Former Gov. Bob Riley arrives for Day8 of #HubbardTrial, greets Speaker Mike Hubbard at the door. #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/WvoLp26flD

— Lauren Walsh (@LaurenWalshTV) June 3, 2016

When then-President Bill Clinton was confronted about the truthfulness of his Grand Jury testimony that “there is nothing going on between” him and Monica Lewinsky, Clinton famously replied, “It depends upon what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”

Two decades later, the fate of Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard could also come down to the definition of one particular word: “friend.”

Mr. Hubbard is currently facing the possibility of spending decades in prison if he is convicted of, among other things, soliciting things of value from lobbyists and the businessmen who employ them (i.e. principals). In particular, the speaker, who has in recent years been perhaps the most powerful politician in the state, solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments to help save his deeply indebted printing company. He is also accused of asking lobbyists to help him get a job.

Hubbard was a leading proponent of the GOP’s successful effort to strengthen Alabama’s ethics laws after taking over the legislature in 2009. But while soliciting or accepting “things of value” from lobbyists and principals is now strictly prohibited, the law carves out exceptions for friends.

As the Montgomery Advertiser notes, former Alabama Ethics Commission director Jim Sumner testified the exceptions were created to address some of innocent conflicts that could arise in a citizen legislature.

“It was designed to allow people who’ve known each other all their lives, or lived down the street, before someone was elected to public office,” he explained. “It allowed them to go on vacation, or share a place at the beach and not be concerned about who paid for what during that trip.”

This is the core of Mr. Hubbard’s defense against these particular charges — that he was asking favors of his friends, just like anyone else would if they were in a jam.

Most of the lobbyists and principals who have testified seem to agree with Mr. Hubbard’s defense.

“I invested in (his business) because Mike Hubbard was a friend, and it had nothing to do with being the Speaker of the House,” testified Rob Burton, CEO of Hoar Construction, who is classified as a principal under Alabama ethics law. “And if he hadn’t been a Speaker of the House, I still would have made that investment because I like him and I trust him.”

Great Southern Wood CEO Jimmy Rane expressed a similar sentiment when asked about his investment, saying he had known Mr. Hubbard for roughly thirty years, going back to his time at Auburn University where Hubbard helmed the Heisman campaign for Bo Jackson.

Minda Riley Campbell, a registered lobbyist and the daughter of former Gov. Bob Riley, said it was entirely appropriate for Mr. Hubbard to seek help from her because she has known him for decades and loves him “like a brother.”

Gov. Riley was a registered lobbyist at the time when Mr. Hubbard asked his firm for a job, but he said those “were personal conversations between me and Mike about what do you do going forward. It was something to try to give him some stability he was searching for in his life.”

Similarly, Business Council of Alabama CEO Billy Canary, a registered lobbyist, has a decades-long relationship with Mr. Hubbard.

“We were exploring options for him that would allow him to be a citizen legislator, very similar to what others had done, the former speaker and others, subject to the ethics commission,” he said.

But not every friend of Mr. Hubbard’s was dismissive of the ethics concerns.

According to testimony from lobbyist Dax Swatek, his response to Mr. Hubbard’s investment overtures was “not just no, but hell no.”

The prosecution contends the “friend exception” in the ethics law should not apply to many of the individuals mentioned above because their relationships with Mr. Hubbard began in the mid-1990s when he entered the political arena for the first time.

The defense has argued that the timing is inconsequential — friends are friends.

If convicted, Hubbard faces a maximum penalty of two to twenty years imprisonment and fines of up to $30,000.00 for each count, all of which are Class B Felonies. So years of Mr. Hubbard’s life while quite simply come down to where the jurors place the line between friend and political ally.

MORE ON THE HUBBARD TRIAL:
1. Bentley testifies Hubbard lobbied him on projects that would benefit his business clients
2. Winners and losers from the first week of the Hubbard corruption trial
3. Alabama House Speaker’s former top aide delivers explosive, emotional testimony
4. Prosecution: Hubbard used office to make $2.3M. Defense: None of this is illegal