By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
Speaker Mike Hubbard is so worried that he will be convicted on the 23 felony counts of violating State ethics laws, that his legal team has filed a seal motion to have those laws ruled unconstitutional.
After reviewing thousands of documents and hearing hundreds of hours of testimony, 18 citizens in Lee County found probable cause to indict and arrest Mike Hubbard, the most powerful politician in their district, on 23 felonies.
There are some who do not believe that 12 other citizens called from that same district will find him guilty of those 23 felonies. But, there is one group that is worried he will be convicted:
Hubbard’s criminal defense team.
Criminal defense attorney J. Mark White said, the reason they filed the motion to challenge the constitutionality of the laws under which Hubbard was indicted, and have them placed under seal, was because it contained grand jury testimony. Matt Hart, Chief of the AG’s Special Prosecution Division, said in court that the real reason was because the filing would embarrass Hubbard. Trail Judge Jacob Walker III agreed that the motion should be unsealed, and gave the defense until Friday August 21, to publicly file the motion.
For the moment, the public and the media can only speculate on what grounds Hubbard will challenge the laws he championed, voted for, and praised saying:
“Because of the laws passed in the [2010] Special Session, and proudly signed into law by Governor Riley, Alabama ethics laws are now among the strongest in the nation.”
What outrageous argument will Hubbard trot out to make the court believe that the laws he passed are somehow illegal?
Hubbard also wrote one of those ethics laws:
“It is my hope that future historians will say that this was the legislature that brought the reforms Alabama had needed for so long and that fundamentally changed how state government operates… Most voters in Alabama had become used to hearing politicians say one thing on the campaign trail and do something else once elected. That kind of empty rhetoric and broken promises has given Alabamians a serious distrust of state government for decades. We vowed to change that.”
In his own words Hubbard proclaimed boldly that what he and the Republican supermajority “proudly” passed were historic ethics reforms, “that fundamentally changed how state government operates.”
Now, he wants the court to believe that it was all a mistake?
The question that should hang over every republican legislator’s head like a guillotine is, will those same legislators that passed the “strongest in the nation,” ethics laws now abandon them because one of their own was caught in the net they wove?
How can a single Republican lawmaker look voters in the eye and say, “Well, it was a good law until a one of our guys broke it.”
Has the body politic of Alabama become so riddled with cancerous corruption that laws have no value, if they are broken by a member of your party? Is partisan politics mired so deeply in a dung heap of cronyism, as to grant a pass for a fellow republican who has run afoul of the laws they passed?
Hubbard’s willingness to sacrifice the good accomplished by the Republican supermajority to save his own neck, is a very telling demonstration of his deviant, and narcissistic character.
In 2010, Hubbard said, “When you look someone in the eye, give them your word, and shake their hand, you make a bond. This Handshake Agenda is our bond with the voters of Alabama, and if Republicans are successful in taking over the Legislature, these are the items we will immediately work to pass.”
The Republicans were successful in taking over the Legislature, and every other State office.
“Ending Corruption in Montgomery,” was a promise of the Handshake with Alabama Hubbard promoted. It reads in part:
“Democrats have held the majority in Montgomery for 136 years, and during that time, they created an atmosphere that breeds corruption and encourages graft…Republicans understand that we must limit the influence of special interests and other lobbyists who control much of what happens in Montgomery…Too many legislators and other public officials have been caught double-dipping or holding questionable contracts with government agencies and those wishing to do business with the state. Republicans will work to ban double-dipping and require public officials and their spouses to disclose any contracts they hold with government entities.”
Note: the “Handshake” said the republicans would put an end to those, “holding questionable contracts with government agencies and those wishing to do business with the state.” That is exactly what Hubbard is accused of doing, but now that he has been caught doing what he promised to stop, he wants the law tossed out.
Consider this: was Hubbard lying when he praised the ethics laws, or is he lying now?
Adrienne Rich, author of “Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying.” wrote:
“Lying is done with words, and also with silence.”
If State republicans remain silent on this matter, they too are lying, lying not only to the court, and the people of our State, but to themselves as well.
Leviticus 19:11 says, “You shall not steal, neither deal falsely…,” this is what Hubbard is accused of doing. It ends by stating, “ neither lie one to another.” If lawmakers and republican voices are mute on this issue, then they can no longer be trusted by the people of Alabama.
So far, Hubbard has intimidated State lawmakers, the republican establishment, and even the Governor.
American author, Bryant H. McGill, wrote “The world is not fair, and often fools, cowards, liars, and the selfish hide in high places.”
It is time to come out of hiding, and speak out against Hubbard’s lies.
