Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has appointed his state’s attorney general, Luther Strange, to fill just-confirmed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Senate seat, apparently ignoring widespread concern about the appearance of a corrupt trade.

The Alabama attorney general’s office is conducting an investigation related to Bentley, against whom Strange requested impeachment efforts be stalled in November, citing “related work” by his office. Now, Bentley will be able to pick Strange’s replacement, too.

“I have learned you can’t be surprised in politics, and especially in Alabama politics,” says state Rep. Allen Farley, a fellow Republican who serves on the Alabama House Judiciary Committee, which Strange asked to delay impeachment work.

“If you think something can’t happen, you haven’t been here long,” Farley says. “There are a lot of meetings that aren’t public.”

Bentley is caught in a complex web of scandals involving an alleged affair with a now-former senior aide whose husband is an appointee and the alleged retaliatory firing of a state official who cooperated in the corruption prosecution of a state legislature leader later sentenced to prison.

Farley says he’s willing to give Strange – who will be up for re-election in 2018 – the benefit of the doubt that “it’s just one of those things where it appears there could have been collusion."

He recalls the committee being “right in the middle” of its impeachment probe when “all the sudden we get a letter from the attorney general asking us to step down. And shortly after that, this occurs, where Luther is going to put his hat in the ring.”

Farley says he’s also trying to remain optimistic that impeachment work will move forward, though he’s concerned Bentley’s pick for the new state attorney general will slow-walk or nix that office’s probe.

State Rep. Ed Henry, a Republican who has sought Bentley’s impeachment, meanwhile, calls Strange’s appointment “just another disappointment for the people of Alabama.”

“There’s going to be such an air of conspiracy hanging over our state and our new senator,” Henry says. “At a time when most of the country is experiencing a newfound hope in Donald Trump, we’re looking at business as usual.”

Henry says it’s unlikely Strange will be able to shake the cloud of scandal but hopes Strange accepted the appointment only because he knew Bentley was about to be indicted – though even that would not clear Strange’s actions in his mind.

“He definitely slowed down the impeachment process, which put the governor in a place to actually appoint him. That’s the problem we have,” Henry says. “He stopped an impeachment process and then in turn accepted the nomination to the Senate. I believe the damage is already done.”

Henry says the state’s new attorney general will “obviously” be a close Bentley friend – a question hotly debated as Strange was first interviewed for the Senate appointment before being put on a list of six finalists.

Leading Alabama officials are divided on the Strange pick.

"The whole thing stinks,” State Auditor Jim Zeigler, also a Republican, told CNN on Thursday. "It is outrageous. We have the potential for a Gov. Blagojevich situation."

Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was arrested for attempting to sell President Barack Obama’s empty Illinois Senate seat. He’s currently in prison, and his appointee, former Sen. Roland Burris, was dogged by the scandal during his short tenure in Congress.

Burris told U.S. News on Wednesday he believed Strange shouldn’t let an imperfect situation influence his aspirations.

“Even though he’s a Republican, it’s certainly something he should consider,” Burris said about a then-potential appointment.

Still, other Alabama officials say they aren't concerned.

"I know there are some people who are concerned that if he selects [Attorney] General Strange as senator, they will have 'cut a deal' to ensure the prosecution of the governor – the investigation that could lead to the prosecution of the governor – is stymied," Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, told U.S. News last week. But, Merrill said, "I know four people who have talked to the governor" about replacing Strange and that "the four I know who have talked to the governor about that possess that kind of personal integrity, that they would continue the investigation [into Bentley]."

Selma, Alabama, Police Chief Spencer Collier, a whistleblower who helped make Bentley's alleged misconduct a national news story last year, said he wasn't so sure and believed Bentley would select Strange for "nefarious reasons."