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.
Mike Hubbard trial day 5: Hubbard didn’t seek approval before making deals, former ethics chief testifies
In the long-awaited trial of indicted Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, more than 20 witnesses were called during the first four days of trial last week. Fellow legislators, business partners, politicians and state executives testified about their knowledge of Hubbard’s actions, providing testimony for many of the 23 charges Hubbard faces. The state endeavors to prove Hubbard used his office for personal gain and used his position as Speaker of the House, and formerly as chair of the Alabama Republican Party, to solicit jobs and investments in businesses with which he was involved. A conviction on any one of the charges would remove the speaker from office. The charges carry potential sentences of two to 20 years and fines of up to $30,000 for each count. The trial resumed Tuesday after the long Memorial Day weekend as prosecutors called Jon Sanderson, a financial officer for investment firm Sterne Agee from 2012 until March 2016. Sanderson testified to writing a check in November 2012 to Hubbard’s company Craftmaster on behalf of the Sterne Agee Group for $150,000, explaining he was instructed by CEO Jim Holbrook to write the check during a meeting. “During the meeting, Mr. Holbrook slid a piece of paper over to me that had Craftmaster Inc. written on it and he whispered to me that he needed a check written for $150,000 right then,” Sanderson explained. Sanderson said the incident was “not totally out of the ordinary.” Later in the morning, former Ethics Commission Director Jim Sumner was an expert witness on the ethics law. Sumner testified that Hubbard did not notify or seek advice from the Alabama Ethics Commission regarding consulting contracts he held with the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc., Edgenuity and Capitol Cups. “I did not know about those companies until I saw the indictment,” Sumner said of Hubbard’s contracts with Edgenuity and Capitol Cups. Next, executive vice president of the online learning company, Edgenuity, Michael Humphrey, testified part of the reason his company hired Hubbard as a consultant was due to his position as a lawmaker. “I would say part of the reason was that he’s a legislator,” said Humphrey. “He was a legislator with the ability to work outside Alabama. I wanted to take advantage of his relationships.” Humphrey clarified the company never intended to use Hubbard’s consulting services within the state of Alabama. The trial continues Wednesday. Witnesses expected on Wednesday: Billy Canary: Business Council of Alabama president and CEO Dax Swatek: lobbyist Bob Riley: former governor of Alabama Minda Riley Campbell: daughter of former Gov. Bob Riley Robert Bentley: Governor of Alabama Greg Canfield: Department of Commerce secretary
