PHOTO: Rep. Ed Henry addresses the media in front of Alabama GOP Headquarters in Birmingham yesterday. Henry is flanked by Rep. Mike Ball, Sam McLure, and Tom Scovill. McLure and Scovill are writers for AL Political Reporter. (Tyler Pruett | Southern Torch)
By Tyler Pruett, Managing Editor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — (Full Video Below) Yesterday (May 17), Rep. Ed Henry (R - Hartselle) announced he would not be seeking the U.S. Senate that former Attorney General Luther Strange now occupies. In a press conference held in front of Alabama GOP Headquarters, Henry made the announcement.
"Over the last year, I've basically been on a crusade if you will, to hold politicians who behave in a corrupt or questionable manner accountable, and though that process, we've actually met quiet a bit of resistance from the elite political class in the State of Alabama, whether they be from either party," said Henry.
Henry explained his decision before officially announcing it: "In October of 2016, while we were working on the impeachment process of Governor Bentley. Luther Strange interjected himself into that impeachment process, and at that point, set a thing in motion where he was in direct conflict with the impeachment process, claiming that they had some kind of investigation into the governor or his staff."
"A few weeks later, Donald Trump wins, and there is a vacancy that's going to open up for Jeff Sessions' seat, and immediately Luther Strange is in a predicament, because he had just halted an investigation into a governor, and now he has to turn around and ask that governor, for an appointment to U.S. Senate," said Henry.
Henry continued: "The real reason that Luther Strange interjected himself into the impeachment process, because he had his eyes on the governor's race, he thought he was going to be running for governor in 2018, and he needed an indictment to come down on Governor Bentley this summer, to steam roll him into an election in 2018."
"What a lot of people in the State of Alabama don't understand is, that Luther Strange spent over a decade in D.C. as a lobbyist, and his sole dream in life is to return as a U.S. Senator. He presented to the people of Alabama, at the time he was seeking an appointment to U.S. Senate, that he didn't actually say he had an investigation, but know now that there is actual interviews where he admits that he started the investigation into Governor Bentley's affair," explained Henry.
"Unfortunately, Governor Bentley escaped the impeachment process by pleading guilty to some misdemeanors," stated Henry.
Henry was also joined by Thomas Scovill and Sam McLure of the Alabama Political Reporter, who have filed ballot access challenges to Luther Strange. Both have filed grievances against Strange. Scovill filed a "ballot access challenge," which challenges Strange's right to even appear on the ballot in August, and McLure filed a bar complaint, which is a complaint filed against a lawyer. McLure explained the complaint:
"Take this parable as an analogy: the CEO of Acme Corporation rapes a young girl, the district attorney begins to gather evidence to prosecute the CEO. The attorney general steps in, tells the district attorney, you step aside, I'm going to take over the investigation of the rape of this little girl. The attorney general then halts his investigation, only to find out two months later, he gets a job with ACME Corporation as the chief financial officer," said McLure.
"Senator Strange, as attorney general, had a duty to his clients, the State of Alabama, to aggressively pursue an investigation into Governor Bentley, everyday that Governor Bentley stayed in office, is an injury to the State of Alabama," said McLure.
"Either we're going normalize that behavior, and invite Senator Strange to come to all of our talks and all of our meetings, and clap for him, or we're going to hold him accountable for the good of the state," McLure stated.
Henry stepped back up to the microphone, "Sam's position is one of many across the state, there are countless thousands of people in the state that are fed up with the type of creatures that Luther Strange is. He is actually what we sent Donald Trump to defeat."
"One of the primary accusations I guess you will, about myself, holding him accountable, is that I'm doing it for political reasons. Because I'm running for his seat, somehow I don't have the ability to hold him accountable. That I have a conflict of interests if you will," Henry said.
Henry then directly called out Strange, and said, "These are my qualifying papers for the U.S. Senate, I will not run for the U.S. Senate, however I will continue to hold politicians, who behave in a corrupt and improper manner, accountable, like Luther Strange."
A reporter than asked about Henry's future plans: "Are you going to run for governor?" Asked a reporter.
"I'm going to deal with it one day at a time, right now, we have a mountain to climb, and a hill to take. There is going to be so much money and so much effort from Washington, D.C, that it's going to take every fiber of my being to keep up this fight," answered Henry.
As Henry and McLure were speaking, a young campaign worker with the Strange campaign began passing out printouts of snippets of news reports; attempting to counter Henry's claims. Henry, Ball, McLure, and Scovill also distributed a packet of information, complete with facts not in dispute, official correspondence between Strange and members of the legislature regarding the Bentley investigation, and more. (We'll make this available on our website in the coming days)
Only time will tell how this situation could turn out. While Strange is spending the money and has powerful allies, many in the state agree with Henry's point of view. At the meeting of the Republican Women of Coffee County in Enterprise earlier yesterday, when Henry discussed the "Strange" situation, the crowd seemed to be in agreement.
"You can't hold Strange accountable while running for his seat," said Henry after the press conference.
Watch the Full Press Conference:
