Mike Hubbard
Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard answers questions from Deputy Attorney General Matt Hart during his trial, Thursday, June 9, 2016, in Opelika, Ala. Hubbard was convicted Friday, June 10 of 12 of 23 felony ethics charges accusing him of using his political positions to make money and seek financial favors, investments and employment from lobbyists and people with business before the Alabama Legislature. (Todd J. Van Emst/Opelika-Auburn News via AP, Pool)
(Todd J. Van Emst)
A jury in Lee County found Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard guilty of violating 12 counts of Alabama's ethics laws. From here on out, he didn't allegedly break the law. He's not accused of breaking the law. He's no longer presumed innocent.
He's guilty. He did it. He's a criminal.
With the jury's verdict, it's no longer a matter of opinion or conjecture. It's now a fact. The most powerful politician in Alabama used his office for personal gain.
Hubbard's a crook, but the blame doesn't stop with him.
Hubbard led a political revolution in Montgomery, executing a masterful plan to pick off Goat Hill Democrats and replace them with Republicans beholden to him. Leading up to the election, Hubbard blasted Democrats for tolerating a culture of corruption in Montgomery, especially in the administration of Gov. Don Siegelman who, like Hubbard, cried political prosecution.
"The only conspiracy that put Don Siegelman in prison is the one he created by accepting bribes for political favors," Hubbard wrote in an op-ed then. "By continuing to defend him, the Alabama Democratic Party is endorsing corruption, crime and cronyism at the highest levels of state government."
When Republicans took control of the Legislature, that cohort crowned Hubbard as their speaker. They hung an "Under New Managment Sign" in the shop window, but Hubbard kept the "For Sale" sign right where Democrats had left it.
Alabama lawmakers knew it, and they didn't do a damn thing to stop it.
Alabama law removes him from office immediately upon his conviction, which is a good thing for Alabama because, if the law didn't remove him, I'm not sure any of his colleagues in the Legislature would. Since the court unsealed the grand jury's indictment two years ago, Alabama lawmakers have proven to be little more than toadies, cronies, cowards and goons.
It's a sad fact of Alabama politics that, even when the good guys win, Alabama still loses. A lot of Alabama politicians tried to make sure the good guys lost, because if it weren't for Deputy Attorney General Matt Hart and the special prosecutions division scaring the hell out of them, God only knows what hell that crew could inflict on Alabama.
Prosecutors and investigators from the Alabama Attorney General's office swam against the political current for years to bring this case to trial, much less return a conviction. All along, Hubbard's allies in the legislature castigated the AG's office for holding a witch hunt. They called it a political prosecution.
They circled around their leader in support, standing with him during a press conference after his arrest in Auburn and reelecting him to the speaker's chair after the 2014 election -- when he was under indictment. Corruption in Montgomery is business as usual, and most lawmakers in the Alabama House showed they were OK with that -- Republicans and Democrats -- when they elected Hubbard to be speaker while under indictment.
Only Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, voted against Hubbard. A few have since said they regret their decision, but they had a choice and they made it. They had an opportunity to raise their voices when it mattered, though, and they stayed silent.
A few deserve a place in the Hall of Shame for their Hubbard support.
Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Huntsville, stood in that press conference with Hubbard. Not only that, but in the 2015 Legislative Session, he introduced legislation which would have put state prosecutors and investigators under the thumb of the Legislature with his so-called "star chamber" bill.
Rep. Jack Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, was there, too. He sponsored a bill that would have allowed Hubbard to solicit donations from political backers to pay his legal fees.
Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison, was in the room, and later he blasted the prosecutor, Hart, for selective prosecution of Hubbard.
Congressman Mike Rogers not only stood by Hubbard in that press conference, but he took the microphone to blast prosecutors for "Chicago-style gutter politics" because when Alabama politicians don't have anything meaningful to say, they try to bring it back to Obama.
No, sir. This wasn't Chicago-style politics. This was Alabama-style politics, and nobody was as good at it as Mike Hubbard.
And while Hubbard is heading for the pokey, all those who made him Alabama's political boss are still right here.