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From “Storming the Statehouse” to Jail on Corruption Charges: The Incredible Rise and Fall of House Speaker Mike Hubbard
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on May 3, 2016
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on May 3, 2016
Mike Hubbard, 54, is a Republican member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing the 79th district in Lee County. He was first elected in 1998 and currently serves as Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives. Hubbard previously served six years as House Minority Leader (2004–2010) and two terms as chairman of the Alabama Republican Party (2007–2011).
As the Alabama GOP chairman, Hubbard created and headed Campaign 2010, the most comprehensive fundraising and coordinated campaign plan in the Party's history. The effort raised over $5 million and, in the November 2010 general election, resulted in Republicans winning every statewide office, picking up a congressional seat and taking majorities in both Houses of the Alabama Legislature for the first time in 136 years.
This sweep resulted in Tuscaloosa-based dermatologist and former legislator Robert Bentley becoming the 53rd governor of Alabama. It received a major boost from Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe L. Reed and deceased Alabama Education Association Executive Secretary Paul Hubbert. Reed and Hubbert teamed up with Bentley to provide him the cash and campaign support he needed to defeat Bradley Byrne in the 2010 Republican primary elections.
Hubbard wrote about this unprecedented political takeover of Alabama in his 2012 book, “Storming the Statehouse”. With it, Hubbard became Alabama’s most powerful politician.
Hubbard quickly used his new power position to hustle Alabama’s rich, famous and privileged members of society. Motivated by greed, Hubbard traded the power of his office for personal gain.
In October 2014, Hubbard was indicted by a Lee County grand jury on 23 felony counts of corruption and ethics charges accusing him of soliciting or receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from Republican power players around the state. The individuals referenced in Hubbard’s indictment are a Who’s Who list of the Republican Party. They represent Alabama’s royal oligarchy.
These individuals include former governor Bob Riley, his daughter Minda, Auburn trustee Jimmy Rane, former Sterne Agee CEO Jim Holbrooke, Business Council of Alabama head Bill Canary, former BCA chairman Will Brooke, Hoar Construction Company CEO Rob Burton, and political operative Dax Swatek.
In the 2005 Don Siegelman-Richard Scrushy bribery and public corruption case, both the alleged “giver” of bribes (Richard Scrushy) and “taker” of bribes (former governor Siegelman) were indicted. Both men were convicted in 2006 and sentenced to prison.
In Mike Hubbard’s case, he is presently the only person under indictment. Hubbard’s trial is set for May 16, 2016. A conviction on any one of the counts could send Hubbard to prison for two to 20 years.
Hubbard fought state prosecutors “tooth and nail” throughout the long pre-trial process. He extracted his proverbial “pound of flesh” from prosecutors along the way. In the end, Hubbard ran out of money and delaying tactics.
Hubbard’s first set of lawyers left him because he could not pay his legal bills. Additionally, a mock jury presentation of Lee County residents, which was arranged by Hubbard’s legal team as part of its trial preparation, found him “guilty” on all 23 counts.
Tired and exhausted, and emotionally and financially drained, Hubbard authorized his replacement attorneys to negotiate a plea deal in April. Our Facebook news team confirmed and first reported this plea deal on April 17th.
Yesterday, we reported exclusively that all aspects of Hubbard's plea deal with state prosecutors have been finalized. Under the deal, Hubbard will: (a) resign from public office; (b) plead guilty to public corruption charges; (c) agree to an 18-month sentence, 12 months of which will be served in the Lee County jail and 6 months of which will be suspended; and (d) be allowed to register as a lobbyist after serving his sentence. As part of his deal, Hubbard will cooperate with state and federal prosecutors investigating allegations of public corruption by Governor Robert Bentley, Bob Riley, Senate President Del Marsh, among others.
The precedent for allowing Hubbard to register as a lobbyist after his release from jail was set in the criminal case of former state senator John Teague, who pleaded guilty in 2002 to a charge of underpaying federal income taxes. In 2004, Teague was pardoned by the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board and had his rights to vote and own guns restored after serving six months in federal prison. Prosecutors did not object to Teague’s speedy pardon. After his pardon, Teague was back operating on Goat Hill as a registered lobbyist. Today, Teague is one of the most powerful lobbyists in Montgomery.
Hubbard’s plea deal will be publicly announced after the legislature adjourns. After today’s meeting, there is only one day left in the 2016 session of the legislature. Hubbard’s plea deal will be announced in open court on or before the start of his scheduled May 16, 2016, criminal trial.
This plea deal is a major victory for lead special prosecutor Matt Hart, who was recently under fire by Hubbard and his political ally, Robert Bentley. The Hubbard-Bentley alliance resulted in the March firing of former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency head Spencer Collier after Collier executed an affidavit requested by Hart in Hubbard’s case. Bentley ordered Collier to NOT execute the requested affidavit. This order contravened Collier’s law enforcement duties under Alabama law. Bentley’s order also constituted witness tampering and obstruction of justice in the case.
Stay tuned.
Donald V Watkins
The Meck Report/Blog
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