Will the house of cards fall down? Among the people involved... John Archibald: •Billy Canary: As president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, Canary is considered one of the power elites in Alabama politics. The BCAs political action committee, Progress PAC, gives heavily to state candidates. Hubbard credits bounteous donations from Canary and the BCA for fueling the Republican takeover of the Legislature in 2010. Hubbard is charged with soliciting or receiving assistance for Auburn Network from Canary. •Bob Riley: Riley served as governor from 2003 to 2011. Soon afterward, Riley, with help from Hubbard and state Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, set up the Alabama 14 political action committee, with a goal to elect truly conservative Republicans. Rileys daughter, Birmingham lawyer Minda Riley, headed up initial fundraising for the PAC, which this year received contributions topping $670,000. The PACs activities touched off tension in the state Republican Party, and put Hubbard and Marsh at odds with the partys new chairman, Bill Armistead. Hubbard is charged with soliciting assistance from both Bob Riley and his daughter, Minda Riley Campbell. He allegedly solicited or received assistance in gaining clients for Auburn Network from Bob Riley, and consulting work from Campbell. •Rob Burton: Burton, CEO of Hoar Construction Co., was named by the Birmingham Business Journal this year as one of the citys Most Influential Executives. Hoar ranks among Alabamas construction-industry giants, shouldering notable projects such as the sprawling Airbus plant in Mobile. In the past two years, Hoar contributed $20,000 to Bob Rileys Alabama 2014 political action committee. Hubbard is charged with soliciting or receiving a thing of value from Burton, in the form of a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster. •Will Brooke: Brooke is the executive vice president of Harbert Management Corp. and the former chairman of the Business Council of Alabama and its Progress PAC political action committee. He has said that he and his wife have given more than $400,000 in personal donations to political candidates. •James Holbrook Jr.: Holbrook is the former CEO of Sterne Agee Group Inc., a Birmingham-based investment bank, where he oversaw an aggressive expansion that involved numerous domestic and international acquisitions. The Sterne Agee board fired him earlier this year, after litigation by a former chief financial officer at the bank alleged that Holbrook misused company resources for private purposes. Hubbard is charged with soliciting or receiving a thing of value from Holbrook, in the form of a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster. •Jimmy Rane: Jimmy Rane Yella Fella.JPGJimmy Rane, the star of those Yella Fella commercials, is the CEO of Great Southern Wood, ( Rane is the CEO and chairman of the board at Great Southern Wood Preserving Inc. in Abbeville. Alabamians know him as the Yella Fella from his companys YellaWood TV spots. Rane is a member of the Auburn University board of trustees and is a longtime Auburn athletics booster. Rane has been a Hubbard campaign donor. During the dedication of the Mike Hubbard Center for Advanced Science at Auburn University last year, Rane lauded Hubbard and sought to fend off any Hubbard critics. If a fistfight breaks out, give me a call, Rane said. Hubbard is charged with soliciting or receiving a thing of value from Rane, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster. •Robert Abrams: Abrams is a New York businessman and inventor and principal in CV Holdings LLC. His holdings include two businesses in Auburn - Capitol Cups and SiO2 Medical Products. Hubbard is charged with several counts of corruption in connection with Abrams, including lobbying the Commerce Department and the governors office on Abrams behalf, and other charges. •Dax Swatek: Swatek, a political operative and partner of the lobbying group Swatek, Azbell, Howe & Ross, is a longtime adviser to Hubbard and a campaign consultant to former Gov. Bob Riley. He was heavily involved in advising Hubbard on the strategy that helped Republicans take control of the Legislature in 2010. The indictment alleges Hubbard solicited something of value from Swatek.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 11:51:08 +0000
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