A former Alabama deputy attorney general testified Monday that Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard is the target of a politically-motivated prosecution by a man who was once his colleague.
According to a report by The Montgomery Advertiser, former deputy attorney general Sonny Reagan testified under oath that Matt Hart, who is leading the Hubbard prosecution for the AG’s office, told him he planned to ruin Hubbard’s political career.
“Matt Hart told me he would ruin Mike Hubbard politically,” Reagan said. “He would put a 155(mm) howitzer through him and he didn’t care about the collateral damage to anyone else.”
The prosecution hammered Reagan in their cross examination. Reagan was placed on leave last year after the attorney general’s office said he had engaged in inappropriate communications with individuals the AG’s office was investigating. They also accused him of undermining the grand jury process. Reagan resigned several months later “in lieu of termination.”
Reagan’s credibility will be a key issue in the Hubbard trial. According to the Advertiser, “much of the defense’s case rests on memos written by Reagan, alleging threats and improper language by Hart.” The defense also claims that the beefed-up ethics laws once championed by Hubbard are unconstitutional and that he has a right to lobby on behalf of his clients, even while in office.
“Matt (Hart) believed, or told me he believed, everyone has a public life, a private life and a secret life,” Reagan said on the stand Monday. “Key to this is to get a subpoenaed witness in a room and confront them from their secret life, and control the testimony.”
Reagan suggested Hart would utilize this tactic while improperly manipulating the grand jury process to build cases against individuals, rather than for simply presenting evidence for an indictment.
The intra-office spat between Reagan and Hart first spilled into the public in 2014, with both men accusing the other of wrongdoing. Reagan said Hart was on a political mission to “dismantle the ‘Riley Machine.’” The AG’s office said Reagan took action “to impede or obstruct the investigation.”
This is not the first time that accusations of impropriety have been thrown around since Hubbard was indicted on 23 counts of public corruption.
Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL3), a longtime Hubbard ally, and Mark White, Hubbard’s attorney, both accused Attorney General Luther Strange of “Chicago-style gutter politics” and said his office was attacking Hubbard because Strange saw him as a potential 2018 gubernatorial rival.
Strange dismissed the allegations at the time and said the matter will be handled in the court system.
“I made the decision to recuse myself from the matter involving Speaker Hubbard several months ago,” said Strange. “I did so based on the recommendations of our career prosecutors and to completely remove any appearance of politics being involved in the matter.”
Monday’s hearing was convened to discuss the Hubbard defense’s claims of prosecutorial misconduct. The actual trial will not begin until some time in 2016.
