OPELIKA, Ala. – In eight hours of sometimes contentious testimony, former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley on Monday described his efforts to help House Speaker Mike Hubbard find a new job – but insisted that Hubbard”made sure what he was doing was absolutely legal” and not in violation of any ethics laws.
Prosecutors kept Riley -a man Hubbard has described as a father figure and political mentor – on the witness stand for two days as they tried to prove Hubbard broke the state ethics law he once championed. Riley saidHubbard had asked to work at his lobbying and consulting firm. Some of those requests were serious and some were a running joke between the two old friends, Riley said.
“I need to be a salesman for GB&R. Except for those ethics laws. Who proposed those things?! What were we thinking?” Hubbard wrote to Riley in 2011. Republicans’ first action, after winning control of the Alabama Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction, was to pass a new ethics law in a special session called by Riley.
“Of course it was a joke,” Riley said as he responded to questions by prosecutor Matt Hart.
But with prompting from Hart, Riley also acknowledged what he told a grand jury: Hubbard was also serious about seeking help finding a job after being laid off by his primary employer, Auburn’s IMG Sports Network.