Alabama’s former top law enforcement official says Gov. Robert Bentley is having an affair with one of his top advisers and may have illegally used state resources in doing so.

Spencer Collier, the now-former secretary of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, first made the detailed affair allegations Tuesday at about the same time he was fired for what he says was his refusal to obey the governor's order to stay out of a major public corruption case. It’s unclear which came first, and Collier he says he learned he was being terminated from social media.

The dismissal's alleged connection to the long-rumored affair and pending corruption case set off a local media firestorm that's slowly attracting national attention.

At a well-attended press conference Wednesday, Collier doubled down on his allegations, saying “everyone in the inner office of the governor [and] most everyone in the legislature” knows about the alleged affair. Bentley’s wife of 50 years filed for divorce last year but did not say why.

At a late afternoon press conference of his own, Bentley denied having an affair with the senior staffer, but said he was sorry for making inappropriate comments on one occasion two years ago.

Adultery remains a misdemeanor in Alabama, but has a one-year statute of limitations and almost never is prosecuted. Critics of the governor, including Collier, however, say he may have committed more serious crimes by using state or campaign resources to support an affair.

Bentley’s office denied Collier’s accusations on Tuesday and said he was let go after "possible misuse of state funds" was uncovered, but spokeswoman Jennifer Ardis did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Collier denies any wrongdoing and paints the suggestion as a preemptive strike by the governor.

Before firing him, Bentley placed Collier on medical leave following back surgery and his refusal to abide instructions not to cooperate with the state attorney general’s office in the corruption prosecution of House Speaker Mike Hubbard, like Bentley a Republican. Collier signed an affidavit in the case, which is slated for trial next month.

"I will tell the truth," Collier said. "My crime is this: I refused to lie to the attorney general ’s office and I signed an affidavit. That was part of my job.”

Collier apologized to Bentley’s ex-wife on Wednesday for not coming forward with his allegations earlier and described Bentley’s alleged mistress as wielding extraordinary influence over the governor, leading him to fire anyone who questions her authority. Two open corruption investigations were closed as soon as he left the agency, Collier said.

He first learned of the affair, Collier told reporters, in August 2014. A man assigned to the governor’s security detail, Stan Stabler – who was appointed to Collier’s job on Tuesday, had read a text message on Bentley’s phone from adviser Rebekah Mason that was sexual in nature and told his superior, Ray Lewis, Collier said.

Spencer Collier is pictured speaking Wednesday in Montgomery, Ala. Julie Bennett/The Birmingham News/AP

Days later, Collier says Lewis played for him an audio file received from one of Bentley’s family members that contained reference to female body parts, a dalliance from the day before and a suggestion that the door be locked. Collier said several members of Bentley’s family were on the phone also listening as the audio was played on a computer.

Collier, who described himself as a close friend to Bentley before recent events, said he and Lewis confronted the governor during a car ride, and that “Gov. Bentley simply hung his head and asked for advice on how to get out of it.” Collier said he advised the governor that using state or campaign funds to facilitate a relationship would be a felony and that the governor “gave me his word he would terminate the relationship immediately.”

At 6:30 a.m. the next morning, he said, the governor called and said he would not be able to break off the affair.

“Less than a month ago,” Collier said at the press conference, “the governor told me he was still madly in love with Rebekah Mason, but that he was a man of honor and would not ask her to divorce her husband.”

Mason did not respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday. A request for comment sent to an email address believed to belong to Lewis yielded no response either.

Stabler denounced Collier’s claims. “The allegation and implication from Mr. Collier is without merit,” he said in a statement.

But Bentley appeared to concede the existence of the racy audio recording Wednesday, saying: "I'm apologizing for the things that I said. Whatever's been reported. I haven't heard the tape, so I don't know who's on the tape. I'm sure at the time I said some inappropriate things and I know that."

Bentley said "two years ago I made a mistake" by making inappropriate comments, but vigorously denied any other wrongdoing.

"I have never had a physical affair with Mrs. Mason," he said. "I have never done anything illegal. I have never asked any member of my staff or cabinet to lie ... [and] at no time have I ever used the resources of my office to facilitate a relationship of any type."

Collier said at his press conference, however, he would be willing to testify under oath about his allegations and challenged the governor and others to do the same.

Although she’s listed as a member of the governor’s staff on his official website, it’s unclear if Mason is paid by the state government or some outside entity. Inside Alabama Politics, reporting last week on large raises for members of Bentley’s inner circle, noted in a spreadsheet she last was listed as a state employee during fiscal 2013. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for clarification.

It’s unclear if the attorney general’s office will investigate the governor. A phone call seeking comment was not returned.

But the pressure is likely to mount for an official probe. One Republican Alabama lawmaker, state Rep. Allen Farley, sent the attorney general’s office a letter Sept. 1 asking for a look into whether Bentley misused state resources while having an affair and says he’s alarmed by the latest allegations.

“I hate that I was right. It’s one of those times you file it and hope nothing will come up,” he says about requesting an investigation.

Farley tells U.S. News he hasn’t heard back from the attorney general’s office, but that Bentley called him the day before he hand-delivered his letter requesting an investigation and “told me point blank that it was not true, that he never had an affair.”

Farley says he and many other Alabama residents consider adultery a serious sin and that if Bentley did have an affair and lied about it he’s not fit to hold office. He says he does not personally know if Bentley had an affair or misused state resources, but that voters deserve an answer.

“As a man of faith, this to me is very serious. … We’re always failing – we’re human – but this is the Bible Belt,” he says. “A lot of the popularity that got Dr. Robert Bentley elected was talking about his faith and being a Sunday school teacher and a deacon of his church. Those things resonated with the Republicans in Alabama, so you can see how this resonates with the same people.”

Two prominent Alabama attorneys tell U.S. News that, although adultery technically remains a misdemeanor in the state, they’ve never seen a prosecution. In fact, they say, the law generally helps adulterers in divorce cases, allowing them to invoke their Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination to side-step discussion of past-year infidelities.

“It remaining on the books generally assists in divorce litigation in that, as it's technically still against the law, litigants are able to avoid answering questions regarding adultery,” says attorney Heather Fann, chairwoman of the Alabama State Bar Association’s family law section.

“More often than not, I find a person who has committed adultery will use the old statute to support invoking their Fifth Amendment right and refuse to honestly address their infidelity,” adds attorney Tina Moon, vice chairwoman of the family law section.

“Adultery is very hard to prove in and of itself,” Moon adds. “One element of the charge is actually sexual intercourse, and you have to have someone either admit specifically or you need definitive proof, i.e. video or photographs. … With the criminal charge there has to be actual evidence as the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt for conviction.

Moon says prosecutors likely would look elsewhere if they discover proof of Bentley having an affair with the aide, perhaps pursuing ethics-related criminal or civil action.

Collier was Alabama’s first secretary of law enforcement, and at the Wednesday press conference offered more than just moral objections to Bentley's alleged relationship.