desk to another room.
The move was just one of the many Bentley ordered to hide his relationship with then Senior Political Advisor Rebekah Mason according to the Ethics Commission report.
The first mentioning of the desk came in the Mason-Bentley recordings. These secret recordings, made in the Governor’s office, included Bentley talking about groping Mason’s breasts. The tapes were recorded by Bentley’s ex-wife Dianne Bentley and released by the news site YellowHammer.
Zeigler has been overseeing the exit audit for Bentley. According to the release, the governor moved out of all the properties owned by the state over the weekend. Ziegler and his staff will now conduct an exit audit on all the properties to ensure that no state property is absent from the properties.
Ziegler said he is trying to complete the audit so that Governor Ivey could move into them.
These properties are the Bentley’s office in the state capital, the Governor’s mansion in Montgomery, the donated Blount House in Montgomery and another mansion located at Fort Morgan near Mobile.
Governor Bentley resigned last week after negotiating his resignation with law enforcement. He plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges. Governor Ivey was sworn in on the same day of Bentley’s resignation.
