Focus on America claims that Alabama voting systems can connect to the internet
On Thursday, a conservative action group that is concerned with election integrity and supports informing voters, Focus on America announced in a press release that they have supplemented the record in their case challenging the use of voting machines in Alabama elections. Focus on America said in the release that they have forwarded new evidence to the Alabama Supreme Court and the Montgomery Trial Court. The new evidence is from a statement that defendant Secretary of State John Merrill made in a meeting of the Tennessee Valley Republicans that the plaintiffs claim contradicts prior testimony of defendants and defense witnesses in this case. The plaintiffs claim that this new evidence shows that Alabama’s election voting system is wide open to the internet in over sixty locations. Secretary Merrill disputed Focus on America’s claim in a phone interview with Alabama Today. Rebecca Rogers, with Focus on America, is a plaintiff in Hanes v. Merrill that presently plaintiffs have appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court. Rogers stated she asked Sec. Merrill specifically about the so-called “hardened” laptops provided to each probate judge. Rogers referred Merrill to an AL.com article that quotes both Merrill and co-Defendant Bill English, Lee County Probate Judge and Chair of the Alabama Electronic Voting Committee. “The hacker, if he gets into our second computer and changes it, we’ve still got the original data from the precincts on computer A,” English said. “The security is that nobody can get to computer A from the Internet.” Rogers claimed that in her question, she referenced the Secretary of State Office’s own purchase order for these so-called “hardened” laptops that proves, among other things, that the laptops are not hardened but, to the contrary, were ordered with WiFi and Bluetooth. “Everything in this case has already been adjudicated,” Merrill told Alabama Today. “That case is over.” Merrill said that the information that is in those laptops is for “election night reporting only so that the media can have numbers to report. Those are unofficial results.” “While Merrill and the probate judges may understand that this computer is used for only one purpose, hackers don’t really care and connecting to the internet at all leaves widespread vulnerabilities in our election security and voter rights,” stated Rogers. “John Merrill misrepresented the truth before the Alabama Supreme Court with our electronic voting machine lawsuit.” Merrill denied misrepresenting anything to the court. “Those people have gotten so much information they can’t understand it,” Merrill said. “They have no credibility.” “In May of this year, John Merrill said that the “hardened” stand-alone computers used in the election ‘cannot be connected to the internet.’” Melissa Isaak, the plaintiff’s attorney, said. “This was shown in court to be false as Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity was specifically requested in Merrill’s own purchase orders.” Another attorney for the plaintiffs, Phillip Jauregui, stated, “This admission is outrageous. For months, the defendants have testified that the election laptops are not open to the internet. But now, when exposed by their own purchase order, they are forced to admit that the opposite is true. The legal problem is that they only did so after the record and appeal had been sent to the Alabama Supreme Court. We hope and pray the Alabama Supreme Court will accept this new evidence and rule for the plaintiffs in our main case. Our janky, uncertified, and insecure systems must be fixed.” Alabama Today asked Merrill what the status of the case is. “Hugh is dead,” Merrill responded, referring to the recent passing of the Secretary of State’s general counsel. “Normally, I would just ask him.” The general counsel for the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office Hugh Evans III passed away on November 17. Evans was undefeated in numerous different court challenges of election law while working with Merrill. Merrill reiterated his view that the Alabama election results cannot be hacked and that this case has no merit. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Rauf Bolden: Repeal the Baldwin County lodging tax district in Orange Beach
Rauf Bolden discusses the lodging tax district in Baldwin County.
Testimony: Mike Hubbard hired to open doors for others
The president of an education curriculum company testified Tuesday that he hired Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard in a $7,500 a month consulting contract, to open doors with legislative leaders in other states as the company tried to sell digital courses to school systems. Edgenuity President Michael Humphrey said he believed Hubbard – with his legislative and sports background – could get him meetings with legislative leaders that Humphrey said it would take him a year to get on his own. “My idea was to use Mike to say, ‘Get me a meeting with this guy, let me go meet him,’” Humphrey said. Humphrey said Hubbard’s contract specified that he only worked on matters outside Alabama for the company. Humphrey said Hubbard’s work for the company included calling the then-speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives and emailing Auburn University Athletics Director Jay Jacobs asking for contacts for the company as it tried to get cleared by the NCAA to sell its products for college athletes. Hubbard faces 23 felony ethics charges accusing him of using his political positions to make money and solicit work, investments and clients from people with business before the Alabama Legislature. Prosecutors say Hubbard improperly used the “mantle of his office” to benefit his businesses and clients. Hubbard has maintained that the transactions were legal and permitted under the exceptions that the state ethics law provides for normal business dealings and longstanding friendships. During the questioning of the retired director of the Alabama Ethics Commission, prosecutors and defense lawyers took turns alternately depicting Hubbard as someone who cautiously sought advice about what was allowed under state ethics laws or someone who willfully ignored the advice he was given. Jim Sumner said Hubbard often sought informal ethics advice from him or general counsel Hugh Evans and they repeatedly cautioned him about the restrictions of the law. They gave him an informal letter about his work for a municipal-owned gas utility saying the work would be legal as long as he didn’t use the “mantle of his office” to benefit his clients and businesses. “We always got to the point: I would say, or Hugh would say, ‘You remember the drill. You can’t use your position to benefit yourself, your business or your family,’” Sumner said. Sumner served as an expert witness, providing testimony on both the informal advice given to Hubbard and providing general interpretations about what the law allows and doesn’t allow. Sumner said he once called Hubbard with concerns after hearing rumors that a change to the 2013 budget bill could be a major boon for one of Hubbard’s clients. Hubbard first asked if those rumors were coming from “enemies” and then added that the matter would be taken care of in conference committee. What exactly constitutes using the “mantle” of a public office could be a pivotal point in some of the charges in the public corruption trial. Sumner, under questioning from prosecutors, said it was an intangible that included using the aura of a public office to benefit private business clients. Prosecutors introduced an email from Hubbard in which he described that as boilerplate ethics language and that he was free to introduce himself as speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives. Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Bill Baxley, Sumner acknowledged Hubbard sought more advice about his business dealings than any other legislator. “He said, ‘I want to know where the line is?’” Baxley asked. “Correct,” Sumner replied. “To your knowledge, Alabama has a part-time citizen legislature and almost every member has to make a living,” Baxley added. Hubbard’s defense has made a point of saying that he sought ethical guidance and followed the law. But informal opinions don’t provide the legal protection Hubbard might have received had he sought formal opinions from the five-member Ethics Commission. The charges against Hubbard were brought by a grand jury convened by the Alabama attorney general’s office. Baxley tried to point out that the Alabama Ethics Commission, a panel that reviews allegations of ethics violations, never brought any findings against Hubbard. However, Sumner said that he did not know about several of the speaker’s contracts until after Hubbard was indicted by the grand jury. “More than half of the things that are before this case were never known to the Ethics Commission,” Sumner said. The trial continues Wednesday with a number of high-profile witnesses. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley could be called to testify as soon as Wednesday. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Retired Alabama ethics chief: Mike Hubbard often got ‘the drill’
The retired director of the Alabama Ethics Commission testified Tuesday that he often gave “the drill” to House Speaker Mike Hubbard, cautioning him about actions that would violate the state’s ethics law. Prosecutors called Jim Sumner to give jurors a tutorial on the law and to try to show that Hubbard willfully ignored his advice. Sumner said Hubbard often sought informal ethics advice from him or general counsel Hugh Evans. He testified that they generally told Hubbard his consulting contracts would be legal as long as he didn’t use the “mantle of his office” to benefit his clients and businesses. “We always got to the point: I would say, or Hugh would say, ‘You remember the drill. You can’t use your position to benefit yourself, your business or your family,’” Sumner said. Hubbard’s defense has made a point of saying that he sought ethical guidance and followed the law. But informal opinions don’t provide the legal protection Hubbard might have received had he sought formal opinions from the five-member Ethics Commission. And unlike his private conversations with Sumner and Evans, commission opinions are a matter of public record. Hubbard is charged with 23 felony counts of violating the ethics law by using his positions as speaker and state GOP chairman to solicit a total of $2.3 million in work, investments and financial favors. Hubbard has maintained his innocence and said the transactions were within the law’s exemptions for normal business dealings and longstanding friendships. Sumner said the law forbids public officials from: – using their offices to benefit businesses with which they are associated; – soliciting things with monetary value from lobbyists or their employers; – and being paid to lobby. Hubbard is accused of doing all three. Sumner said there is an exemption for longstanding friendships, so that people who had “known each other all their lives” could do things like go on vacation together without violating the law. Hubbard is expected to argue that the friendship exemption applies to his deals with former Gov. Bob Riley, now a lobbyist. Hubbard named his younger son Riley, and has described the former governor as his political mentor. A number of powerful corporation owners and executives were called to testify Tuesday about $150,000 investments they each made in Hubbard’s printing company, Craftmaster. Jon Sanderson, the former chief financial officer at Sterne Agee Group, Inc., testified that his CEO whispered during a meeting that he needed a $150,000 check made out to Craftmaster “right now.” Hubbard isn’t the only Alabama Republican in trouble. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley faces impeachment after a scandal over his relationship with an aide, and Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is suspended and could be removed from office for allegedly violating judicial ethics in the fight over same-sex marriage. Republished with permission of The Associated Press
Robert Bentley to be investigated by state ethics commission
On Tuesday, the Alabama Ethics Commission responded to a complaint filed by State Auditor Jim Zeigler in reference to an alleged affair between Gov. Robert Bentley and staff member Rebekah Mason. Ethics Commission attorney Hugh Evans informed Zeigler that case numbers have been assigned to the complaint and special agents will be assigned to investigate soon. Evans also instructed Zeigler not to discuss the ongoing investigation “in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation.” However, Zeigler has still been encouraged to pass on any additional evidence he may come across. The complaint was lodged after sexually explicit audio recordings of Bentley surfaced, though he and Mason both have contended that there was no physical affair between them. Zeigler contends that Bentley may have misused his office if in fact it was used for an affair – in one of the recordings, Bentley mentions having to rearrange his office. While it is unclear when the ethics commission will complete its investigation, if Bentley is found to have misused his office for salacious encounters he may well be eligible for impeachment on the grounds that such a misuse would constitute an “offense involving moral turpitude while in office.”
Alabama Ethics Commission gives Jim Zeigler a-ok to pursue PACT tuition reimbursement
On Tuesday, a lawyer with the Alabama Ethics Commission ruled that State Auditor Jim Zeigler‘s active support for full funding of state pre-paid college program is permissible. The ruling was handed down amid some controversy over the fact Zeigler’s family had purchased two of the PACT – or Pre-Paid Affordable College Tuition – plans for the couple’s own children. Those concerns were jettisoned by commissioner Hugh Evans Tuesday, opening the path for Zeigler to continue his advocacy efforts. “Mr. Zeigler cannot separate his actions from his official role, but as long as he does not use his position or the mantle of his office to receive a benefit different than that accruing to the other members of the affected class, there is not an Ethics violation,” read the decision that cleared the statewide auditor. “The class affected is all participants in the PACT program. This is a very large class, and it would appear to affect all members equally.” Zeigler, who bought two PACT plans 16 and 21 years ago repsectively, has been pushing for the Legislature and governor to approve “a modest part” of funding from the recent settlement related to the 2011 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill to make whole parents and guardians who had purchased plans before the program went insolvent in 2009, which led to a devaluation of the plans. Zeigler has argued plan purchasers would not improperly benefit from such an arrangement because they would simply be remedially receiving funding they were owed anyway, as opposed to benefitting from a new windfall. The plans, Zeigler told ALToday.com last month, were not an investment subject to loss but rather a contract the state agreed to fulfill at “a sum certain.” “This is a wrong that needs to be righted,” said Zeigler. “The BP money may be the last chance to provide the full tuition that these families paid for and based their planning on.”
