By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
The Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard needs your money.
Now, more than ever, the Speaker is desperate for cold, hard cash, after spending almost a million dollars on his reelection campaign and almost $200K from his personal campaign account to pay legal fees.
Currently, Hubbard has around $55,000 in his principle campaign account, not enough to pay his white collar criminal defense lawyer, J.Mark White. Hubbard’s Storming the Statehouse PAC has less than $10,000, a far cry from the millions he had once predicted for his “incumbent protection plan.” So, he needs more money and a lot more than a fist full of dollars.
On Thursday, September 4, at 11:30, Hubbard will be holding a pricy fundraiser to replenish the empty coffers of his Storming the State House PAC.
This may explain why over the last two weeks the persistent rumor around Montgomery is, that Hubbard, Bob Riley and Luther Strange have cut a deal with W. Van Davis and Matt Hart to drop the investigation into possible criminal actions perpetrated by Hubbard and his cronies.
The rumor—which is not new—is that Davis and Hart have agreed to end the investigation for the “good of the Republican party.” The idea that Davis and Hart would agree to turn a blind eye to crime for the sake of the ALGOP is laughable.
This rumor could not be further from the truth. Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the character of Davis and Hart knows that these men would never end an investigation for political reasons.
But as usual, Hubbard and Riley think they can lie, cheat and steal their way to victory. In this case, the short-term goal is to lighten the wallets of big donors who are complicit or too afraid not pay tribute to the Alabama’s little Caesars.
Hubbard needs money now, while he prays that Riley and others can apply pressure to the State’s Supreme Court to toss-out the entire Grand Jury proceedings in Lee County.
Moore’s attorneys are arguing that W. Van Davis was improperly appointed “Special Attorney General,” and the proceedings of the Lee County Grand Jury are illegitimate. Therefore, the case against Moore, and by extension Hubbard, is void.
According to the revision made to Moore’s motion, the Supreme Court has agreed to “decide fundamental constitutional issues affecting the jurisdiction of the ‘special grand jury’… and the extraordinary recusal by the Attorney General of Alabama.”
Moore’s attorney, Bill Baxley, is once again trying an argument that was thoroughly rejected by Lee County Circuit Court Judge Jacob A.Walker III in June.
The deadline for a reply to the Supreme Court in this matter passed on August 20.
It is also being bantered about that big donors like “Yellow Feller” Jimmy Rane, who owns Great Southern Wood and is also President Pro Tempore of the Auburn University Board of Trustees, are putting pressure on Big Luther as well as members of the State’s Supreme Court.
A year ago, while at the dedications of the Mike Hubbard Center at Auburn University, Rane said of the investigation into Hubbard’s suspected criminal activities, “ I know that Lee County has a good man… if a fistfight breaks out, give me a call.”
Rane is rumored to have recently appeared before the Lee Grand Jury. It is not known if he challenged Davis or Hart to a fistfight, but those who are close to Hubbard’s inner circle claim that Rane is fighting with big bags of money.
Is it possible that a court led by Chief Justice Roy Moore could be so easily influenced by a promise of campaign contributions or a threat to withhold the same? Has justice become so corrupt in the State as to believe that justice can be bought and sold for filthy lucre. Has politics so undermined the courts that they are little more that a corrupt and rotting corpse?
Would Supreme Court Justices Lyn Stuart, Michael F. Bolin, Tom Parker, Glenn Murdock, Greg Shaw, James Allen Main, Alisa Kelli Wise and Tommy Bryan stoop so low as to gather 30 pieces of silver at the feet of Hubbard, Riley or Rane?
Hubbard and Riley seem to always need more money. But, surely the High Court cannot be bought with fear or bribes?
Hubbard wants more money and the big mules and lobbyists will line up with their bankrolls.
Let’s pray it is the last time for the sake of justice in our State.
