Update: Gov. Bentley Takes the Stand in Mike Hubbard’s Ethics Trial

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley arrived at a Lee County courthouse to testify in the ethics trial of Alabama House speaker Mike Hubbard.

Prosecutors asked Bentley about meetings with Hubbard and if Hubbard lobbied him on behalf of a business client. Alabama ethics law prohibits legislators from being paid to lobby executive branch offices.

The governor was met at the courthouse by his legal adviser, personal attorney and spokeswoman.

Bentley’s testimony was a dramatic moment in the corruption trial of the Republican speaker.

Gov. Robert Bentley has testified under oath in the ethics trial of the Alabama house speaker, saying that he remembers meeting with Mike Hubbard to discuss what he described as economic development projects.

Prosecutors are seeking to prove that Hubbard was being paid up to $12,000 a month to illegally lobby the governor on behalf of his business clients – a municipal gas company and a maker of plastic cups.

A state prosecutor showed Bentley reports Hubbard sent his clients describing how he met with the governor on projects that could benefit them. The governor said he remembered the meetings.

On cross-examination, Bentley told a defense lawyer that he thought the projects were good for the state because they would bring jobs.

Former ALEA Director, Spencer Collier, was in the audience and left once the governor was done on the stand.

A political consultant and lobbyist says Mike Hubbard was stressed out over his personal finances when the House speaker asked him to invest in his printing company.

Dax Swatek has been close to Hubbard, one of three lobbyists who met weekly with him in the speaker’s office.

He testified Wednesday that it was an “awkward” moment when he told Hubbard that he couldn’t invest $150,000 in his company.

The lobbyist said he was concerned that it was against state ethics law for him to give the money to an elected politician, and for Hubbard to ask for it.

Hubbard is accused of using his political positions as speaker and state Republican party chairman to make money and solicit financial favors from lobbyists and others.

Swatek said he was one of three lobbyists who had weekly with Hubbard in the speaker’s office.

A prominent Alabama businessman says Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard asked him for financial advice on resolving debts at his Craftmaster printing company.

Will Brooke, an executive at a finance firm, testified that Hubbard asked for his help coming up with a plan to restore solvency to the company.

Prosecutors argue that Hubbard broke state ethics law by soliciting advice from Brooke, a board member at the Business Council of Alabama, which lobbies legislators on behalf of business interests.

Brooke said he suggested Hubbard get people to make $150,000 investments in exchange for preferred stock in Craftmaster, and that he himself invested $150,000.

A lobbyist for another investment firm also testified Wednesday that Hubbard asked if his boss could make an investment as well.

Hubbard faces 23 ethics charges accusing him of using his political positions to make $2.3 million in work and investments. Hubbard has maintained his innocence and has argued that these transactions were legal and allowed under an exception for longstanding friendships.

However, the Republican governor in recent months has been at the center of his own scandal. Bentley admitted making sexually charged remarks to a former female aide. Eleven lawmakers resolved to impeach him.

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