Mike Hubbard, allies lash out at Luther Strange

AUBURN -- A day after surrendering to authorities after being charged with 23 counts of using public office for private gain, House Speaker Mike Hubbard and his supporters accused Alabama attorney general Luther Strange of prosecuting the Speaker for political gain.

In a rare public display of Republican infighting, Hubbard, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, and Hubbard attorney Mark White implicitly — and, toward the end of a press conference, explicitly — accused Strange of trying to remove Hubbard as a viable candidate for the 2018 gubernatorial election.

"The Democrats aren't doing this," Rogers said. "Who'd like to be governor in four years? Who would like to get Mike Hubbard out of the picture or skin (him) up as a candidate?"

Responding in a statement Tuesday evening, Strange said he had recused himself to "completely remove any appearance of politics being involved in the matter."

"Mr. Hubbard is entitled to the presumption of innocence and this matter will now be handled, as it should be, in the court system," the statement said.

Hubbard and his attorneys, flanked by Hubbard's wife Susan, Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston and about two dozen state representatives and local officials, also outlined a broad legal strategy that would both challenge the investigation and defend the transactions listed in the indictment.

"I have not seen anything in the indictment that cannot be defended and, yes, endorsed," White said, saying the charges of soliciting or receiving investments in firms in which Hubbard owned an interest were legitimate transactions.

The Speaker said he would not resign — "I've never thought about it," he said — and indicated he would run again for Speaker.

The Auburn Republican said he was being targeted for "shaking up the status quo" in state government after winning control of the Legislature in 2010, and angering those "who liked things as they are."

"Why does the Attorney General's Office think it's a crime to own a business?" Hubbard said during the press conference. "And think it's a crime to do business with anyone you didn't know before you were elected to office?"

Virtually everyone in Alabama government would agree that the Speaker, a 16-year veteran of the House, can anger those around him; whether the anger is justified where many disagree. The Alabama Education Association has been sharply critical of Hubbard's support for the Alabama Accountability Act and increased benefit costs that Hubbard and other Republicans say is needed to balance the budget. The organization spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Hubbard in the Republican primary earlier this year.

"I thought he's always tried to do things by the rules," said Rep. Mike Ball, R-Huntsville, early Tuesday morning before the press conference; Ball was one of several lawmakers who supported Hubbard at the event. "He's very competitive by nature, and he can make very intense adversaries because of the force of his personality."

The 23 counts returned against Hubbard by a Lee County grand jury say the Speaker used his position to secure business for and solicit investments in Craftmasters, an Auburn printing firm in which he owns a partial interest.

The Speaker is also accused of using his office to secure consulting contracts with three different public or private entities — some, the indictment says, he represented before the Governor of Alabama and the Alabama Department of Commerce.

Finally, the speaker is accused of seeking help from prominent public figures — including former Gov. Bob Riley and Business Council of Alabama president Bill Canary — in securing clients for the Auburn Network, a personal business.

White characterized the transactions as routine business. The indictment accuses Hubbard of soliciting investments of $150,000 in Craftmasters from Great Southern Wood Co. founder Jimmy Rane; former Sterne Agee CEO James Holbrook; Robert Burton, CEO of Hoar Construction and Will Brooke, a founder of Harbert Management, former BCA chairman and former congressional candidate.

"Those people that are named in there have had a taint placed on their name that is totally unfair," White said, saying the four made "a private investment that returned 6 percent. That's what they did."

The attorney general's office subpoenaed financial records from Hubbard's time as Republican party chair at the end of 2012, but the investigation into Hubbard's activities began in January of 2013, according to court documents. Strange recused himself from the investigation, appointing former St. Clair County district attorney W. Van Davis as acting attorney general overseeing the matter. In his statement Tuesday evening, Strange said no one had questioned Davis' "qualifications or his integrity."

However, White accused Strange of not sticking to his recusal.

"He puts his right foot in, takes his right foot out, and I never know when he is attorney general and when he is not," he said.

White also vowed to bring allegations made by deputy attorney general Sonny Reagan that Matt Hart, leading the prosecution of Strange, had shared grand jury information with him and vowed to 'take down Hubbard and dismantle 'the Riley machine.'" Reagan made the accusations in an attempt to quash a subpoena to appear before the Lee County grand jury; he has been placed on administrative leave amid charges that he had undisclosed communications with people connected to or under investigation by the grand jury.

Hubbard made corruption a major issue in the 2010 legislative races. In early October of that year, federal agents arrested several lawmakers — most Democrats — lobbyists and officials, accusing them of buying and selling votes to advance bingo legislation. At the time, Hubbard said in a statement as Republican party chairman that the arrests "should serve as a referendum on the culture of corruption that has been prevalent in Montgomery for far too long."

"It is our hope that today's action by the Obama Justice Department will lead to a systematic change in the Alabama Legislature, and one that will put transparency back into the people's government," the statement said.

Developer Ronnie Gilley, one of those arrested, ultimately pleaded guilty to the charges and became a state's witness, as did two lobbyists working for him. Legislative analyst Ray Crosby died before a second trial could begin; the remaining eight defendants were all acquitted in two trials.

Tuesday's press conference frequently felt more like a campaign rally than a conference about an indictment. There was more talk about Lee County, which Hubbard represents, than the state as a whole, and local officials all praised Hubbard for helping local schools and businesses. Hubbard began his comments by joking that he was at "the kick-off of the final two weeks of my campaign."

The Speaker's seat is a safe Republican district, but Hubbard may have to campaign to hold onto to his position as Speaker. Birmingham Republican Jim Carns said Tuesday he plans to seek the seat. The House Republican Caucus plans to meet on Nov. 6, two days after the election, to discuss a number of matters, including the Speakership. The Legislature will formally elect a Speaker for the next four years in January.