The Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee passed a resolution Sunday calling on House Speaker Mike Hubbard, who is awaiting trial on 23 felony ethics charges, to suspend his leadership position.
In a statement, party chairwoman Terry Lathan says the legislature needs to focus on the “people’s business” and that Hubbard’s legal situation will make it difficult for him to do that. She says the committee notes Hubbard “remains innocent.”
Hubbard is accused of using his public offices of House Speaker and Chair of the Alabama Republican Party for personal gain. He has maintained his innocence.
His trial is scheduled to start March 28th which would coincide with the 2016 Alabama legislative session. Attorneys for Hubbard have until Friday to file a motion to delay the trial after his lead attorney stepped aside due to an undisclosed conflict of interest. The trial has already been delayed once.
The text of the Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee’s resolution:
WHEREAS, Representative Mike Hubbard serves the State of Alabama as Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives; and
WHEREAS, since 2013, Speaker Hubbard has had to endure an investigation in regard to various allegations about his private financial affairs and his service as Speaker; and
WHEREAS, in 2014 Speaker Hubbard was indicted for 23 felony counts and allegedly violating the Alabama Ethics Laws which regulates the performance of public officials, and the indictment includes allegations about his conduct before he was Speaker while he served as Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party from 2007 to 2011, and his trial is set for March of 2016; and,
WHEREAS, there has been ongoing public discussion of the Hubbard indictment since it was issued, and the trial is currently scheduled to take place during the regular session of the Alabama Legislature in 2016; and,
WHEREAS, the trial, itself, is likely to become a distraction from the regular business of the legislature and, later become a subject of public debate in the primary and general elections of 2016; and,
WHEREAS, the Alabama Republican Party is an association of private citizens organized to elect candidates to public office in Alabama to advance the policies of securing a free citizenry and fiscal responsibility in accordance with law, including the U.S. Constitution and the State Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the Alabama Republican Party seeks to protect its right to self-governance against over-reaching application of the Ethics Law, especially if meant to be applied to its private activities and its leadership, but will not evaluate the specifics of the charges against Hubbard; and
WHEREAS, the Alabama Republican Party does not want the distractions of the Hubbard trial to take away from the regular business of the legislature or its ability to achieve the policy objectives of the Republican Party in the primary and general elections of 2016;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that we, the members of the Alabama Republican Party Steering Committee, respectfully request Mike Hubbard to suspend his role as Speaker until his trial is complete, and the indictments against him are resolved.