The Latest: Ethics body wants Alabama chief justice removed

A judicial ethics panel wants Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore swiftly removed from office for urging the state's probate judges to defy the federal courts on gay marriage.

Alabama's Judicial Inquiry Commission wrote Friday that Moore's unremorseful "flouting" of the rule of law merits the highest possible sanction it can levy against a sitting judge, which is immediate removal from office.

Joe Espy made the statement Friday, a day after news broke that the governor had appeared before the grand jury seated this week by the attorney general.

The lawyer says he accompanied the governor, but grand jury secrecy rules prohibit people from discussing testimony.

The former secretary, who was dismissed by Bentley, fired back by accusing his former friend of having an affair with a staffer and interfering with law enforcement business.