Armistead on Hubbard Indictment

Press Release October 20, 2014

ALGOP Chairman's Statement on Hubbard Indictment Alabama Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard was indicted today following a prolonged investigation by a Grand Jury in Lee County. Speaker Hubbard was charged with 23 Class B felonies. Mike White, Hubbard's attorney, announced they will hold a press conference tomorrow to discuss the indictment. Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead made the following statements after the announcement: "America is the greatest country in the world, and one of the most sacred principles that we have in our criminal justice system is that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. The timing of this indictment, just two weeks before the election, causes one to wonder why now, unless it is for political purposes. But, we saw the same thing four years ago. Just weeks before the general election in 2010, 11 people were indicted in a federal corruption case involving gambling legislation.  Of those 11, none were found guilty other than the two who pled guilty. "No one needs to rush to judgment. Right now, all we have is a list of charges. We don't have the Speaker's position on these matters and to speculate about them would be unfair to him and an exercise in futility, since we do not know whether any of these charges are true. Again, everybody in our system of justice who is accused of a crime is presumed innocent and must be proven guilty 'beyond a reasonable doubt' in order to be convicted. "While it is sad that this has occurred, life goes on for the rest of us and we have an election coming up in two weeks. Our focus will be getting our candidates elected. I am proud that we have the strongest crop of candidates in the history of the Alabama Republican Party, from local county offices to U.S. Senator. We will not be distracted by our opponents who will want to use this situation to smear our candidates and our party. I must remind everyone that these charges and indictments are against one individual, not the party and not our candidates. "It saddens me that this has happened. In addition to being Speaker of the Alabama House, Mike Hubbard is a human being and anytime something like this happens it is a human tragedy, regardless of the ultimate outcome. My family and I will be praying for Mike and his family. We hope for a swift and just outcome to these matters."       ###